Akro Bins

Small things are just that small, but they add up. Ever hear of the straw that broke the camels back? Well in most shops/garages nuts, bolts, washers, nails, screws, and all sorts of hardware collect. Our grandfathers used jars with lids attached to a board. Not a bad option, but we use our jars for food, and it isn’t very easy to move them around if needed. This is where Akro Bins come in. They are designed for holding small things in industrial or commercial settings. They come in a variety of colors and sizes. They even have a line of recycled boxes that come in earthy colors. I was given some of these bins and they have been awesome at doing what they are intended to: store small stuff. The hard part was hanging them. Akro makes rails and panels to hang them, but at $30 for a 4′ rail it would be pretty pricy. I would need at least two, maybe three. I considered some 1/8″x 1 1/2″ steel bar which is less expensive, not not cheap. I found this instructable that uses drywall J-Channel, but was concerned about strength with the larger bins. The guy was using the tiny size and I have some that would torque the channel right off. I also needed to install them on bare studs, having to install plywood would only add to the cost.

10 ft. Metal Furring Channel

I ended up finding some furring channel at Home Depot that was $7 for 10′ and was perfect. It had a lip for the bins to clip on, and the width to support the back to keep it from tipping forward. I decided on a 2′ wide section of wall above my work bench between two studs. I cut the channel into 5 2′ lengths and put one up. It worked fine only supported to on the ends with smaller boxes, but the 22.5″ unsupported span flexed with some heavier and larger boxes. I installed a false stud between the two and screwed the channel in the middle. The extra support made a big difference. I spaced the 5 rails with 1″ of gap between. It seemed like a good amount of room to remove boxes without knocking any others off. The channel supported the back of

All attached

Close up

the shorter height boxes well, and the spacing allowed the taller boxes to be supported by the rail below. It all worked out to be the perfect amount of rail for the boxes I have. If I need more I can get more bins and rails.

HF Organizer

For the really small things that I only have a few of I bought a set of little drawers from Harbor Freight. On sale it was $13 and I filled it about halfway with small screws, washers, etc. I also printed out little labels for

the drawers that included pictures. Hopefully it will keep me from having to open half the drawers to find what I need.

This article is one in a series of articles entitled: The Garage. To see all the parts so far CLICK HERE.