By
eHow Home & Garden Editor
Difficulty: Moderately Easy
Step1
Buy the basics. At minimum, your tool kit should contain a claw hammer, lineman's pliers, needlenose pliers, crescent wrench, large and small screwdrivers (standard and Phillips), a cordless drill with bits, a tape measure, a level, a utility knife, gloves, safety glasses or goggles, and a flashlight.
Step2
Store small hand tools in a toolbox. Put the ones you use most often on top. Hang additional tools on a Peg-Board mounted in the garage or tool shed. See 92 Set Up a Woodshop.
Step3
Buy a large toolbox that comes with a smaller one inside. Keep basic tools in the small box in your house, and the rest in the bigger box so you don't have to go to the garage or basement every time a screw is loose. Or, buy a 5-gallon (19 l) bucket and stash your tools in a tool apron that fits around the bucket. (Specialty tools don't have to be immediately accessible.)
Step4
Keep tools clean and dry--dirt and water are their worst enemies. Rub machine oil onto rusty metal tools, polish them with fine steel wool and wipe clean. Give tools a light coat of machine oil or WD-40 if they're prone to rust.
Comments
kickers said
on 5/24/2007 Good ideas, I'm going to get me a 5 gal. bucket and an apron to keep my tools in. A couple of pics of that would have been nice though. kickers