Wicked Fast Dremel & Router Bit Organizers Using Dadoes (Instead of Holes)

With router and Dremel bits, I often don't know what I need until I see it.

After several iterations of drilling holes in wood, I began looking for a solution that would:

be faster to make
have a much higher density

After several bad ideas over the course of several months, I had an epiphany: Intersecting dadoes are perfect for keeping cylinders upright.

The idea: Find the perfect dado width. It would need to be just smaller than the shank diameter, yet large enough that the intersection of 2 dadoes would accommodate the shank. A shank can then fit in the intersection, but not the dadoes that make up that intersection.

The Benefits:

Speed
Density
Organizational bliss

The Speed: Wayyyyy faster than I anticipated. In ~25 minutes, I was able to:

Drill 63 holes for the 1/2" shank tray
Drill 216 holes for the 1/4" shank tray
Drill 384 holes for the 1/8" shank tray
Change blade setups between trays
Sand off the tearout in the grooves of each board

In this case, drill = cut a dado, and holes = intersections.

In this Instructable, I'll give you:

All specific dimensions for making organizer trays for 1/2", 1/4", and 1/8" shank trays
Ideas of how to achieve those dimensions using various blade setups.

Note: This is not a prototype. I do many prototypes, but the prototypes for this project were made over a year ago. What I'm showing you here is the tweaked, final project after a year of using the prototypes.

See the video!

I'm pretty stinking excited about this project. It presented a few opportunities for various fun tests. The video contains those tests as well as a walk-through of making these organizer trays.

Note: I used Baltic Birch, but recommend you just use a 2x6 to avoid the glue-up.

Step 1: Gather Parts & Tools

Parts:

Part of a 2x6

Yeah that's all. I went fancier in the video, but a chunk of 2x4 or 2x6 is a great place to start (and end for that matter). It's the perfect thickness and you can avoid having to glue up layers.

Tools:

Oshlun 8" Dado Stack
Freud Thin Kerf Ultimate Plywood Blade (I love this blade, but don't use it for ripping)
Measuring tape tape (millimeters)
Measuring tape tape (inches)
Magical roll of sticky sandpaper

Then of course, a table saw + crosscut sled!

Notice: I use affiliate links to help pay for some of the supplies used in my videos, tests, and Instructables. Your usage of them costs you nothing, and I get a small kickback on any sales, which I bigtime appreciate. I have a strong stance about how I will and won’t use affiliate links: https://www.keithstestgarage.com/affiliate-usage/

Step 2: Prepare & Cut

Here are my findings. (See picture w/ table for more details.)

Set Up Your Crosscut Sled

Measuring tape tape is extremely valuable for cuts like this. I don't care to zero the tape to the blade, but rather, just stick it on and use it as an incremental guide.

When I say "spacing" I really mean "intervals"

I realize "spacing" may refer to the distance between two dadoes. But, I'm referring to the cut increments. So, if the spacing/increment is 1", you'd make cuts at something like 2", 3", 4", 5", 6", etc. (Therefore, the distance between the dadoes will be less.)

Tray for 1/8" Shanks