tool cabinet drawer dividers

[bonny]

i scored a tool chest while clearing out my uncles old place recently and the extra storage potential is really welcome , only problem is though it has no way of dividing up the large drawers and for instance if i put all my large metric , whitworth and a/f spanners in the one drawer they all end up in one big mess , has anyone any simple ideas to make dividers ?
we need a new sub-section on this site for shedology  .

[alanp]

What I do is tape electricians tape on the spanners in different colours for Whitworth, AF and metric. This really helps me. 
Alan

[a101960]

What I did was to get some stiff foam material which I then laid in the drawers. I placed the tools on the foam and traced round them and then cut out inside the tracing with a router. The tools all now sit in the drawers positively located, and the cut outs ensure that only the correct tool will fit the space provided. It is also is a good way of keeping track of what tools have been removed for use. A good aid to house keeping. I can if you want take a picture to illustrate how this works out in practice.

John

[RichardL]

As a dare, each of us, now or right when we get home, could take unprepared and unadorned pictures of our toolbox drawers and face the admiration or ridicule (I think I will receive the latter) of our fellow members. Forget about me taking a picture of my workbenches right now, that would cause Erling to cancel my mebership, delete all my posts and, possibly, send a hit squad to Chicago to wipe me out for emabarrassing the Forum-at-Large.

Richard L

[mikethebrush]

As a dare, each of us, now or right when we get home, could take unprepared and unadorned pictures of our toolbox drawers and face the admiration or ridicule (I think I will receive the latter) of our fellow members. Forget about me taking a picture of my workbenches right now, that would cause Erling to cancel my mebership, delete all my posts and, possibly, send a hit squad to Chicago to wipe me out for emabarrassing the Forum-at-Large.

Richard L

 

im saying nothing

[bonny]

had a bit of a brainwave (for once) i think b+q or homebase sell meter lengths of aluminium angle , i'll check that out and see what sizes they do , pop rivet it in or use self tappers ,for instance i need to divide one drawer in three , for large adjustables , large metric and large imperial spanners,

anyone on here know owt about shed electrics ? i extended my shed a few years ago and have never really done anything to wire it , a sudden death in the family threw everything into chaos and i am only getting back on track now , what do i need to wire the shed properly ?
i have been told that i need to run a heavy cable (what size? it has been suggested 6mm sq) back to the fuse board of the house , have a fuse board in the shed , what type of fuse board do i need ? i don't intend to do any of the work myself but i want to start buying the bits needed and get something done before winter.     

[lawnmowerman]

Bonny, due to the "elf and safety" police you need to get part P sign off for any work done in the garden or outbuildings. Theoretically you can do the work yourself if you are a "competent person". Once the work is complete your local council should send someone to inspect it free of charge, but a lot of councils try to make a charge, or will refuse to do it.
I ran 10mm to my garage via the loft to a fusebord and then on to the workshop with 10mm (only because I had to buy a 50m drum). The reason I went for 10mm is that it is running in trunking through the loft and under fibreglass insulation. 6mm would have done the job as far as current carrying capacity but is only rated at 30A if it is run in open air and may have warmed up too much if covered up.
You will definitely need an RCD, either on the main house consumer unit using a spare fuse way for the feed, or better still, a separate RCD/Fuse so you do not trip the house if you have a problem in the outbuildings. A separate RCD/Fuse will involve new tails from the meter and the electricity company will need to see a sign off before connecting it. The feed to the outbuilding should be fused at 30A.
In the outbuilding you will need a two way consumer unit - 30A MCB for the socket ring main and 5A MCB for the lighting.
Don't forget that if you are going underground outside you will need to convert to a suitable SWA (steel wire armoured) and bury it at the correct depth with marking tape above the cable before you backfill the trench.
I am not a professional electrician and no doubt someone on the forum will have more to add. IMHO, when dealing with electricity and potential fire and safety issues, it is better to over spec materials and unless you are confident in tackling the work yourself, it is worth calling in a professional as there are insurance implications and possible issues when you go to sell your house at a future date.
My work was overseen, inspected and signed off by a professional electrician friend.
I know it seems complicated and possibly over the top, but the regulations are there for very good reasons and the risk is just not worth it.

Jim

[mikethebrush]

im not going to add to that as lawnmowerman has it pretty much covered. the thick end of the estimate for getting a sparks in is running the cables in so if you do that yourself and mount the consumer unit etc ready for connection you will save some wedge

if you did want further info on regs etc you can go to www electriciansforum I have found them invaluable for advice

but having said that lawnmowerman has it covered anyway

[bonny]

thanks to both of you , i'll start getting the stuff togther to do this work , its long overdue now . i have a 5hp colchester lathe, 1hp  pillar drill, a 3hp compressor and welding plant on top of that also , i can't use any of this equipment until i get it connected properly. 

[lawnmowerman]

One final point Bonny. When you fit your lights it is probably best to use moisture resistant fittings with the diffusers that fit on with clips to avoid breaking the tubes when you are moving long lengths of stuff around. Also use daylight tubes if you are using machinery like lathes - they are difficult to get hold of but most suppliers will order them in. As a guide, I have fitted four five foot doubles in a workshop which is 28ft x 12ft and used two switches so I can only have half on at a time.
Sockets are only a few quid each so fit loads - you can never have enough. All cabling should be run in trunking or conduit - I have found that the rectangular white plastic stuff looks quite neat.
As Mike says, run the conduit and cables yourself to save some dosh but check with the sparky who is going to sign it off first to make sure he (or she) is happy with cable sizes, fuse boards etc.

Jim