Flipping it over and bargain tools!

You might have seen us tackle the first tool drawer organiser our huge Clarke tool chest last week. So now it’s time for part two in our hand tool storage solutions series. We always love how the coloured reverse on the foam shows through the tool profile, so makes it super obvious when anything is missing. But have you thought about how you could work with the reverse of the foam? Our foam comes in a range of stunning colours, so it’s a shame not to see them more! But you might want something a bit brighter, to match company branding or give nice contrast. We have a great range of pliers and grips we want to make storage for including some Facom Tools mole grips. So take a look at how we can use colour to great effect to get these tools organised.

How we’re going to work with the colour.

This weeks project will be on our plier drawer. This was first done about 7 years ago with our Shadow Foam Original. It’s held up really well considering the drawers are in pretty frequent use. But it’s time for an upgrade to our new grade of foam. We’re going for a 50mm piece of custom sized blue base foam. We can cut custom foam to the exact size you want with a lead time of just 3-4 working days.

Planning the layout is always one of the hardest jobs. Take time to make sure the layout works perfectly for you. In this case though, we’ve already done the hard work! We will be keeping it pretty much the same layout as the original plier drawer so can copy that.

Using the scalpel and blades that come in both our basic cutting pack or full cutting kit it’s time to begin cutting. As always we recommend you wear safety cutting gloves when cutting or handling the blades. These come in the cutting kit, so it’s well worth picking one up with your foam.

What’s going in the drawer?

The first item we are cutting in is one of Jonathan’s oldest tools; a set of powder coated Facom mole grips. These are the thing that gave him a real appreciation for getting the best tool you can get for the job. Once he has trace cut around the tool he goes back round cutting down to the required depth. Once you’re done cutting, remove your gloves and it’s time to peel. It’s important to point out that there’s absolutely no difference for you when cutting and peeling the coloured side of the foam to doing it on the black surface. It will be exactly the same.

Another tool that goes in this drawer was our “mystery item” in our last video. Loads of people guessed right that it’s a cable tie tightener and cutter. Again it’s another Facom tool and these retail at £65.00 usually. Jonathan fell very lucky though and found them for a bargain £5 in a local DIY shop!

Because these are hand tools, we’re going to need finger pulls to be able to get them in and out easily. That’s the one big difference, apart from the colour, versus the original layout. We added these using our 1m cutting straight edge that’s also available in our online store. This helps us achieve a really long, neat line. It’s a simple technique and it looks very effective.

Flipping brilliant colours!

We test fit the finished tool drawer organiser into the drawer as always, and it’s perfect. We love the vibrancy of the bright blue against the shape of the tools. Of course this doesn’t give you that contrast when you cut the tools in as you would usually get when cutting through the black layer into the coloured foam. So this way, it’s not quite as obvious if something is missing. But when you compare the two drawers side by side, they really compliment one another.

So of the two tool drawer organisers – coloured top or coloured base – which is your favourite? Let us know what you think.