Introduction: The Ultimate Tool Organizer "Metal Magnetic Pegboard" for Less Than 10$

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About: I love working with my hands and making stuff, jewelry and metal working are my passion

I'm in the process of making my own work space in a shed and i was faced with the same problem anyone that tries to organize his tools face, to pegboard or not to pegboard ? that's really a big question, pegboards!! you love to hate them and hate to love them , i tried to find a variant of the pegboard idea and found out there is metal pegboards which was really expensive and wouldn't hold up as many tools as i want it to, so i went ahead and made one and it didn't cost me hardly anything and used salvaged materials "assuming that you already have the tools"

here is a picture of the semi final board because I'm still adding tools to it

Step 1: Materials & Tools

materials:-
- an old washer (you can get it for free from the dumb or craigslist for me i used my old ready to be thrown away washer)
also don't limit yourself here you only need the sheet metal out of it so any appliance with a big straight sheet metal cover will work like a refrigerator, be imaginative.
the washer was perfect it has a 77" W 35" H sheet metal cover which is 18 AWG about 1MM sturdy and easy to work with
, powder coated for rust and abuse protection all over i was happy with the material.

- 2  2x4s for making a frame
- 1 1/4 screws (about 30)
- 5/8   4" lag screws (6)
optional
-pegboard hooks (or you can make your own)
-hard disk drive magnets "rare earth magnets"

Tools:-
- drill
- metal drill bits (i used step drill bits but any will do)
- long ruler
- pencil
- dotted rubber gloves
- safety glasses
- tin snips or hack saw or angle grinder anything available will do

Step 2: Perparing the Sheet Metal and Making the Frame

i won't put here how to dismantle your washer it's pretty straight forward just try not to damage or scratch the powder coating while you are doing it
after you dismantle your washer you will be left with a bent sheet metal in two places which made the 3 sides of the washer
and you will find that the sheet metal already have a metal frame spot welded in the corners you have to cut it and then to straighten you need to cut straight lines in the round corners (see picture for details i cannot explain it better with words)

after you open it up it will look like the second picture

- cut the 2x4s into the length of the widest side and screw it from the sides through the metal ledge
i was lucky to have the metal ledge which make the washer a better choice and to be even better it has holes already in it but if yours didn't holes can be drilled easily
put a screw every feet or 2 feet and also at the ends of the 2x4s

i only put 2 sides of the frame the rest didn't seem to be needed

one final note i choose 2x4 specially even if they will take space from the pegboard but they will hold the sheet metal ridged and i also planned to use the top and bottom 4 inches of the pegboard for big tools storage so there is no waste in space




Step 3: Marking and Drilling

marking
-mark the end of the 2x4 in the front side , you don't need to drill into that and leave an extra inch and then start marking lines every inch vertically and horizontally using a pencil
i used my 24" square which the metal ruler was exactly 1 inch in width
anyway so many ways to mark your holes even ones that are far more accurate than my method but i used what was available to me and with acceptable precision
as an example your old normal pegboard would be a great marker but i didn't have an old one i'm just starting to make my own shop remember!!!
i only marked 1/3 of the sheet of metal with this markings because i had plans for the rest

Drilling
- i first used a center punch but after a couple holes i found out that it didn't really make a difference the drill bit doesn't slide over the powder coating as easily as on bare metal so i stopped using it
i used a step drill bit which is a really great tool and makes very clean and round holes
i bought the step drill bit in a set of 3 at HF for 10 $  but normal metal drill bits works as well

when i started drilling i used my cordless drill which was working fine but was tedious each hole took about 10 seconds  which is nothing if you are going to drill a couple holes
but for only 1/3 of the whole board i had to drill 625 holes i counted

so i switched to my corded drill which was a significant improvement it only took me 2 seconds to drill a hole
so 625 holes seems like it would take a long time to do but in fact if you went at it and didn't rest you can be done in 30 min

don't forget to put a sacrificial piece of wood under the board when drilling.
don't foeget to wear gloves it will protect your hands from nasty metal shavings and it has another very important use i will reveal later.


for the far 1/3 of the board i planned to make a 4" space between each hole vertically and horizontally and after you are done with the marking start marking between the rows and columns like in the picture (can't explain better in English since it's not my native language)

start drilling again

after you finished with drilling you will have lots of pencil marks on the board, do you remember the glove i told you to wear to protect your hand here is the second use for it , just scrub the markings with the glove and the rubber dots on it will work as an eraser and remove the pencil marks without leaving any residue

Step 4: Prepare to Put It Up

mark the studs on the wall where you want to hang the board
and mark that on the board too
leave 1 1/2 " from top and drill your holes
i had 4 studs across the length of my board so i drilled 4 holes on the top and 2 holes in the middle bottom just to hole the board stable against the wall using lag screws

i tried and used 3/8 lag screws but they weren't very strong and the one i used broke in half so i had to use bigger and i used 5/8 which hold up very good and so sturdy

where i was going to put the board up i had a receptacle which will be covered with the board
so i used one of the plugs to connect to my 10 outlet power strip which is mounted  right under the board and child proofed the second outlet so to prevent any misfortune accident from happening


have one to help you put it up if you are like me don't have anyone to help just sit it on something and try to level it to the height you need it to be for me i put it 10 inches away from my bench top and i can easily reach the highest tool there an i'm not very tall either so it's really up to your liking

Step 5: Start to Put Up the Hooks and Tools

put your hooks and start organizing your tools on it
all hooks went snugly and nicely
 well now we are done with 2/3 of the board so what about the middle 1/3 that didn't has any holes in it
that's for the next step

Step 6: The Magnetic Part

the middle 1/3 of the board i intended for it to be magnetic so i can stick odd shaped tools and parts and the pieces and screws of projects i'm working on instead of it being on the bench top cluttering everything

so i tried to figure out a way to solve this problem without paying anything
and i had a few old hard drives laying there waiting for me to harvest for parts i opened up and got the magnets out which is really powerful
remove the magnets from the metal plate glued to it and it will hold very tight to the metal pegboard and to any tools you hang on it .
for me i was afraid normal use will chip and crack the magnets and also they are so smooth i didn't want them to slide out of there designated place so here you have a lot of options to use
i went with the heat shrink tube way which is pretty simple and effective you slide the magnet into a piece of heat shrink tube and heat it and then cut the excessive material and you are done
it gives the magnet the traction it needs and protects it from chipping and also makes it easier for you to remove the magnet from the board because without it it's really a challenge

you can also use duck-tape which will work as good and for the fancy color loving inclined persons vinyl would be a good option too 
i also had this stainless steel magnetic plates i used there for small parts

i still adding more magnets i just thought of sharing this with you guys since i really learned a lot from this site and it's about time to give back.

please rate, comment and eventually vote
thank you all

Step 7: Finished Board Pictures

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