Tool Storage

I store tools in several places, the shed, the basement and the garage.

...try to store them near where they're used, don't like to use nails, especially in sheet rock.

In more than one place I have hung pegboard, but D-handled tools don't hang well on two hooks and I don't need the height. Also, I'd hung some little screw-in Y hangers thru the sheet rock into the studs, but that seemed to waste wall space.

Then I noticed an odd piece of plastic pipe that someone had "messed up" and had been left laying about, on the off chance that it might come in useful. It happened to be 7" long and for some odd reasons had flat spots on both sides like someone had gotten halfway thru sawing or grinding opposite sides about halfway thru the thickness of the pipe. That gave me an idea.

So, I clamped it on my workbench and filed the rest of the length flat on both sides.

I measured all of my D-handled tools in the garage. All were between 3-3/4" and 4" inside.

Conveniently, my pipe was twice that long, so I marked the halfway mark, AND i drew a line just above the flat spot.

There are better ways to do this,clamp, but I like to imagine how my granddads did things WITHOUT any of the tools we can all buy now. That's a furniture clamp and a hacksaw. And I used a couple files before that.

The pipe was sawed in half in two different directions, and marked for mounting holes. A Sharpie works great for marking the pipe.

VIOLA! The holes were positioned so the flat spot is against the furring strip.

The shovel hangs quite nicely.

It ain't fancy, but it does the job.

Here is a close-up view. The two D-handles on the left are grain scoops. We live in the city so, they don't see much grain, but one belonged to my grandfather and possibly my great-grandfather and the other to my great-uncle. (and I'm a grandfather myself, so that gives you an idea how old they are).

I mentioned that I'd hung tools on the studs and didn't like the spacing.
So, I put 1" x 2" furring strips the length of the wall,and secured THAT to the studs, so i was able to space all the tools just wide enough for the tool. (Then my wife thought the broom belonged in a different location, so I'd suggest keeping the possibility of repositioning in mind when you do this.)

Like I said, I don't like hanging things on nails if it can be done "more elegantly". And I don't throw things away as often as I should, so i ended up with a couple dozen screws that I saved when i replaced screens with storm windows. The round head worked great for hanging brooms and things with a hole in the handle.

You could certainly improve on my efforts; the ends are not square, the corners were chamfered, but not rounded, power tools and a vise would have made everything much quicker, but find it takes me longer to make a mistake without power tools and enjoyed an afternoon in the cool basement while it was too hot to be outdoors and only "tolerable" in the garage.