Simple Storage of hex and round shaft 1/4 in bits

Over time your tool box / shelf / counter / pockets get filled with hex bits and round shaft cutters. It becomes overwhelming simply because each work station requires a different set of tooling and it is the individual that is shifting back and forth from station to station that causes issues with bits wandering. Adding storage options and visual indicators help those wandering bits come back home.

I have been working hard at making my home work space easier to live in and easier to find and store different families of bits such as adapters, flat and phillips bits, Torx, router bits and so on. Motorcycle folks, if you live with an older Japanese carbureted bike and you purchased a special set of JIS (Japanese Industry Standard) bits, this is a great way to make a special storage tray to reduce the rounding of those special "phillips with a dot" screw heads.

The frustration is that the 1/4in hex and the 1/4in shaft don't share the same slot dimensions when you first think about creating storage trays. But with a little cad work, it turns out they do. It may be that you can't find a reason to share round versus hex, but this allows you to make 6-12 trays at any given time and grab them as you find a need.

In general I have been making 4in x 4in trays to start with. I can batch them quickly, it takes about 20 minutes to make 4-6 trays out of 1/2 in plywood with about a .375-.400 in deep slot. I prefer plywood for now being that I can use the Dual Storage slot design as it is based roughly around a .125 in (3.175mm) kerf table saw blade. Make a series of .125in cuts along one axis of the board. When making the perpendicular slot, my table saw as just enough runout that I cut the .125in slot and move the fence 1/16th over to make that slot slightly wider. It's and eyeball adjustment....but for my work space it simply works.

Precision is not as critical as wood is more forgiving when first setting the hex or round shaft into the slot...the wood moves and creates a better press fit.

My 3D printed (FDM) trays required a bit of fine tuning based on machine tolerance and compensating for those simple things like the small radius that is the printed outside vertical edge that was a sharp outside corner in CAD. It also takes longer to print. A full day versus 20 minutes for the multiple plywood trays. I'm not the most efficient on the the home FDM machine admittedly so this comes down to skill, capabilities of equipment and patience. Patience accepts the plywood tray as it is more immediate gratification friendly.

Some quick examples of trays...take the numbers above and run wild. Start making accessories that place the bits in useful proximity to the work piece or station. It will save you time and help keep your work stations clean and ready to use.