A problem I am just now having & in future

dinkjs

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Oct 22, 2009
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So I only have the TS55 and the OF1400, but I have a SYS 1 Uni and a Sys2 Empty on the way and I also have a sortainer 9 drawer.  So as of right now I have to take off the Sys Uni to get to my TS55.  To get to my OF1400 I have to take off the Uni, and the TS55.  This can get cumbersome rather quickly.  When the Sys 2 empty gets here which will either hold my Dewalt drill or my kreg Jig supplies that will also throw a wrench into the mix.  Now a forwarn I use the Sys Uni to hold all my insert bits and a few of my popular size screwdrivers.  I plan to keep this attached to the Sys 2 empty if I use it for my drill.

In the future as I add a couple more things that either comes in a systainer or will need one to store the stuff it will get frustrating to have to go through multiple systainers to get to the one I need.

So here is the question for you chaps.  THIS ONLY PERTAINS TO PEOPLE WHO KEEP THERE PRODUCTS IN THERE GARAGE ONLY.  NOT MOBILE GUYS.

How are you separating your systainers so they stay together based on tasks..ex CXS drill systainer with maybe one you keep all your bits in, or a sander systainer with a systainer for just sander sheets WITHOUT having a wall 2 feet tall of just systainers that go together.

Pictures would be wonderful.

I do know I could make a giant cart with pull out bottoms for each systainer but I dont feel like building a Chaos Theory system or a wall of Festool like in Indianapolis.

So your ideas or pictures would be wonderful of how you keep your systainers together that co-inside with each other.

I hope this isn't confusing
 
Other than building a cheap imitation sysport (which I have done and love) I don't know what to recommend.  Space is space.  When I built mine I counted on the fact that I had a top to set out my tools for a task or work at hand.

Can;'t wait to see what others suggest!

Peter
 
The only Festools I keep in their Systainers in my shop are: either brand new, so not yet assigned to a work station; or kept packed and instantly ready to be transported to sites.

I do keep task Systainers packed and ready. Some have abrasive assortments and so on. Those are brought back to the supply room at the end of every shift, where one person does the re-stocking before the next shift, which allows us to keep track of all supplies used on every project as the Systainers are re-stocked. This way every work station has far more than a shift worth of supplies. At the TS55 cutting table there is a Systainer with a custom insert so spares of the blades we use are there without the need to walk to the tool crib. And so on...

To eliminate the problem of staking and re-stacking Systainers within my shop, the tools we use a lot are stored on open shelves. From there they go to rolling tool stations which are taken to every work station.
 
I work 95% of my time in a basement workshop.  On occasion I'll take a Systainer or two to do a job remote in my home or a friends home.  

I have a Festool Sysport as well as several home made Systainer storage units - pullouts under a workbench, pullouts under a jointer/planer, storage inside lower cabinets, etc.  Each of the pullouts is designed to store a Systainer with the front facing so I can read what is in it easily.  For those units that are not Festool tools, I found images on the Internet and printed them out and used vinyl pockets from an office supply store to clearly identify what is in them from a distance.  

1 - I have all my sustainers labeled as well as the doors where I keep things behind them - sandpaper, drill bits, etc.  That helps a lot in locating what I need.
2 - I have had the roll-about unit with a large stack on them, and don't like that for the reason you outlined - having to move too many around.  
3 - The pull-outs in the cabinets or Sysports are the way to go.
4 - If you have related systainers, like a Domino with the supplies or a sander with paper, I'd suggest you keep those close to each other.
5 - Search the forum for 'sysport' and you will get a lot of ideas for ways to build storage that will let you spend more time working and less time moving sustainers from stack to stack.

neil

 
Built a series of sysports  ( I got 3 now) outta baltic birch and blum drawer slides
 
Kev said:
Cheap modular shelves.

Yup! Maybe something like this from IKEA if you don't want to make it yourself. That's what I've done.

IKEA Ivar, $148 for a 3 module shelf.
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And the day you come up with at better solution you can always use the shelfs for something else.
You can NEVER get shelfs enough in your workshop! Just like clamps...you need more and more. [big grin]
 
Even though I'm fairly new to Festool, I soon encountered a similar problem--the stack of Systainers on my CT26 was as tall as I am, and the tool needed seemed always to be buried deep in the stack.

I made a rolling cabinet that is also the table for my Kapex; 6 trays for Systainers of various sizes, with full-extension drawer slides and trays deep enough to store things behind the Systainer. (Like boxes of sanding disks behind the Rotex Systainer, etc.)

I also made a rolling cabinet to fit under my MFT/3. It's not made for Systainers--it has two banks of 5 drawers each, and an open middle between the drawer banks for jigs and templates.

One of the main conclusions I have reached so far is that rolliing units are very useful in a small shop. (And that Harbor Freight is a good source for cheap casters that seem entirely satisfactory.)
 
Sounds like we are all over the place on what works best.  In my case, the garage shop is so jam-packed with stuff I have to go outside to change my mind.  So there's no room for rolling stuff around.  I build small footprint tall (six feet) sysports.  I put casters on the first ones, but wound up never moving them.

Except for the TS55, TDK12, and the CXS - which live on my MFT and WCR, all my Festools stay in their systainers in the sysport.  There is a spacious sliding drawer for each with room for accessories (sandpaper, trim guides, etc) that go with that particular tool.  Guide rails are mounted on the sides.  Infrequently used stuff is stored on top.  So I get a lot of stuff stored in basically the footprint of a systainer plus a few inches of depth for accessories.

But the IKEA shelves would do pretty much the same thing.
 
hrrb said:
Kev said:
Cheap modular shelves.

Yup! Maybe something like this from IKEA if you don't want to make it yourself. That's what I've done.

IKEA Ivar, $148 for a 3 module shelf.
[attachimg=#]

And the day you come up with at better solution you can always use the shelfs for something else.
You can NEVER get shelfs enough in your workshop! Just like clamps...you need more and more. [big grin]

EXACTLY !!

Don't make my mistake of not having enough organised storage. Even if what you choose is short term, it'll pay for itself in reduced frustration.
 
I'm a big fan of having everything on wheels so I can set up for the project I'm on:

I use 6 of these for bulk storage:

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For tools I have a 53" Kennedy maintenance cart with chests on top.

My SCMS and portable table saw are on carts:

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And my work benches are casterized. I have 3 of them - 2 24x96" and 1 24 x 60". A lot of the time the 24x96's are back to back bridged by a sacrificial surface over them.

The Festool track saw was the huge step forward for my organization because with that I don't need to dedicate a giant portion of my garage to a table saw and feed tables. Someday I hope that the folks at Saw Stop will come with a higher end portable saw so I can replace the Bosch.

The other thing I am thinking of (drooling at the thought of actually) is a Hammer jointer/planer. It looks like these are relatively compact with respect to storage.
 
IKEA has an even cheaper version of the IVAR shelves, made for storage in places where looks doesn't matter. I think the current version is called STEN and the old is called GORM, but I could be wrong on the names. It's been a while since I bought some.

But of course, THE best solution is to store all your tools at my place instead. Just ship them to me and I'll take good care of them. :p
 
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