The engineering company near where I used to work had a dedicated tool box with three or four drawers for drill bits. It had plastic inserts in each drawer with a slot for each drill bit. Not sure how many bits it held but they went up in .1 mm increments.
Drill bit storage
- Thread starter quixoticgeek
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timbo614
Established Member
MikeJhn":2l4cobdy said:
Yes. Very nice but it will not stay like that, will it? It never does. Very soon one of the nicely sized "cups" will be empty and you will wonder, what did I do with them all. Anyway, the best way is to sort out all the ice cream containers in to smaller ones that contain as far as possible one of each size. Then have one in each toolbox or working location. They still go missing, get mixed up, but for a while wherever you are you have bits.
timbo614":uwudo2u6 said:MikeJhn":uwudo2u6 said:
Yes. Very nice but it will not stay like that, will it? It never does. Very soon one of the nicely sized "cups" will be empty and you will wonder, what did I do with them all. Anyway, the best way is to sort out all the ice cream containers in to smaller ones that contain as far as possible one of each size. Then have one in each toolbox or working location. They still go missing, get mixed up, but for a while wherever you are you have bits.
I know what you mean, but so far mine has stayed basically the same for three years, obviously replacing some of the smaller bits with packs of 10 easily obtained off e-bay the problem now is some of the smaller trays are overflowing.
Mike
quixoticgeek
Established Member
MikeJhn":8n49zde4 said:
My drill bit storage hasn't improved. I've been pondering going for the 170 bit item linked above. But My I have a growing collection of odd shape drill bits. The 3.2mm's and the 6.4mm etc... Which don't seem to fit in with these. I'm wondering what the best solution is. It doesn't help that I don't have a permanent work shop, so anything I have needs to be easy to transport, so the board with holes in it approach doesn't work.
I'm after a solution that doesn't involve rummaging through a collection of bits, and the faint engraving on each shank to see what size is which...
J
Trainee neophyte
Established Member
MikeJhn":150yv4eo said:
I've bought loads of that sort of thing over the years, and broken all the small bits, so I have lots of different sets of drills but only 6mm and above. Finding something small and appropriate is a challenge. I then tend to leave small drill bits in boxes of screws, as always swapping drill bit for driver and back againz and then forgetting to put the drill bit back in the box.
I think I'm trying to say that I also need a good storage system, and a permanent workshop to go with it. Working on both.
I have this set https://www.ukdrills.com/drill-sets/hss ... -for-metal (my case is blue but I bought it from here). I will also get the 1-6mm set at some point.
When a drill blunts, I replace it with the same or a branded one if it is a .0mm or .5mm. UK drills supply 1offs via eBay in .1 increments at sensible money. I have used them for pen making so for me the small increments are necessary.
When a drill blunts, I replace it with the same or a branded one if it is a .0mm or .5mm. UK drills supply 1offs via eBay in .1 increments at sensible money. I have used them for pen making so for me the small increments are necessary.
Bosch toughcases seem decent. I have an SDS set with that drill and a HSS-G set with my cordless. I keep all the rest in a bahco plastic organiser case. A biggish fold open thing with many compartments. I group by size jobber, brad point and masonry all together : 1 and 2mm through to 9+10, 12+, augers together, cobalt together.
2-7mm jobber bits live in a small block with a magnet on the back sticking to the drill press.
2-7mm jobber bits live in a small block with a magnet on the back sticking to the drill press.
mock
Established Member
What about screw driver bits? Well i made this in the video link
/www.youtube.com/watch?v=Aba3q4ydRts
Mock
/www.youtube.com/watch?v=Aba3q4ydRts
Mock
Ttrees
Iroko loco!
I keep mine in a salvaged heavy duty box, that was for keys originally.
with Lidl drill bit boxes inside that, with loose bits everywhere.
Works for me
with Lidl drill bit boxes inside that, with loose bits everywhere.
Works for me
A lot of mine are inherited, dad's been dead 40 years now and I am still finding his home sharpened bits.
As soon as I realise a bit isnt cutting any more its binned, but I still think some of these may pass to my son.
Sorted into 3 mm sections. masonry at the rear, sorted up to 10 mm and over 10 mm
As soon as I realise a bit isnt cutting any more its binned, but I still think some of these may pass to my son.
Sorted into 3 mm sections. masonry at the rear, sorted up to 10 mm and over 10 mm
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Ttrees
Iroko loco!
I hope the bin goes to someone who needs them Bob, well the ones for drilling metal anyway.
I always buy cheap bits, and have no fear snapping them in sheet metal, because I learned to sharpen them as good as they were to start with.
I don't do precision work on fancy steels on anything, so they're good enough for me.
I always buy cheap bits, and have no fear snapping them in sheet metal, because I learned to sharpen them as good as they were to start with.
I don't do precision work on fancy steels on anything, so they're good enough for me.
Nope, just "the bin".
I accept that some of these drills could easily be over a 100 years old and you cant get steel like that any more and all the rest of it, but I have no way of sorting good from bad and its just no longer worth the hassle of sharpening a drill bit.
I bought a drill sharpener, something like an electric pencil sharpener with different sized holes. Its somewhere at the back of a shelf because its rubbish (on my next clearout it will go in the same bin as the blunt drills). And i can go buy a new drill that works for at least 2 holes for mere pennies nowadays.
I accept that some of these drills could easily be over a 100 years old and you cant get steel like that any more and all the rest of it, but I have no way of sorting good from bad and its just no longer worth the hassle of sharpening a drill bit.
I bought a drill sharpener, something like an electric pencil sharpener with different sized holes. Its somewhere at the back of a shelf because its rubbish (on my next clearout it will go in the same bin as the blunt drills). And i can go buy a new drill that works for at least 2 holes for mere pennies nowadays.
Vann
Established Member
These are a bit larger than what I guess most of us have - but I was at a railway museum taking photos of some of their machines - in this case a Frederick Town drill press dating to the late 1920s - and was impressed by their drill bit rack...
Especially impressed as the equivalent drill bits at work are all stored completely random in boxes and trays :roll:
Cheers, Vann.
Especially impressed as the equivalent drill bits at work are all stored completely random in boxes and trays :roll:
Cheers, Vann.
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rafezetter
Troll Hunter
I've been meaning to repurpose an old wooden case I found in a skip so its similar to one of those drillbit cases that has multiples of the different sizes, then do as Sideways does and group by size regardless of type. Small enough to be mobile but large enough to carry most of my collections, and get rid of some odd half empty sets here and there.
It's deep enough I can have 2 layers so the bottom one will prolly be a section for all the "odd stuff" and blunt ones for resharpening.
It's deep enough I can have 2 layers so the bottom one will prolly be a section for all the "odd stuff" and blunt ones for resharpening.
rafezetter
Troll Hunter
Vann":3dr047qi said:
That's a nice rack *snigger*.
Deadeye
Established Member
A bit hard ot describe, but I made a long, narrow plywood box with dividers all along the length and closed on all 6 sides. I cut it open slightly diagonally to create two matching racks with compartments and labelled them (one imperial, one metric).
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