How to Make a Drill Storage Shelf

To keep your drills safe and out of the way, a tool storage shelf is incredibly useful. Many shelves are not designed to make it easy to access your tools, however. Unless you fork out a lot of money for one that is fitted to hold tools, you may end up keeping your drills on a regular shelf. This tool storage shelf has slots that will safely hold your power tools upright when not in use. The shelf can be mounted to a wall and placed in easy reach. Although this isn’t a beginner project, it’s fairly straightforward. If you have a bit of DIY experience, you shouldn’t have any trouble getting the shelf made. 

Making a Wooden Drill Shelf

Ready to get to work? Here’s how you can make a simple but effective drill storage shelf.

Gather your supplies

Power tools you’ll need for this job include a mitre saw and a jigsaw to cut the wood to size. Along with tools, you’ll also need wood - planks for the drill holder shelf and drill bit storage shelves, as well as the sides of the shelf and the back of the top shelves. You’ll need a spirit level, clamps, wood glue, screws, a tape measure, and safety gear. Drill bits used for this project include a hole saw or a spade bit to make the slots for the drill holders. If you are attaching your shelf to a solid wall, you’ll need a standard bit, screws and anchors. And, of course, your cordless drill will be needed as well. 

Prepare your wood

This shelf will be a standard shelving unit, with three or more shelves. The bottom shelf will be where the drill slots are made. The upper and lower shelves will have backs that will be used to attach the shelf to the wall. The length of the shelf is determined by the number of drills you own. The width will depend on the size of your drills. You want enough space to easily fit drills alongside one another without crowding. Then you will have the two side planks to finish off the shelf. For mounting the shelves on the wall, you’ll need two 1x3 timber planks that are long enough to allow you to position the drill shelf at your preferred height. 

Do your measurements

You will need to measure the width and depth of the slots extremely carefully. Use your tools as a guide. Make sure that you will have enough space for the drills to easily slot in, without falling out or being hard to get in and out of the slots. You should have enough space between slots for drills to fit in alongside each other. Next, mark a straight line about a quarter across the plank. Mark off the spaces where you will add the slots.

Make the drill slots

Once your wood is cut to size and ready, you will make the slots. These will be done using your hole saw or spade bit. The holes will be the width of the slot, so make sure that these are the right size. When you have made your holes, you can use the jigsaw to carefully cut the slots vertically along the lines you have made. Once this is done, you will have rounded slots that your drills can fit into easily. Testing to see that the drills fit is a good idea. If the holes are too tight, you can enlarge them using your space bit. 

Assemble the shelf

Now you will have the slotted drill shelf, as well as planks for your top shelves for accessories and bits. You’ll also have the sides of the shelf ready. Putting the shelf together is easy. Use wood glue and clamps to assemble the shelves, sides and back planks. Once the wood has dried, drill holes and add screws to finish the shelf. You will now have a completed shelf. 

Fit shelf to the wall

The last step is to attach the shelf to the wall. This is where your long 1x3 timber will be used. Decide how high you want the shelf to be on the wall. If your workspace is a shed or a room with wooden walls, you can glue and then drill these long planks into the wall. If the room is a garage or one with solid walls, you will need to attach the plank using screws and anchors. Once the planks are attached vertically to the wall, you can add brackets or drill the shelf directly onto the boards using the back planks. 

You’ll now have easy access to your tools, without having to worry about damage or safety hazards. Looking for drill bits to complete this project? Ruwag has a range of wood drill bits that can be used to make drill storage shelves and many other projects.

Photo: iStock/Antonio_Diaz