The Woodshop Shed

Router Bit Storage

Furnished content.
(from Lumberjocks.com)


Hi:I recently decided to address the longstanding issue I've had with my router bit collection.The disarray of my router bit collection has been an annoyance, and a couple of early attempts to deal with this problem have not resulted in a solution.Until NOW!The trouble was I had a variety of router bits some with 1/2 shanks, others with 1/4 shanks and a few select upward-spiral bits with 5/16 shanks. How many holes needed to be drilled for the 1/2 bits and how many for the 1/4 bits you see where this is going :-)It was a posting at Woodsmith magazine that offered the solution. Was it a drawer, or a cabinet or a shelf that would solve my problem?NO! It was a TRAY!Here is the link: https://www.woodsmith.com/article/router-bit-storage-solution/They suggested only two hole sizes. As you can see, it's better yet to drill THREE sized holes into each cube of wood, each hole for a different sized router bit shank. That means is you drill holes into, say, 64 cubes, you have 192 possible holes to choose from thirty of each size.AND, this means you get to use some of the scrap hardwood lying around your shop for this project.So I started making wood blocks 2 on each side. I decided on 64 blocks so I would have a tray with inside measurements slightly larger than 16 wide.I chose hardwood because it machines so well. The holes drilled are crisp and clean. And when the edges of the cubes are chamfered slightly, and the holes as well, the cubes look REALLY sharp!Beware you must drill the holes slightly larger than the bits they are intended to hold, otherwise the shanks will not fit comfortably into the holes. I chose drill bits 1/64 larger than the shank sizes, and they worked well.My new router bit storage solution may not be unique, but it certainly solved my router bit storage problem.

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