Tirez le meilleur parti de vos plateaux Dewalt Toughsystem 2.0

The DeWalt Tough System 2.0 trays were quite a new addition to the range and we already love them. They take what could otherwise be a lot of dead space in the top of the deep boxes and turn it into really useful space. But in this project we take it to the next level and show you how, with the addition of Shadow Foam custom fit inserts, you can really make the most of this space and of your DeWalt trays. Tough System 2.0 trays

How the DeWalt Tough System 2.0 trays work

You might have already seen the Tough System 2.0 trays in use as we made inserts for them in our recent DeWalt Tough System 2.0 transformation project.

The plastic trays that DeWalt recently introduced to the Tough System 2.0 series are made of tough Polycarbonate. They have dual-function side handles. These allow easy removal of box trays when used as a handle. But then they also act as a latch for connecting trays to each other.

We stock custom fit inserts for these trays in all colours, and they’re available in both 50mm and 30mm inserts, depending what you’re storing in them. DeWalt Tough System 2.0 trays

If you’re going to optimise the space you get by Shadowfoaming your own DeWalt trays, all you need to get started is your choice of insert and a cutting kit. As always we recommend you familiarise yourself with the best ways of working with the foam with our short but effective How to Cut and How to Peel tutorials first.

First project – Shallow tray for spanners

The first shallow tray we wanted to organise was going to be for our Britool Expert spanner set. We have these in every size from 24mm down to 5mm. If there were any more spanners than we have, we could have cut them into the foam on their sides to maximise space and fit more in. But as it is, we have plenty of room to store them flat if we’re smart about it. So by top and tailing the OGV end and the open ends it just saves us enough space to fit them all neatly on the insert. DeWalt Tough System 2.0 trays

For these we used a red insert in 30mm depth and added finger pulls to aid getting the spanners out. Also it makes it look really cool with the combination of chrome and the pop of colour from the red and the yellow together.

Next project – deep tray for chisels

Next up we wanted to store our Stanley chisel set into a tray. We also added a claw hammer. Again we did this using a 30mm foam insert, but you can see when we add it to the deep tray it leaves a lot of room. Into which, you can easily add yet another layer if needed.

Third project – shallow tray for laser set

There’s an inherent problem with the deep Tough System boxes. Overall they’re amazing quality and have great functionality. But without the trays and/or foam liners to protect and organise your kit, they’re just a big deep space where you can either waste a lot of the room, or have many tools just piled in there, clanging against one another and that’s not ideal and can cause damage.

We especially don’t want that to happen with something expensive like a laser set, so here we’ve organised ours in a yellow 50mm foam insert to look after it when on the move.

Something a bit different – creating an extra deep foam insert

We also wanted to store some batteries and a charger in the larger, deep Tough System 2.0 trays. So we needed a little more depth than the 50mm insert alone would have given us. So for this project, we took the yellow foam inserts once more. But this time we bonded a 30mm and a 50mm layer together. So this essentially gave us an 80mm insert to worth with.

For storing the charger, this was a little simpler as we didn’t need to cut all the way down through the 50mm insert. But we did add a nifty little concealed section to conceal the unsightly power cable, and a neat plug holder to keep it in place and prevent the pins damaging anything.

The batteries, however, were pretty deep. So for this purpose we wanted to cut through the entire depth of the 50mm insert. We did this before bonding the two sheets together – but remember to keep the pieces you cut out, as by popping them back in the holes before using spray adhesive you negate the need for any masking of the cut-out areas.

By applying our spray adhesive to both pieces of foam and allowing it to go tacky, that’s the best way of achieving a good strong bond. The result was a perfect deep insert which made the perfect removable tray for battery storage and charging.

And now for something totally different….

You’ve seen some of our “concealed” storage ideas before. People loved our Hidden Whisky Drawer from a few years ago. And these trays lend themselves perfectly to doing just that… adding foam inserts as layers and hiding whatever flats your boat in the base of the case. In this weeks video we did just that… combining the DeWalt Tough System 2.0 inserts with our foam inserts to create the ultimate concealed storage for our biccie and beer supplies. So, what do you think, and what will you store in yours?