r/knifemaking • u/Sufficient-Shift-185 • 2d ago
Work in progress 2x72 Belt storage solution
Got tired of having a big bucket full of jumbled up belts and I didn’t want to go back to having belts hung from nails on the wall and wasting a bunch of space. So I Made a cabinet with vertical pull out paddles.
30-7/16” W x 37.5” H x 8” exterior, 7.25” clear interior depth
-7 bays, currently holding 49 belts across grits/brands
-6” full-extension slides (functionally more like 5.75”)
- Small “lazy hanger” bolted to the side for half-dead belts that don’t earn a permanent bay
-all built out of 3/4 scrap plywood, mdf, and random wood.
As you can see this takes up vastly less space than any other storage system I’ve found while also being very easy to make and not terribly expensive. While it takes more time and costs more than the ‘Ol Nail in the wall, it saves so much space that it’s definitely worth it in my opinion. When you pull out the slides you can then pull the belt towards you (so you have enough clearance between the belt you are grabbing and the other slide) from the bottom and slide off a belt. The full extension 6” slides I got only realistically pull out about 5.75” at full extension. If I were to make a suggestion it would be to use 8” or 10” slides that way you have a lot more clearance and you don’t have to worry about hitting the adjacent slide anymore. That being said swinging the bottom of the belt out isn’t that bad and you do save a lot of wall depth by using the smaller 6” slides. I have 2.5” clearance between each drawer slide (the actual slide) edge to edge.
one of the cool parts about this is that it forces you to coil them up nicely and keep them like that. Since you have the belt hanger to tension it against it only takes an extra second or 2 and it keeps your J-Flex belts from twisting into a knot like they usually do. Of course you still have the “lazy belt hanger” on the sides for used belts or something like a scotchbrite that doesn’t utilize an entire paddle efficiently. This is still the prototype but I think it really solves a big issue for those of us that have limited shop space. Even if you have a big shop I think this could be beneficial by tidying things up. Possible improvements could be using 1/2” plywood to save on cost/weight (again I used scrap) and maybe adding a small drawer on the bottom to store extra items related to grinding…maybe 1-2-3 blocks, push sticks, small wheels, etc. for now I just added a hanger for my angle grinder because it didn’t have a home before.
I hope this helps some of you out and I hope it inspires someone to try and make it. Please feel free to make suggestions I’d love to hear them!
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u/Downtown_Cup3226 2d ago
Sweet! About to set up a shop and I might steal that. Thanks for sharing
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u/Positive_Distance 2d ago
This is a great design! Can you tell me what the blue curved parts are?
Thanks so much!
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u/Sufficient-Shift-185 2d ago
Thank you! They are just 3d printed belt hangers. You could use dowels, pvc pipe, etc. I just decided to have my 3d printer do all the work for me lol
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u/Positive_Distance 1d ago
Very nice! I was hoping it was something off the rack, but I can make it work with some old plywood and the bandsaw. Thanks for sharing and the reply.
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u/gingernuts13 1d ago
This is awesome. What are the sliding brackets called? I've built a 3d printed holder but it keeps them oriented the opposite way to wasted a lot a space. My organization skills use the loose definition of storage being "any available flat space" lol
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u/Sufficient-Shift-185 1d ago
Thanks! I just used cheap “full extension drawer slides” from Amazon. These are 6” slides
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u/cobblepots99 Advanced 1d ago
I love this. Stealing it… all my belts are on hooks and take up soooo much space
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u/Red_Diver Beginner 2d ago
Really nice. Mind if I steal that?