American here in Oundle (Peterborough) - Brand new to woodworking

One small step for man....

Well done, you must be pleased.

Certainly not going anywhere lol

Tool hangers, battery storage, and power station in progress.

Will you paint the unit dewalt yellow with black accents?

duke said:

Will you paint the unit dewalt yellow with black accents?

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My god, no. It was just a battery ecosystem choice starting from zero good tools, ever. I am going with black and tan for all the furniture. Black French cleat backer board, birch tool hangers. Black frames, birch tops. Drawers, hardwood plywood, black stained mahogany false fronts.

I am pretty exhausted. Spent a good portion of the day trying to figure out this tool holder, battery storage/charging station.. Had to hang it up around 8pm..

Grrrrrrr! I guess it is one of the challenges of being new to a hobby, and "not knowing what you don't know".

1. Stripped the T15 Torx driver bit that I was using on my 4.5 x 30mm screws.
2. Also ran out of 4.5 x 30mm screws I am using for the overal tool holder assemblies.
3. I have no 4.5 x 16mm screws for hanging the chargers on the flat panel sitting right above the tool hangers.

Every little project is bringing a little bit more knowledge about how to be a little bit more efficient and build up processes for "getting it right the first time". But for now.. Everything seems to take 3x longer than it should, due to unexpected delays.

Always good to have ample supply of screws, nails etc. too many is never a problem.
It does happen to me which entails a 1 1/2 hr return trip for hardware.

duke said:

Always good to have ample supply of screws, nails etc. too many is never a problem.
It does happen to me which entails a 1 1/2 hr return trip for hardware.

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Welll.. On a positive note.. This tool hanger/charging/bit storage station is probably the most complicated buld that will reside on the french cleat wall.. So once it gets built... Everything else goes up "really" fast.

And once I can get all the tools, screws, bits, clamps up and out of the way.. I have space to work on drawer box for the assembly table, and to build a proper combo table saw/router workbench.

Didn't plan out the cleat attachment that well. Should have built in a flat panel high and low flush with the back. Will end up needing to add them to the completed back, so entire shelf system will sit further out from wall 3/4" further than necessary.

Are you not able to trim the ¾"/18mm from the sides and shelves - either the back or the front edge? If you could that would take care of it sitting out from the wall ¾" further than necessary... Just a thought. Otherwise it's looking good

Accipiter said:

Are you not able to trim the ¾"/18mm from the sides and shelves - either the back or the front edge? If you could that would take care of it sitting out from the wall ¾" further than necessary... Just a thought. Otherwise it's looking good

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I glued, pin nailed, and screwed in those top two shelves, and I believe there are screws in the last inch or so of both those top shelves. It came out nice enough, that I don't really want to get too creative trying to get the entire thing to sit 3/4" closer to the wall. I think having another 3/4" inch piece behind the top portion and the tool hangers is not the worst thing in the world for antiracking anyways, so..

Well that looks fine to me, but is it for 6 drill / drivers or something else?
I’ve seen YouTubers with rows of them and always wondered what on earth they do with them all.
Ian

Cabinetman said:

Well that looks fine to me, but is it for 6 drill / drivers or something else?
I’ve seen YouTubers with rows of them and always wondered what on earth they do with them all.
Ian

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Yeah.. Drill, driver.. Pin nailer, and anything else that has either a head or handle thin enough to insert between the legs.

(Keep your mind outta the gutter, man.. We are talking TOOLS here!)

Ok, Am I missing something here. If the cleat is screwed to the backside of the shelf sides, yes it will be proud but when you set it on the wall cleat the back of the unit will be flat to the wall.?

Edit: As Frank said maybe slip in ply between the unit shelf and below supports.

duke said:

Ok, Am I missing something here. If the cleat is screwed to the backside of the shelf sides, yes it will be proud but when you set it on the wall cleat the back of the unit will be flat to the wall.?

Edit: As Frank said maybe slip in ply between the unit shelf and below supports.

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Yeah.. I could screw the cleats into the thin edge of the shelf sides. It's gonna be the heaviest shelf on the wall though, when loaded, so I was not sure about relying on just screws into the thin edge of 3/4" plywood.

Though.. Come to think of it.. That top shelf has no bracing.. So I could just insert a strip of birch plywood flush with the rear of that portion, glue and screw it through the bottom of that top shelf, then attach the cleat to that. Plus one more cleat attached "somewhere" lower and out of site, to distribute the unit's weight across two cleats.

I know I could just trim out some rear inserts for the shelves that have bracing.. But I've generally not done a good job at accurately cutting out such notches.

Putting strips "below" the shelf supports.. Ehhh.. That would leave an open gap where the supports are, and I would rather either fully cover up the back of a shelf, or leave it fully open. I made a concession already leaving the gap above the chargers, and I don't want to make a habit of multiple shortcuts in the same piece.

Hope it is clear enough what I am trying to do, if I can. Keep the rear of the unit flat, so that with cleats attached, it sits flush against cleat strips on the wall. Without introducing more "half gaps" than I have already.

Ended up going with a single cleat, because I am lazy, and it seemed solid enough to me. A few tools are in temporary spots for now, until I can build some smaller holders for them.

Looks good, neat and orderly.