SPINNING ALMOST OUT OF REACH ORGANIZER

This is not my idea.  My grandfather made many for himself and friends.  Possibly not his idea either, but as he past it on, so shall I.

It is a good way to organize small bits and pieces and get them high enough to be out of the way but still be seen and accessed.

Step 1 Materials

Comments

[kz1]

Me grad father's basement workbench had individual jars attached to the underside of shelves. I've wanted to do something like this except use discarded conveyor belt on either end of the wood spars; attached like the seats on a fairis wheel for some serious vertical storage. A motor added to it would be pretty neat too! If I ever get 'round to it, I'll post it here.....now where did I put that conveyor belt........oh yeah, recyling fire hose would work too.

[CHARLESCRANFORD]

I have seen something similar in a baker's oven. Also Wall-E had a cool rotating storage thing in his "house". Can't wait to hear how it turns out.

Thanks,

Charles

[sunshiine]

This is awesome! My husband makes organizers like this. It sure saves the space. You can find things easily! Love it! Have a great day!
Sunshiine

[lpate1]

this would be excellent as a spice jar holder if you made a mini version!

[sweepmo]

I thought the same thing immediately! You could even cut out a few steps and purchase an under-the-cabinet paper towel rack, and replace the dowel with a square one. And use baby food jars. So excited to do this!

[CHARLESCRANFORD]

I love it when one idea starts another, starts another, starts another. Let me know how it turns out.

[lhouse]

Yea, would need a hex or octagonal mounting beam though, for higher capacity and less wasted space.

of course identification would be fun if you go more than 8 sides...

[mysss]

That would be awesome if you used a miter saw and built a 6- or 8- sided base. (Or any other number....)

[delese03]

Nah just a sharpy marker on the bottem of the jars

[lmiqueli]

I think this would be a great project for my sewing/craft room. I have lots of buttons, snaps and other little bits that need organizing! Thanks for sharing!

[wingartist]

Good ideal for a vertical direction and using bins, kind of like a carousel!

[delese03]

I'm thinking of making a version for my kids rooms. perfect for all the little stuff.

[WPee]

BEFORE we hang it on the wall --- hit it with a can of your favorite spray paint
:-) :-)

My guess is most of us do NOT paint our projects because we are not quite sure IF we have put ALL of our finishing touches/pieces on the project....until after we have used it for a while...by then we are off on other projects. :-( :-0

Example:
The military paints 'anything that doesn't move' either GRAY or GREEN.
(sorry NAVY guys --- Blue is just too colorful for garage projects)

My favorite color is RED...somethimes YELLOW... or PURPLE...But don't use GRAY, GREEN, NAVY BLUE...those colors are already spoken for !

[deathnotx101]

Gonna make mine out of plastic animal cracker bear-shaped plastic containers :)

[CHARLESCRANFORD]

I would like to see a finished photo of that. Especially if you had them all facing the same way.

[lhouse]

Probably not the best idea to be mounting these with PLASTIC lids if ANYTHING expected to be heavy, such as the glass container itself, fully loaded jar with screws, bolts, coinage and etc, or fully canned foods. The wear and tear would eventually rip the lid apart.

[CHARLESCRANFORD]

I used 780g plastic peanut butter containers. I have a couple full of bolts, no worries. The lids take a 1 1/2 turn to go on. Most glass containers I have only take 1/4 turn. I was a little concerned because I only had enough smallish screws to use two per lid. The lids flexed a bit and felt flimsy, but when the containers are fully screwed on, they stiffen the lids up and feel secure. I admit I do stand cautiously to the side while spinning it, especially with the sound of all the pieces rattling around.

[de_evans]

Wow, this takes me back. I was about 5 or 6 and trying to "make" one of these like the one in Daddy's workshop, but nailing the baby food jars under the (nice) shelf with only one nail. And making a real big ugly mess. I was so upset because the jars just spun around. So my Dad showed my how I had to put TWO nails in each jar lid - under Mother's NICE shelf. Then we were both in trouble, but so worth it. Great memories, and thanks for the sophisticated spinning version.

[vincent7520]

wise & cool !

[daniel19]

very nice

[lalexander]

a miniature version could be made from empty medication bottles.

[Archergal52]

Clever and useful and awesome!

[patmac]

I've seen the jar storage before, but never on a spinner. It's a terrific idea with so many possibilities! Thanks!

[aespie-whitburn]

That is a great idea. I should build one

[kill-a-watt]

Yea, I've seen this before, except made of baby food jars.

My dad just attached his jars to the bottom of the rafters, but a friend's dad did exactly what you did.

I think the "see-through jar" part is important, no labels are needed.

Thanks for the flashback.

[rickyspears]

Great Instructable Charles! Thanks for sharing. I could envision several of these being installed from the ceiling rafters too instead of the wall.

I look forward to seeing more Instructables from you in the future!

[CHARLESCRANFORD]

Thanks Ricky. I have been looking forward to another instructable from you. You are probably like me and have lots of ideas just waiting to post. I built this and took the pics to post and took over a year to get around to it. I am going to try and post at least one every two months.

[spradlinb]

My biggest question is, what's the "spinney piece" you mention here? I don't see it listed on the materials step, but it seems to be a pretty essential part of the process. Is it just a really long bolt through the 2x4s? Or something else from the hardware store? It looks like a great end result, I'm just scratching my head on what you use as the axle. Thanks for any clarification!

[CHARLESCRANFORD]

Sorry left that bit out. I just used two biggish screws, I think #10 x 3". One each end. I put one washer on the outside of the side piece, to keep the screw head from pushing into the soft plywood and two washers between the side piece and the center spinny piece to reduce friction. I will add this to clear up my instructable. Thanks for pointing this out.

[tinyinkling]

It looks as if there are undocumented lag screws, probably with washers, which connect the "spinny piece" (axle -- the 2x2x4) to the ends (one on each end, centered in the axle). With a pair of washers inside and outside on each end (8 total) and not tightening these down much, it should spin.

[CHARLESCRANFORD]

You could use all kinds of different things; bolts, threaded rods, fancy bearings, or even go all out and have it motorized. I just used wood screws. As you pointed out you don't want to tighten too much. I tighten mine so it takes a little bit of effort to spin. If you have too little friction, the side with the most weight in the containers ends up at the bottom.

Thanks for your reply.

[Nostalgic Guy]

An excellent idea, I have been looking for way to squeeze a bit more space out of my little workshop this is perfect.
I to look forward to seeing what you come up with next.
I have not given any patches yet so the one I am sending you will be the first :-)

[Hisart]

My Dad has several racks like this but he used the larger size baby-food jars. The boards are mounted on a hinges and swing up between the rafters in the unfinished basement workshop. This makes them outta sight and for those of us that are well over six foot, outta head space! When you need something just turn the latch and swing down the board, everything is eye level and easily accessible.

Thanks for the larger version, will have to tell Dad about this upgrade!

[jessyratfink]

This is very neat! I would have never though to do anything like that. Makes me want something similar for my sewing stuff. :)