Bit Cabinets

[NoogaD]

Home for another round of welding. I bought a Shop Notes magazine a while back, and it had some cool projects for router bit cabinets. Well, now that the garage shop is getting really cluttered, I figured it was time to make one for router bits and one for drill bits to put next to the drill press. Shop Notes made theirs out of wood, and I wanted to make mine out of metal since the humidity here is out of control.

Bought a Harbor Freight sheet brake for $250. Now I have a heavy paperweight. That thing is junk, but I'll try to make it work when I get some time to monkey around with it. So for making my cabinets, it was a lot more welding.

First day pics. Hopefully my welding is getting a little better, but that's what grinders are for. Welded some piano hinges on the doors, and some lockable latches since Bosch thinks highly of their bits. Will post more pics later.

[mikecwik]

i dont see router bit cabs in the images however it does look like a tight project!

[NoogaD]

Hold your horses. Haha. I'm slow. Making the trays today after fixing the lawnmower and mowing the lettuce. I'll post up more pics tomorrow.

[gordsgarage]

Looks like a great start, keep the pictures coming.

Gord

[garyroushkolb]

I bought a stanley tool box just to store bits in, works great but you need to keep the drawers closed when drilling or they catch chips.

[NoogaD]

Been playing with nieces and nephews visiting the folks and trying to get things ready to go back on the road. So here's an update on the cabinets. Got my trays made and Plexiglas cut. Tapped some pieces of angle to hold the Plexi in place. I was going to pre-mount them but didn't get lag screws long enough. So, tomorrow I'll prime and paint the cabinets and get everything mounted. Should be finished.

[NoogaD]

Done. Or mostly done. The router bit cabinet is done and has space for another tray. I'll have to cut off a magnet tab if I do, but that's no big deal. The drill bit cabinet is a different story. I was trying to drill the bit holes in the acrylic and was using Dewalt's Pilot Point bits. Well, if you are going to drill acrylic, use a Split Point bit. Otherwise you are going to mangle your acrylic really badly. So the drill bit cabinet isn't finished.

Here's an unfinished mounted cabinet and then the router cabinet with trays.

[M J Mauer]

Look good nice job.

M J Mauer, Andover, Ohio