To make stackable fastener storage bins:
- Turn a plastic bucket upside down, and mark 3½” from the bottom of the bucket.
- Use a sabre (jigsaw) saw to cut the bottom off the bucket to form the fastener bin.
- Cut a strip of plastic from the side of the remaining bucket to use as the handle.
- Attach the strip of plastic to the bin with pop rivets.
- Repeat to make several more bins that can be stacked inside a 5-gallon bucket.
Watch the video above to find out more.
VIDEO TRANSCRIPT
Danny Lipford: Now Joe, what are you doing to my bucket here?
Joe Truini: This is not your bucket anymore, Danny.
Danny Lipford: Uh-oh.
Joe Truini: What I’m working on is a stacking storage system that you can use with five-gallon pails, like this one here. You can pick them up at any hardware store or lumberyard, or you can use—this is an old paint one I’m using.
What I did is I marked the bottom about 3½” up, and then I used a sabre saw, and I’m just going to cut off the bottom. And what you end up with is a shallow tray, like this, which you can then set inside another full size bucket. In fact if you can hand me that one.
Danny Lipford: OK, you’re not going to be cutting this one, are you?
Joe Truini: No, that one you can keep. And what you do is you cut up two or three of these trays and use them for storing nails and screws—you just drop them right into the bucket. Then when you go to the job, you just carry the whole bucket with you.
Danny Lipford: Now, that’s a pretty tight fit. Once you put a few of those in, how do you get the trays back out?
Joe Truini: Yeah, you’re right. You need some kind of handle, and so here’s a completed one. What I did is I just took a piece of plastic that I’d cut off of the bucket top. And I used a couple of pop rivets, one on each side, so you can fold the handle down. Then you just set it in, fold down the handle, and stick another one on top.
Danny Lipford: I guess if you wanted to kind of divide this up with, you know, some small pieces of wood, I guess you could. So that you could use it for smaller screws and nails.
Joe Truini: Yes. You can use wood, but what I used is just a couple of pieces of cardboard. Cut a slit in each one about halfway up, lock them together, then just stick them right in there. You want a nice, tight fit so they don’t shift around. Then you put different size screws in each one.
Danny Lipford: That’s a neat idea. I guess I need to keep saving those buckets.
Joe Truini: Keep saving them for me.
Further Information
- Bucket Cord Caddy (video)
- Extension Ladder Bucket Holder (video)
- DIY Bucket Container Garden for Your Yard (video)
- Create Personalized Stepping Stones for Your Yard (video)
