Man Cave – Phase 1 – Tools storage
One of the many projects on my to-do list was to come up with a better way to organize the many tools that I haul around with me. For those that have a ‘more mature’ motor home, this is par for the course to expect to repair stuff. To repair stuff, one must have tools!!!
I repurposed the front bay on the passenger side from an entertainment center to my ‘Man Cave’. I need to give credit to Santa Claus for the naming convention and in the same location!
I have a large toolbox in my garage. In the past, I would simply grab each tray of tools and pile it on the slide that was formerly used for the outside TV. Seeing how I really don’t want to watch TV outside, this was the most logical spot to commandeer for tool storage.
Here’s a photo of the less than primo storage. Sad, isn't it?
Another photo without the tool trays showing the other stuff I bring with me.
My solution was to make a small cabinet that would hold the trays. This way I can continue to just move them from my garage toolbox to the box in the motor home.
I wanted to make it ‘skinny’ to keep the weight down. First step is a quarter sheet of ¾ birch plywood. I cut the 2 sides to measure 24” tall by 18” deep. This would give me 6 trays high by the tray depth.
I needed full extension slides that would work with my drawers. I found these at Lowes and they fit perfectly.
After cutting the two sides, I started to mount the slide bases. The offset from the bottom should clear the seals on the motor home bay bottom where this cabinet will be installed.
This photo shows the slides installed on both sides of the cabinet.
My tool drawers have a latch on the right hand side to keep them closed. So, let’s drill a hole and square off the front edge for the latch on the drawers so they’ll lock in the new cabinet.
Time to see if my measurements were sort of close. Yep, looking fine.
Time to move the new cabinet to the motor home. First step is to make some more room. In this photo I removed the old slide used for the tube style TV. There were about 7 screws that held it to the bottom of the bay.
Next, let’s get rid of the radio that I seldom used.
Now that the radio is out of the way, let’s see how it fits. Remember, this is phase 1 focusing on storing the tool trays. I’ll look later at how to maximize the storage and efficiency. Pretty sure the speaker enclosuere will be deep-sixed.
Now that I have it in the bay, let’s double check how the trays fit. Looking good!
Does the bottom tray clear the seal on the bay? Yep!!
I secured the new bay cabinet to the rear wall and to the floor. Here is a photo showing it fully loaded with all the crap I carry with me. The bags on the right hold my DeWalt drill and impact driver, wire ties and paper towels are on top, and miscellaneous tools in the very bottom bag.
On the left are some other tools I carry with me. Probably way too much but the reality is I have used most everything I carry with me over the last couple of years.
Now that I’ve completed this step, I’ll ponder a bit on how to better organize the other essential things that I carry in this bay.
Take care,
Dave
Currently in College Park, MD at Cherry Hill RV Park
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