Drill bit storage ideas

[Ultradog MN]

I have an embarrassingly large collection of drill bits. Maybe it's a sickness but I love drill bits - especially morse taper ones.
But laying all jumbled in drawers is not conducive to finding the one you want to use.
I am looking for some ideas on how you guys store, index and label yours.
Maybe plywood with holes drilled it it?
Maybe set the plywood at an angle?
In a cabinet? Not in a cabinet
Make a couple of daisy wheels on an open stand that you can rotate?
I want it to be nice. Not some schlocky old thing.
There are straight shank and taper shank.
How do you guys do it.
Another question:
My lathe and drill press are both # 3 MT.
I have #1, 2 and 3 MT drills.
Do I really need the 1 MT drills?
Should I sell them and concentrate on just filling out the other two sets?
Do I really need duplicates?
Just rambling on here but I'd like to organize them better, pare down the excess ones and streamline finding the one I want to use.

 

[mmcmdl]

One of my projects these next few days is to organize ( somewhat ) all drill bits and taps that came home . 1000s of them ! My idea is to sort these into small flat rate boxes . The taps will be easy but the drills I'll start out with .050 increments on each box . I just can't seem to come up with a better way at the moment . End mills and reamers maybe the same way .

I'll keep my eyes on this for any ideas from any other hoarders aboard .

 

[RJSakowski]

For me, one of each size is indexed. The remainder looked something like your third photo. One thing that I did was to make plastic pouches in some 6 mil polyethylene using a Seal a Meal sealer. I left the pouches connected so I can roll them up like a wrench set pouch. I grouped together drills in each pouch in increments of .1". It makes it easier finding a replacement and the pouches kepp the drills from scraping on each other.

 

[rabler]

Do I really need the 1 MT drills?

If you have the same size drills in MT 2 or 3, no.
I often find that smaller bit sizes are more common in MT1 or MT2.
For my mill, MT2 is a little easier to deal with. With an R8, the MT3 to R8 adapter eats a lot of Z height.
Obviously like yours my 12CK uses MT3. So I have a mix of MT2 and MT3 and a few adapters. I avoid MT1 and use a chuck for anything in the 1/2" or smaller sizes.

Different sized equipment would be a different story. I really need to fill out my 1/2" - 1 1/2" morse taper bits. I have a few key sizes, but would like to fill in a few more, both drills and reamers.

 

[toprecyler]

This is something I am working on in my home shop too.

Here is a picture of what I made at work, for organizing larger drill bits. I would do it differently by only having one row of bits, vs two. Too hard to get around to the back row.

But was much better than when I started at the job. They just used to live in the chip pan of one lathe. No rhyme or reason in order they were in either.

I plan on redoing it, and adding in more sizes from the spares in another area.

I just drilled holes and used PVC pipe for holders. I then cut some pieces of PVC pipe for adapters for the different shanks. I split a piece lengthwise, and then heated the PVC up in an old oven til it was pliable, and bent the “adaptor “ into the main pc of PVC to fit. This was I had plastic adapters to fit the Morse taper shanks as needed. Not all my drills are a Matched set. Some bigger drills have smaller Morse ends than some of the smaller ones.

Feel free to steal any ideas you like.




Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

 

[Winegrower]

I had a pile of number drills, from #1 to #80 and variable quantities of each size, from one to a dozen, and a few zeros. As a survival strategy, I got a bunch (80) of small manilla envelopes, a few inches by a few inches, just big enough to fit a #1 drill size, and put whatever number of a given size drill in an envelope. Then I stacked up the envelopes in order of size, and made some bundles, say, #1 through 20, 21 through 40, etc. All the drills fit in a few bundles held by rubber bands, and it's pretty fast to select the size wanted...get the right bundle, they're marked of course, and thumb through to the right pack.

 

[tq60]

We had piles of bits from estate sales and just in a drawer.

Saved up and bought a stack of the drawers, they seem to have annual sales.

Then we got lucky and at another sale got bags of new old pouches and filled it.

Still have extras in assorted places...

Sent from my SM-G781V using Tapatalk

 

[dabear3428]

This is something I am working on in my home shop too.

Here is a picture of what I made at work, for organizing larger drill bits. I would do it differently by only having one row of bits, vs two. Too hard to get around to the back row.

But was much better than when I started at the job. They just used to live in the chip pan of one lathe. No rhyme or reason in order they were in either.

I plan on redoing it, and adding in more sizes from the spares in another area.

I just drilled holes and used PVC pipe for holders. I then cut some pieces of PVC pipe for adapters for the different shanks. I split a piece lengthwise, and then heated the PVC up in an old oven til it was pliable, and bent the “adaptor “ into the main pc of PVC to fit. This was I had plastic adapters to fit the Morse taper shanks as needed. Not all my drills are a Matched set. Some bigger drills have smaller Morse ends than some of the smaller ones.

Feel free to steal any ideas you like.

View attachment 460668


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I'm looking at a similar idea where i build 4" - 6" wide pull outs mounted on my wall using drawer slides so i can pull out a slide and look at both sides.

 

[Shotgun]

16 20 25mmcnc Lathe Parts Accessories Turning Tool Bar Slot Tool Bar Square Hole Storage Box Tool Organizer Box Rack - Buy Tool Holder Storage drill Bit Storage collets Storage 16 Tool Bar 20 25mmcnc Lathe Parts Accessories Finishing Box Bar Slot Squ

16 20 25mmcnc Lathe Parts Accessories Turning Tool Bar Slot Tool Bar Square Hole Storage Box Tool Organizer Box Rack - Buy Tool Holder Storage drill Bit Storage collets Storage 16 Tool Bar 20 25mmcnc Lathe Parts Accessories Finishing Box Bar Slot Square Hole Storage Box Tool Carriage Product on...

www.alibaba.com

I have the round drill bit holder, like the top left corner, and love it.

 

[Ultradog MN]

16 20 25mmcnc Lathe Parts Accessories Turning Tool Bar Slot Tool Bar Square Hole Storage Box Tool Organizer Box Rack - Buy Tool Holder Storage drill Bit Storage collets Storage 16 Tool Bar 20 25mmcnc Lathe Parts Accessories Finishing Box Bar Slot Squ

16 20 25mmcnc Lathe Parts Accessories Turning Tool Bar Slot Tool Bar Square Hole Storage Box Tool Organizer Box Rack - Buy Tool Holder Storage drill Bit Storage collets Storage 16 Tool Bar 20 25mmcnc Lathe Parts Accessories Finishing Box Bar Slot Square Hole Storage Box Tool Carriage Product on...

www.alibaba.com

I have the round drill bit holder, like the top left corner, and love it.

It won't let me look at the photos unless I install their app.
Not gonna do that.
Thanks tho.