We use our Forstner bits most often with our drill press, so we created a simple, inexpensive, safe, and functional labeled storage tray. We show you how!

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Getting our workspace organized is an ongoing project on its own! As we organize each area, the results are well worth it for the effort expended. We organize as much as we can intuitively, grouping items by function, workstation, or workflow. This makes it easier to remember where things are because where they are makes sense.

Our old rack was inefficient, not placed well in the shop, and had all the points facing up - not making it very friendly. It was hard to keep clean, and depending on the season, the bits could be difficult to place into or get out of the rack. It was time for a different approach!

Organizing your workspace allows you to quickly put tools and supplies back when the job is done, so everything is waiting for you when the space, supplies, and tools are needed.

We recently built a roll-around cabinet with a worktop, bits drawers, and storage organizer for under our floor model drill press. This allowed us to recapture space and create a secondary workbench for our shop.

One of the top drawers was the perfect space to place our set of Forstner bits, right at hand, ready to go to work. Our design parameters included:

The bits had to be stored horizontally to be able to fit in the drawer, as well as avoid having sharp points exposed that could cause injury easily.
The rack had to be made of readily available, inexpensive, and workable material - wood in our case.
Many bits had to be stored in a relatively small space, so they had to nest well to make the best use of the space.
The rack had to be designed so that the bits would stay in place even when the drawer was opened or closed rapidly.
There had to be readable and accessible surfaces to label the space for each sized bit.
It needed to be easy to grasp the bits for taking out and putting back in.

To stop the bits from rolling around when opening and closing the drawer, the bits are stored crossways in the drawer. We measured the front-to-back distance of the drawer to determine the rack length (just a little over 16”/41 cm). We made the rack width the length of the bit shafts and subtracted a bit (we landed on 3”/76 mm). We prototyped the distance between the bits, conserving space by alternating the bit end right and left off both sides of the rack blank. Smaller bits can be spaced closer together but are set further apart as the bit size increases.

We don’t use the smaller bits as much as the larger ones, so we arranged the rack with sizes descending from front to back, with the larger, more commonly used bits to the front.

We laid out all of our bits, spaced them by eye, and transferred lines onto our blank. We drilled the holes using a clean backup surface to eliminate “blow-out.” The blank was then sawed in two, revealing the rack. We kept the cutaway, we’re sure we’ll find a use for it.

We then plowed a nice round-bottomed groove down the center lengthwise so that the bits could be grasped easily in the center of the drill shanks and placed back effortlessly.

A bit of sanding, and a couple of coats of spray finish, and we were ready to label our rack and build the side rails to help keep the bits centered and keep the other contents of the drawer at bay.

We like the results with clear labeling, and the bits staying in place even when the drawer is opened or closed “enthusiastically!”

If you’d like to see how we constructed the drawers in our cabinet using the ¼-¼-¼ method, check it out here:

   • Drawer Boxes the Easy Way- 1/4 - 1/4 ...  

To see our thinking process and how we made the roll-out cabinet for under the drill press, take a look here:

   • Gotta Have Floor Model Drill Press Ca...  

JUST DO IT YOURSELF!

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