i wonder if these would fit standard server racks which you can sometimes find for cheap especially if a company is trying to get rid of them on ebay... if so, there is plenty of cheap hardware for those racks including sliding drawer components and trays.
I liked the tool recap at end: 1. Record of tools used 2. Reflection on how tools helped or may have helped for build. 3. Tools put away at end of build, shop cleaned! Usually I finished a project and reflect just on the finished product, and less on the individual items/processes than each individual step. This could help me reflect more deeply on how the project went and as a bonus clean up my shop!
My dad was a master sheet metal worker. I can hear him in my head going on about how you should make a cardboard pattern first. He passed many years ago. He loved the myth busters. He often armchair quarter backed. Lol. I love this project. It made me think of him. When he was a teen he got an old metal card catalog for hardware. I spent days of my life sorting five gallon buckets of random hardware. Thank you. I miss him so much and this just brings me back.
What a lovely tribute to your father! My father passed a few years ago, and he taught and instilled the same maker mindset in me, back in my childhood.
I've built demos out of cardboard for things in my classroom and home for years. Works so well. I've kept some of the builds for what I actually need - a form to hold my webcam facing down for a document camera back in 2020, for example. Cardboard, zipties, and Lego bricks will get you pretty far. :)
@@HayesWorldofMath I remember my dad came home one day because an apprentice decided to help by "cleaning" his work area and threw out all his cardboard. He made the guy get in the recycling dumpster and get all five gallons of his gussets back as a lesson.
I actually loved the tool recount at the end. You said they were "necessary," but instead I think of it as showing how important it is to slowly accumulate tools as you grow. When starting out, it's sometimes hard to justify the cost of a specialized tool that will make that particular job easier, but then you see something like this and realize how much you will begin to use them in other projects to make your life easier (and make the projects much faster).
I totally agree! Also, seeing the tools, I get a bit greedy. I 'need' this tool and oh, that one would come in handy as well, oh, and look at that one! Etc. etc. I know. I'm a sucker for handy tools. And then I'll need the space to store them. And the space to use them. 😂
I would like to put in a formal request for more compendiums of used tools at the end of one day builds, I found that it told the story of the process in a subtle yet exciting way. We didn’t get to see the struggle of clamping the box down yet I felt empowered when I realized that even somebody as experienced as Adam still has such obstacles.
Hey Adam! We have a system in our shop very similar to what you are trying to build! They are Chromate Industrial Corp Drawers and come in 2 or 4 drawer tall cabinets. For how small our shop is, they really work great and being able to quickly look through them without pulling them off the wall is something I am going to bring to every shop I work at in the future. My only word of caution is to make sure the drawers are either level or tended towards the back side, as if not drawers can pull themselves out and lead to a nasty bump on the head or toe if you aren’t paying attention. Thanks for inspiring this young maker into getting into the industry and joining a great union!
I think he is using soft close rails which will hold the drawer at its closed position (albeit with limited force, otherwise it would too hard to open)
Watching Adam make, takes me back to being young and watching my dad fix his car or build his shed and just enjoy being around him. It's a huge shot of nostalgia. You can switch off your brain from the stress and the minutiae of life and just hang out with a friend.
This immediately just makes me think of how one could repurpose server/network equipment racks for this exact same format of storage solution. Rails and all! Interesting to see such a similar design format being used for this form of storage.
Adam saying he knows he has a box for the rivet hardware around here somewhere, while said box is literally what he had spent the day building a drawer for and is sitting right there on the table, is so frustratingly relatable and I love it.
Always fun to watch Adam work through a problem. I think that is one of the things missing on "reality" TV. The people on those shows go right to the perfect solution, where REAL people, often have an initial idea, find out it doesn't work perfectly, and then have to revise, change and try different ideas to make it work. Adam (and all the fine folks at Tested) aren't afraid to show the process of identifying the problem and "workshopping" the solution. That's why I love it. This is actual reality.
It's not the perfect solution I would arrive at. Making all those drawers for each one to slide out is a lot more time and money than fitting a single slide-out _horizontal surface_ , into the mid-section of that entire case. That's how the old-school library card catalog cases worked, except there was a slide out drawer for every vertical column. In short, I regard the solution as overkill. What he wanted was a dedicated horizontal surface that he didn't have to roll/walk over to and back. As long he has to go over to the drawers anyway... and pull out something anyway, it's going to become an automatic action to pull out the surface with one hand while reaching for and pulling out a box with the other. One second to then place the box on the surface and one second to put it back. In the time he's transferring, he'll be simultaneously be opening the lid. And closing the lid as he is returning it. The only thing in Adam's case, not mine, is the times he is going to dump a box on the floor and all its contents. Because sometimes, that's how Adam rolls.
Workshopping the solution is a great term! It really allows you to understand the thought processes that go into a design. This can really help as you work with refining the concept for your own similar but always somewhat different applications. Good tool design (and storage systems are tools) is not just a "what" but includes a lot of "why" and many people skim over that part.
@@-danRAdam's solution is particularly helpful for heavier boxes (or unbalanced boxes) that are more tedious or burdensome to pick up and move. I know if some of my boxes were 20+ pounds I'd much rather just keep them on the drawer then have to move them each time I wanted to access them.
I'm surprised as well, given that Sortimo has their full-on solution for van shelving you would think they would have one that supported these boxes as well.
Imagine never having to go to Home Depot (or wherever) for fasteners ever again. Imagine never having to buy the same fasteners multiple times because you forgot where you bought them a month or two ago before you put the project down for another failed project. Wouldn't that be nice?
When I started building my workshop and putting small parts into Sortimo boxes, I was faced with the exact same problem. My solution was to build simple drawers the boxes can sit on and can slide out far enough to open them. It's an absolute game changer to be able to access everything without taking the Sortimo boxes out completely!
My first thought was not to make every box its own drawer but to simply add a slide out tray to set the boxes on. Maybe one per rack so you can have several open boxes at once.
Alexandre Chappel is a RU-vidr who built his own sorter boxes and built a tower to hold them. It has a single pull out surface to set the box on to pull out what is needed. When Adam started going through this process, I instantly thought of that video. It is definitely cheaper than 60+ pairs of drawer slides.
That was my instant thought! However, the bit later in the video where he's talking about economies of scale made me realize that this solution is probably better for his situation. When time is money and you're likely doing a large job, the process of pulling out a box, setting it down, grabbing the part, and then putting the box back times however many parts you're needing for a project can really add up when compared to just pulling out a drawer, grabbing, and closing up.
That said, if I were fortunate enough to come into possession of sortimos (sortimi?) I think I'd do the slide out surface option because I do not deal in the same sort of volume.
Omg that bit about the tabs on the drawer slides are definitely a "I am now years old when I learned" thank you Adam I have always hated dealing with drawer slides I hope this helps me on my next install.
I absolutely looooooove the end the way you went through all the tools and materials you used for this and what you used them for, with little tips about them. No joke, that part of your video was one of the most intriguing, captivating, and informative parts of any maker video I’ve ever seen. Bravo! I hope this is a regular occurrence (seen tons of your videos over the years but hadn’t seen you do this before). Thanks Adam!
I am working on small storage boxes, I get random sheet material from the local B&Q where they put offcuts into a bin for charity donations, so I get anything from 4" wide 8 ' long mdf to sheets nearly 2'x4' of mdf, ply and hardboard, it will all get used to make small storage boxes, and i am currently partway through a batch 0f 9"x4"x4" small storage boxes from 9mm mdf and some hardboard, all table say work (slots in the sides etc for the base) the other tool I use is a pin nailer to hold things while glue dries (a trick learned from yourself and another youtuber.
The shop infrastructure videos over the years are easily my favorite of the channel. My S/O and I recently purchased our first home and have had Tested shop infrastructure videos on repeat as we build out our dedicated maker space. Absolutely love this storage solution
1: The amount of work and time removing a box and replacing it has a cost. Certainly. 2: The taxation upon the human psyche has an additional weight. More resources spent. 3: We are not getting younger. Thank you, Adam, for another great expression of life’s bugaboos.
RIP to the horizontal surfaces that sacrifice themselves for the making of this video to ensure future horizontal surfaces could remain free for just a little bit longer. 🥺
Adam when u were explaining the bending to everyone; around 13:00 i think, and the way you said "wait a second" really made me smile and feel included. Seems like I've been having a lot of those moments at work past couple of weeks. Thank you so very much for all your content. Im soon to be 31 and have grown up not only watching, but learning from you as well. My granddad and me theoughly enjoyed watching mythbusters together, thank u again for those memories!
one of the most satisfying organization prototypes I've ever seen. For my electronics workbench, I wrote some code to mass generate QR codes for the component drawers to pull up the pdf datasheets, but I hope one day I can go this deep. Can't wait to see this complete!
I've started doing this too and linking that to a document for it's contents. One thing I've added was using the the center of the code of the human-readable (text) so that I don't need my phone to look it up.
I really appreciate the bonus material on the number of tools that went into the project as my dad taught me "a project is not done until the tools are cleaned up"
You know one of the most important things about wooden library card catalogs cabinets was that in each one at working height was a wooden pull out work surface. This was explicitly there so you could remove drawers at any point, at any height in the wall, and with your other hand pull out a surface to set it on and write notes. We used to use a similar methodology in a lot of our data center racks. There was always the random reason you would be working on something with its cover off momentarily or needed to pull a server from the top and set a server on something for just a minute. So in every other rack near the center we had a small pull out rack mount shelf.
I'm here to say I'm thoroughly enjoying this channel it's therapeutic for me honestly. I have also decided to start teaching myself on a lathe and end mill at work making some different tools currently working on a hammer and it's looking amazing thank you Adam.
Adam - the tool recount and rehoming was THE BEST. this may be one of my favorite videos of yours, but the tool recap made me feel so much more normal! love watching you work - I always learn something!
Aluminum sheet metal fabrication 101. At any point where cuts intersect bends, a hole should be drilled and deburred well before making the cuts or bends. This will help prevent cracking along the bend line. I heard you say that you are using 6061-T6, which is especially susceptible to this problem. While you may not notice them right away, I'd almost guarantee that close inspection of the corners will reveal small cracks that have already formed. Over time and with repeated use these will propagate along the bend and eventually break.
As others have said “ did they not….”, BUT, then I remembered it was Adam & like all of us he enjoys the satisfaction of a unique build…. GO Adam 🎉😂❤. Quick one - are you doing long sides, fitting the runners and then bottom/top and spacer horizontal braces ??? Just putting it out there 😂
I love this infrastructure build. I used to build stuff out of paper as a child and it was then that I realized the efficiency of timing/testing/working out the kinks in big batches of parts. I love seeing Adam bringing attention to that. If I had the sortimo system, I'd have an empty box or five as project floaters that I could populate with inner containers from other boxes. Then I'd mount mini drawer units like the 2-unit tester near my work areas, and even in my rolling tool ziggurat. That way I've got most of what I need without extra walking, my parts for different simultaneous projects can stay together, neat and closeby but out the way, and a host of other reasons.
I made a chest of drawers a few years ago but it was a bit larger more like 2‘ x 4‘ drawers but using the same type of drawer slides. I intended to use it to store artwork but now with the five different drawers I sort of have it set up with five different types of things like my large rulers and straight edges on the top drawer, spare vinyl lettering on the second, and the middle drawer (you’ll love this) is full of light saber kit bashing parts and tubing!
Thanks for including tools used at the end! I think this is great for one day build videos, and I will probably do the same for my smaller projects. 1. Record of items used for project 2. Reflection on tools/uses during project and was needed/not needed 3.Makes cleaning up space double purpose and more fun 😊
@@ddupree79 He definitely has that effect! Can't believe I just watched him make drawer trays for 40 minutes and weirdly enough I wanted the video to go on and on 😄
That new drawer system is going to be a game changer for you, Adam. Loved the summary of all the tools involved in making the drawer assemblies. Amazing how many were needed. The brake I used in metal shop when I was in high school stood on the floor and was several feet wide and around five or so feet high. Nice to know that a small table top unit exists. Should we start a pool on how long it will take you to make 65 of those drawers? ;)
A quick suggestion for the prototype: Mount it under your main work surface so when you are working on a project that is going to require 52 of the widgets in drawer #13 over a 6 hour build, you can slide drawer #13 into the holder. You will then have those widgets at your fingertips without covering valuable work surface real estate. Once you have finished with drawer #13 you can return it to its permanent home.
Adam, loved the tool review at the end showing what you used for the build, very helpful for younger makers to see what some of the tools are that you used and explain what they're used for. Also if you haven't already done the large build and are just waiting to post it, both the yellow brand and the red brand have battery operated rivet guns. Considering you're going to be doing about 260 rivets (assuming 2 per slide), might be worth the addition of one to save the wear and tear on your hands.
I wish I had the space and money to have a shop like Adam. I've been expanding my tool/machine collection for nearly a decade, and I'm not even 1/50th of the way there to have parity with Adam. I try and utilize a local makerspace, but due to my disabilities, it's so hard to feel good enough to get in the car for a full day of work at the maker space. It takes so long to load the car, drive up there, unload the car, get set up, wait for machines to be open, and THEN I get to work. Meanwhile at the house, I can just pop out to my shed and work for 30 minutes, then leave my stuff where it is when I get tired. Adam, I hope you understand and appreciate how lucky you are to have the resources to have this much stuff. I have grand plans to build a workbench, but my budget can't even afford drawer slides right now. I have half of a shed dedicated to just stockpiling free stuff that I can repurpose, but it's just so hard. I'm never going to stop making, but man, the things I could do with a shop like yours. I'm currently scrambling to find a 8x4 ft welding table because I finally got enough box tubing to weld up something I've been wanting to build for years, but there's nothing in town accessible to me.
Adam, I know your pain. I've been looking for a cube shaped cantilever box to hold my modelling paints for _years!_ The closest I've come to it are makeup kits, but they're always made out of cheap plastic (I'd prefer aluminium or steel), and the trays are never deep enough to keep the pots upright. I've seen some steel toolboxes that have adequate trays, but they're always too long or too flat to put on a table. I want something that I can put on any table I work on, open it, and have the colours sorted by tray without the footprint spilling over into my work space! Your video has inspired me to look into designing my own. Wish me luck! And thank you again for all of your videos, mate!
Durham makes this entire system, including the stackable pull drawer cabinet, and individual storage racks for a lot less money than one Sortimo rack alone. The Durham do not allow for hand selecting bin arrangements, but they have a huge selection of bin styles so I’m sure you can find what you need.
I just recently made a shop in my parents shed and your vids have inspired to constantly look for things to improve my shop thank you love the vidss:))
Really enjoyed the inventory of tools used at the end of the video. That sort of organization is how my brain works and helps me tremendously for attempting my own builds! Hope we see it again in future videos!
Adam, I saw a short video on "self-piercing rivets". You put the rivet in the tool (which looks like the letter c) and the rivet goes through the material and dome heads itself at the end of the c. It might not seem like a big deal but I think it is because you no longer have to drill the hole for the rivet which I think removes a lot of tolerance issues and creates a stronger fastening. Anyway, maybe this is old news to you but when I first saw it I was like Wow.
Just like the astonishing number of tools, in the kitchen I'm often astounded by how many things I need to clean after cooking what seemed like a simple recipe :-).
This is a stroke of genius. Of course there are commercial solutions that tend to have boxes as drawers, including locks, but there's nothing more cost-effective than a DIY setup. If the whole thing gets a little tippy with the added metal, bolting/screwing the cabinet to studs or a cleat should do the trick (the cleat is how my Dad and I stabilized a bunch of Ikea kitchen cabinets).
What a great system and problem solved! Under desk mount a double drawer unit for immediate access to the most frequently used organiser / current project related box!
Two potential improvements: Add a thin wire to the center back of each metal tray going from top to bottom of the rack and then spring tensioned. Pulling out a second drawer will tension the wire, and roll any previously extended drawer back in, it will also stop you from pulling out a drawer when another is open. Its very easy to forget when you're excited about finding a item. This also prevents the rack from falling onto you when too many drawers are pulled out. Second improvement: add a plastic car door edge guard to the leading edge of each metal tray. When slotting a box back into the tray, this will keep you from slicing your finger on the exposed metal edge.
I haven't finished the video yet but my immediate thoughts on the drawers would be adding a wood slide out panel on each rack about waist high. I'm sure it's not as an elegant idea as you're going to come up with but I'm lazy and cheap lol
Adam, in case you haven't thought about it yet, but if you have things that span multiple sortimo's you should go horizontal instead of vertical. so let's say you have one with sizes 1 to 6 and a second one with sizes 7 to 12 it would be a better system if you can pull them out side by side instead off having to close one and open the one below or above.
FYI 6061-T6 sometimes cracks when bending in a tight radius. 5052-H32 (1/4 hard) or 6061-O (annealed) will perform better, if that's an issue. Love the storage concept!
I'm surprised you don't have at least one set of ratcheting bar clamps. My dad has a couple and it's amazing how easy it is to set them and release them when you need to do something like you did here.
Hi Adam, In my industry, designing and building flight simulators for the government, we call that term, “Creature Creep”.. You keep adding stuff to make it look better, not realizing you have 5 or 10 others you have to do. Love your channel.. Bill Rotundo
Great idea. Looks like an upscale version of the drawers at hardware stores where they keep the specialty fasteners (usually above the bolt bins). Sortimo should have thought of something like this.
I had the same project few years ago and similar way of thinking but retrieving sortomo from very low and very high is not for me so I decided to make one shelve flat at each row at my preferred haight to put any sortimo on it from any place. Took only 2 inches of space cost very little and saved me a lot of work
My dad was a master sheet metal mechanic and growing up I saw him make many things out of sheet metal for use around the house, the funny thing is my neighbors thought our furniture was made from sheet metal.lol.
Initially I thought Adam was going to utilize the drawer slides with the sortimo cases directly rather than building drawers to hold the cases. I was wondering what’s the point of pointing out the “slide things” on the sides of the cases to not actually use them. Regardless watching him create is incredible in itself.
it's funny. In my algorithms class, we talk about bit O notation for figuring out time it will take a function to run as n, number of items, gets large. When you talk about how things get get in the weeds and how ineficiencies are magnified as you do things over and over. it kinda makes me think of big O but for physical projects.
You should add a slide out shelf somewhere in the middle of the cases. Then you could take a case off one of the bottom rows and set it on that shelf at a more comfortable working height. Just food for thought.
You Should Add "Gridfinity" Modules! (Otherwise this is AMAZING! Like server racks but for storage. Only beatable potentially by Voidstarlabs making a Search Engine Equipped Vertical Carousel!)
At 65 units I would prototype 1, digitize it in cad and off to Send Cut Send. Plus you could share those files with fellow enthusiast's that don't have metal brakes.
Re: how many of your tools do you have to pull out to change a lightbulb? Yeah. All I wanted to do was replace a bearing in my furnace inducer fan. Ended up with like half of my tools off their hooks and scattered around the workbenches. At some point you step out of the shop, walk back in and are like "wtf happened in here!?"
Hi! Thanx for your videos Adam and gang! Been watching for years, the longer videos, the better! I had a thought! What about just building a frame? Like with angle iron. As you already have the stability in the drawers themselfes 🙂 Cheers!
I don't know if it fits purpose, but the small drawer set could live under a bench so if a project requires a particular sortimo It can go right into the bench with a buddy 26:18
Always interesting to watch you go through the process. What would you think of having a pull out drawer-shelf at about waste height in each cabinet. Pull a shelf out and put a bin on it for use. As for myself, I am short, the higher drawers would be unhandy as they are too high and the lower ones are a nuisance to get down to. I don't use the bins or an hourly basis and moving one to a very convenient shelf I find to work out good. But for you and your use each bin of a full extension slide is likely the best way to go. Thank you for a wonderful video.
Maybe too late but I hope not. For cutting the corners of the aluminum sheet , a fence and a mag-lock stop set behind the blade to stop the cut would eliminate the need to measure and mark up every plate. When batching parts, I find the most time consuming part is measuring and marking things. Always enjoy the builds, I always learn something! Thanks
Hey Adam + Tested Crew, long time listener, first fime caller here. 2 things, 1: this project seems like a good excuse to pick up a powered cordless rivet gun. 2: I'm also in SF and need to upgrade from HD/Lowes/Ace/Discount Builders/Center/Amazon for sourcing raw materials (lumber, metal stock, plastics, acrylic, etc.) Would be curious to know what providers yall prefer and would prefer to support local over big names (though the local Cole/Ace, DB, and Center are great shops for certain stuff). Cheers
