Project details
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Although I am thankful to have a large collection of drills, drivers, saws, and more, they often end up piled in an open cubby somewhere as most of them lack dedicated homes. To resolve this issue, I’m building shelves with slotted dividers to hold each individual tool.
In part one of this series, I showed you how to create the shell of a 4×8 mobile workbench. In this video, I’ll demonstrate how I added tool organization to one of the cabinets.
For the cut list, tools, and materials needed for this project, scroll down to the bottom of this page.
Steps for Adding Tool Storage to a Workbench
1. Measure and size your cabinet
Rip each shelf to size to fit inside the depth of your cabinet. I tested some spacing and found that about 4-inch cubbies work for my tools, but you can fine-tune this spacing to the tool you plan to store in each cubby. I’ll be making the dividers from ¼-inch plywood.
There are a lot of ways to cut the slots into the shelves like a router or even a circular saw paired with a straightedge and set to a shallow depth, but I used a table saw. I don’t have a dado stack, so I ran the boards through twice with a bit of spacing to create the ¼-inch wide groove. Next, I drilled pocket holes along the ends of each piece, so I could easily screw it into place inside the cabinet.
2. Create your dividers
The top opening has dividers placed every four inches, while the middle opening only has two dividers to separate my larger saws. The lowest opening has no dividers since that’s where I plan to house my awkwardly sized sander. Next, I cut the dividers to size, clipping the front edge of each divider at an angle to allow my hand to more easily reach in a grab each tool.
3. Install shelves
To install the shelves, I applied glue to each slot, placed the dividers, squared up the assembly, and clamped the pieces in place. Once dry, I removed the clamp and lowered the assembly into the cabinet. If I wasn’t able to easily remove the benchtop, I also could have removed the doors to slide it in from the front.
Once in position, I screwed the shelves into the walls of the cabinet with pocket hole screws. I then added the lower shelf and dividers using pocket hole screws and glue.
4. Place your tools in their new home
Finally, I slid my tools into place and closed the cabinet doors on yet another storage solution solved in this ultimate mobile workbench.
To see the other customizations I made to this bench, click the links below this video:
- Building a Mobile Workbench with Built-In Table Saw
- Building DIY Drawers
- Creating a Dust Collection System
- Adding a Downdraft Sanding Station
- Adding a Clamp Rack
Cut list
- ¾” Plywood Shelf – 1 @ 28 ¾” W x 5″ D
- ¾” Plywood Shelf – 2 @ 28 ¾”W x 13 ¼” D
- ¼” Plywood Dividers – 8 @ 12 ½” H x 13 ¼” D
Note: ¾-inch plywood shelves are made from scrap pieces from the mobile workbench frame
