Organize Parts - Storage Stacking Cases 

Way ahead of the curve on this one, weren't you? Watched several videos before I found this one trying to get container dimensions. Finally, this one showed up in search. Perfect. Thank you.

Did you realize how awesome and practical this idea would be for a work van setup? I'm an electrician and this would be very ideal! Great idea!

I would recommend installing a 1x3 flat frame around the perimeter on the bottom to mount the wheels on. This would distribute the weight more evenly. Nice idea.

I'm going through the exact same process now. I inherited a 100 coffee cans of parts from my Dad's estate combined with my own spare parts from various projects. So far, I'm up to 21 of the Stanley 25 compartment organizers that I got off of Amazon for super cheap. So far, it's SO much easier to find parts for each project we work on!! :D

I'm back! We purchased eight of the trays and can now actually find things! Thanks for the info and the motivation!! I'm sure Harbor Freight thanks you as well! LOL These trays are well built and not flimsy.

I want to thank you today for posting this video, it was a LOT of help for me . I think I went over the information and the many posted comments many, many times this afternoon as I built my one parts rack. Thanks! I know it has already saved me a lot of time looking for stuff,

HF sells a lot of junk but it's great for items like these organizers. Thanks for sharing the build.

I built a shorter version using your video as a guide. Needed to keep it shorter than 30" so I ended up with 5 of the same cases you used plus one of the deeper ones. I used 1/2" plywood for the sides and back and 3/4 for the top and bottom (stuff I had). Used the same casters and 1 x 2 cleats to hold the cases. Turned out great so thanks for the inspiration. BTW you can use WD40 to remove stickers, works good.

And huge Kudo's to Harbor Freight for now wrapping these boxes in cellophane! The labels are now longer stuck to the parts boxes. Nice. But it still begs the question on Rubbermaid labels. Do they have an unsharable patent on the adhesive they use on all their product labels? Never ever have we purchased a Rubbermaid product where the label didn't just peel cleanly off. Amazing that other companies haven't grasped that concept.

FYI, I have a heavy rolling aircraft tool chest, it spent the bulk of its working life at Northrup aircraft. It sits on a base of 1" plywood, about 4" bigger then the foot print of the tool box with 4 large industrial 5” casters. This was done because the facility was on various levels and used ramp of various grades to give access the facility. Sometimes when we rolled a tool box down a ramp, they can tip over because they can be top heavy. The wheels sit outboard of the chests foot print giving it a larger foot print and reducing the risk of a tip-over. Consider that the foot print of a single standard Harbor Freight parts tray is about 50% of the size of my rolling tool chest so it is most likely to be 200% more likely to tip over. So increase the foot print of the casters by moving them 3-4 Inches outside the foot print. Consider building a upside down box and placing the center of the casters higher than bottom most parts trays the Plus the bigger casters roll over small nuts and bolt better than the little ones. Also don't under estimate the weight of your Nuts and Bolts, once I filled even part way filled my trays they weight 10-15 Lbs. each on average and it adds up quick I have 8 trays right now and the 80-120 Lbs. total. So when I add another 4 trays that will make my total weight 140-180 Lbs. I wanted to get this out because the plastic trays will not do well in a tip-over

Good to hear. I'm building from your plans today. I'm going to put a pine reinforcement across the front (made from the same material as the shelf supports) from the left side to the right, about in the middle, to keep the two sides from oil canning. Nice job. I'm sure you've done wonders for Home Depot and Harbor Freight :)

I made one of these a week ago after watching the same Tested video referenced. It looks like i used the same casters. It's great. Good tip on removing the stickers.

This is great! I made one very similar. You may want to replace one of the pairs of supports near the middle with a full 3/4" spacer. even with a solid back, the open side tends to collapse inward when the weighted sorters are added.

WD-40 to remove any type of stickers or sticky stuff. Works like a charm! Even takes off the emblems off the car and does not damage finish coat.

Awesome video. I love stuff like this. Customized to the way you need it and no making do with store bought items. Nice job.

I have turned an old cheap steel shelving rack that belonged to my mom and dad. It stands 72" tall X 50" wide X 18"deep Right now it holds eight trays all full, buying four more next weekend 2 on each shelf. when I am finished I will have a total of 16. I got 6 cheap steel shelving unit and had to break most down all but 3 in to parts for easy storage. I even store the nuts and stove bolts in the trays. So I added extra shelf's to my part storage unit. Also all the trays will be between 72"and 24" off the floor and the bottom shelf hold 2 of my 4 XL boxes of old bath towels/rags from my mother-in-laws house. The idea of a rolling unit would not have work for me, I have 3 roll-way tool chests and these just take up to much space that placing the rack against the wall made more sense.

That same Design out of Steel and either Black or Red would be Awesome... HARBOUR FREIGHT should be all over that..

It's keep all the screws, nuts, bolts and more dust free! ! ! Also, glass jars with screws in it can be damages glass by dropping on the floor/ground too.

Nice presentation. I really appreciate you giving the cost of the items in your project.

Your nail gun case is awesome !!

Just a pleasure to watch your efforts, skill and work. Thanks for taking the time buddy!

Lighter fluid (like Zippo or Ronson) works really good on stickers.

Mine came out great and I use it all the time.

awesome. I'd seen the tested Savage video, and I wanted something similar but cheaper. Thanks for all the pre-work.. makes it easier for the rest of us.

Hi just wanted to say I built this case and I like it a lot. Thank you

I used a blow dryer to heat up sticker a bit and it comes off clean.

I've just found this channel and I like its content. Congratulations on the simplicity and cost-effectiveness of the presented ideas! :) Subscribed.

I've watched the other videos, but I'm going your way!

To get labels off use a heat gun or hair dryer... a lot easier....

BTW other than the lids, the harbor freight sorter looks exactly like the Stanley sorter; the Harbor freight unit uses a Polypropylene lid while the Stanley unit uses a Polycarbonate lid. I purchased one deep and one shallow case from Harbor Freight; no issues with the lid so far.

I haven't tried any cleaner type fluid, but I worked at a theme park as a stage technician and we had some snow sleds that came with labels using a heat gun to heat up the labels helped them peel really easy! maybe next time give it a try :)

Love your table saw push stick. gotta make one of those!

Great idea ! I've got my cross stitch supplies in some boxes that are very similar but smaller, so I'm going to use the basic idea and make a cart to put them in. I might use some mahogany and put a door on so I could put it in the living room for easier access. Thanks for the great video - so good in fact I subscribed.

I have a similar set up but my units are 3" deep/thick which I wanted. I have my stuff labeled by types of stuff like plumbing, electrical, cabling, etc. So when I have a plumbing job around the house grab that one and off to make the fix. Also, depending on how your shop dust collection is or is not I'd put a door on the unit so you don't have to clean out the inside. Also, mine fits under the work bench and does not roll. As I said I only take the pertinent storage box to the project. Nice video and project just thought i'd add my 2 cents.

I like the idea, but would make it the height of your table saw. This would allow you to use it as an outfeed table if you needed it.

parrafin wax will also help your cases slide in and out like ball bearings.

Very cool... I had the same idea. I haven't built the cabinet yet but I am constantly looking through the Harbor Freight flyers for sales on those bin holders (I usually buy them for $5.99 each) and I probably have thirty of them and plan to do just what you did to store small parts. I saw the same Adam Savage video and that gave me the idea too but those bins he had were $55 dollars each. He can afford them but I cannot (well I cloud buy some but I'm cheap). I think Harbor Freight provides a pretty reasonable product for the price. Plus if they break... They're cheap enough to replace! Great video!

Good idea. I like the vertical storage. Not as much bending down. Us guys with bad backs avoid that as much as possible.

Nice, simple, cheap, and practical!

Wow man, very very cool. You're quite the craftsman!!

Real nice. You could have also cut a spacer to lay out your supports. It would speed things up. Just position your first support and index off it with the spacer, then repeat with next support and so on.

For label removal on plastic Zippo lighter fluid works well and doesn't haze the plastic.

I found your video and really liked this solution for parts storage. I bought the same storage boxes and started filling them up and realized how heavy they were all going to get. It's been over a year since you built this one so I was wondering how it's holding up. The design is great but was curious if there was anything you would change if you had to build it again. Thanks and keep the vids coming.

Really nice man! I've been wanting to make this ever since I saw the Tested video! I also have the boxes you have (mine are red though). They're sold in Sweden as well! :) Great that you have plans for this. It saves some time! I don't need twelve at the moment, but thats easy to modify! Thanks!!

Love the safety shoes 😆

WD 40 is great at removing stickers and its better than those heavy fumes from what you mentioned .Love your video .I saw it twice !

i had the same idea when i was watching the tested episode. great done

Keren tempat kerja yang sangat rapih

FYI the thin cases are on sale for $5.99 until 12/31/18 with coupon limit 9... I bought 8 of those today along with 2 of the thick cases and 4 of the half width and they also had some other cases that were odd sized (18.5"x6.75"x3.5") for under $5 but they don't use the bins they have removable dividers which divide the units into 7 compartments of 2 3/16"w x 5 3/8"w x 2 1/2" with two additional (albeit probably of little use 1"w x 5 3/8"w x 2 1/2" d compartments BUT the dividers are removable, so you can configure them in many ways. All tolled I got 2 of the thick full size cases($12.99) , 8 of the thin full size cases($5.99) , 4 of the half size thin cases ($4.79) and 4 of the oddly sized cases ($4.79) for just a tick over $120 (I budgeted $80...)including tax. I'm planning to build a fixed rather than mobile shelf which will house the modular cells for the thick or thin, full or half sized in two columns right and left with a single slightly deeper column of the oddly shaped units in the middle. This should work nicely in the area between my wife's New Chevy Traverse and the wall

Great video interesting i prefer draws i could not be arssed opening boxes. for i would remove the lids or the small boxes i have put in the draw

i use a heat gun to remove the stickers, it worked great, no mess

good job . I like it I have over 50 cases going to do the same thing thank you for your video

Good Job! I am planning on building something similar soon. Only I will make mine out of steel.

Very nice. It will make your life a lot easier.

After removing the label from the Harbor Freight Case, I use GOO GON, You have to use a little elbow grease, but it works.

I like the idea very much. I think maybe you should've doubled the floor thickness with 2 sheets of OSB, or used a hardwood frame under the OSB floor. I'd worry that the stack will be pretty heavy and the OSB will sag.

wd-40 my friend works great to remove adhesive and goo

Nice organizer. You can use a scraper to scrape the flashing off of the handles to flatten it a bit and it will take a label a little better. And yes the retail labels SUCK!

I like this!-At the present time i'm using an old Dewy decimal card rack with dividers I bought at a city auction years ago-(Computers killed the cards) LOL-Its not the best and definitely not portable. Im considering build one like yours.-Only I would use real Plywood and double the bottom up-Good build and thanks for the info!

Whoa! This is just what we've had in mind! Thanks so much! You've motivated us too!! Best of luck!

for what it is worth a really good way to remove stickers without chemicals is heat from either a heat gun or hairdryer. The heat causes the adhesive to loosen making the sticker reasonably easy to peal off. If any residue remains use an almost dry ball of rubber cement and roll it around the surface to pick up the leftover adhesive.

Removing the big sticker on the lid: Heat softens the adhesive and makes them peel easily though slowly, BUT... If you heat the sticker, the glue is likely to come off of the sticker and stick to the lid, SO... With the lid upside down and at an angle, run HOT water over it while pulling the sticker down underneath. It's important to not let the sticker get wet. It will lose its integrity and discintigrate​. Sometimes a hot blow dryer works fine too.

Love the Idea for Value coupon a Day !, You should have Made a Spacer to put the Slats on though, it would keep them spaced perfectly 8) also Liked the Nailer case. I'm going to make a Roller cart to hold my little Compressor, Hose, Gun & Accessories storage on it. I Really like the Project, I'll have to make me one.

Use Goo Gone on the stickers. It works very well.

Great idea!

you can use a heat gun start a corner apply some heat and slowly peal back

great job, idea and shoes :P I also used that style of container, as I am not paying for Sortimo :)

nice storage ideas. you have very silent compressor for the brad nailer

Did anyone see the new harbor freight cases?? They are total garage compared to the older ones. I have to find different cases now to use. Stanley are 2x the price... I might have to go with tackle box cases

Remove (but keep somewhere) the lids from the boxes. That way you can see into the box straight away and may not even have to put the box on top to get what you need.

I just bought some and they changed the packaging to shrink wrap with the label is not glued, thanks for the video

Great idea and tutorial. Thank you for the free plan on your site too.

This inspired me to buy the cases and then stack them on a shelf lol. Jk. Nice job. I'm thinking of doing something similar but using 3/4 plywood, routering in grooves and using MDF as shelves with a cross support of some sort. This way, I won't have to make the slots as snug and I can mix in other cases of other dimensions that I have.

fantastic! thanks!

Nice job. Use some paste wax on the inside of that carcass and you will be amazed and the lack of friction.

great video and great project... thanks for sharing it !

something ive wondered, 10:00 buzzing. nail fired silence buzzing, same when im recording and i close the door, hood or trunk theres a second of silence before the sound returns

I just use WD-40. I know im gonna get some people angry at me but I just sprayed some of that on the label before even trying to remove it, and it came right off after soaking in.

3m used to make a Art work cleaner smelt like petrol/gas and cleaned off spray glue very easy all you did was let it soak in and then peel off came in small tin , I am sure its available

Steel toe house slippers?

I made the same tower using this video as a guide, but I skipped the idea of adding wheels to it. I dont have a need to move the thing anyplace... If I were to offer one suggestion, it would be to design some type of stand to hold an open storage bin as you dig though it . I noticed that the Mythbuster guy also had to make his own stand to hold the ones he was looking though.

Thats exactly that, what I was looking for. Thanks for sharing.

OK Dave I used your video to make my own storage rack, but there is a problem. The problem comes when you want to use the trays and you pull them out and at that point you have to find a place to set them so you can open them up. Now the common answer is to just walk over to the work bench, but we all know that is already filed with junk. What is needed is a type of tray "holder" that is not a work bench and cant do anything else but hold the harbor freight trays when you want to open one up. The tray "holder" cant be usefull for anything else or else it will be just as covered in junk as the work bench. So we need a design that is some how connected to the storage stack you built, yet is not in the way when you push things off to the side.

very nice

great job! I'm going to give it a try. Thanks

Next time sawing, pay some attention to safety gear; at least a push stick and hearing protection

use a hair dryer at a 45* angle and it will peel right off

I laughed when I saw your video thumbnail. Mine is the same just a bit shorter so It is the height of my Bench. :)

Great video, Man. I saw the same Savage video and fell in love with that rack. I actually went as far as buying a couple of the Bosch/Sortimo organizers. I have to say, I wasn't that impressed. They're nice, but making that rack out of Sortimos would cost a small fortune. I saw the Harbor Freight boxes, but we don't have a HF local, so I wasn't sure if they were junk or not. I think I'm going to try them, based on your video. At that price I can buy 4 for the price of 1 Sortimo.

I already have some of those cases, so this project is perfect!

Wow so beautiful plz tell me price

Hi, this video is 6 years old now can you tell me how the racking has held up. I was wondering if the glue and nails was strong enough for the supports to hold the cases? Also it looked a little top heavy, any issues when moving the rack?

26.01.19 - lovey dog, will make one today.

To remove the label without any residue, use a heat gun or blow dryer.

Nice

If you take some of the tray out of the box and the close the lid on the remaining trays and pick it up and carry it around, do they stay in place??? Or do they slide around?? in other words, if I pull out half the trays on one of the boxes so I can put my rivets in the trays on one half and then the rivet gun on the other side, will the trays full of rivets stay in place???

Great solution!

killer boots man

very smart work

A hair dryer works well for removing stickers