I thought I would show you how I have organized my shop. This may not work for you, but it works well for me and since I'm the one that is using it, I'm a happy camper.
One of the most important pieces of organizational equipment is my label maker.
It is a Brothers label maker I think I paid about $20-$25 for it for five years ago.
It makes different types of labels, different sizes, different fonts, both horizontal and vertical. Without labels the rest of my organization in bins and boxes would be nearly worthless as I would spend more time searching through them to find the item I am looking for.
In this drawer of plastic boxes of various sizes. The handles clip up onto the lids to hold them closed. As you can see these are labeled. Here are just a couple of drawers full of parts knives.
Here is a fishing tackle tray with assorted replacement Schrade blades, also labeled.
Here are some larger plastic bins filled with knife parts and handle material.
Here are the parts bins with drawers. Most of the drawers are labeled. Overhead are more small boxes with various handle material and some parts.
Here are some of the larger bins on one of my shelves.
These bins are available in various sizes. Office Depot has some very small bins that I use for different sized knife pins that I have pre-made by spinning a head on one end.
Most of the bins that I have in my shop have come from Office Depot or Wal-Mart. Wal-Mart's doesn't have the smaller bins but their larger bins are generally less expensive, although Office Depot's bins are sturdier IMO. The clear rectangle boxes on the left or from a craft store. The light blue square boxes with the clear top were from Office Depot (75 cents to 1 dollar on sale). The little black boxes with the clear lids were containers that a couple magnifying glasses I purchased came in. I love to recycle, when I can get something for free that way.

I included this shot to show what you can do with things you find around the house. This is an old spice rack my wife threw out. Instead of spice bottles I used pill bottles with labels for some manufactured pins I got. The spice rack cost me nothing; my wife was going to throw it out, and of course the pill bottles were destined for the garbage as well. My total out-of-pocket for this rack is next to nothing. All I have invested in it is the price of the labels.

Most of the bins that I have purchased from Wal-Mart or Office Depot I try to buy on sale. Many of the small ones even the 4x4 ones from Wal-Mart or as little as $1 to $1.50 each. Unless you have tons of money (I don't) you won't go out and buy a bunch of boxes and bins all at one time. I watch the sales and pick them up a few at a time. The ones I have been purchased over about a four-year period, so there was no big expense at any one time. Several of the fishing tackle trays I have I got used. Look for these at yards sales, secondhand stores, flea markets etc.,
It's amazing what you can find in the way of storage at flea markets, yard sales, secondhand stores and junk shops. I guess saving money on the things I pick up for my shop fits well with the guy who's trying to fix up old pocketknives.
Well, that is the basic storage and organizational method that I use in my shop. I would like to see how other people organize their shops. I am always looking for new and better ways to organize my shop to make it less cluttered and more efficient.
Please share your tips organization and storage!
