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Storing Tools Over a Bench

Slatwall is the ideal garage system if you are looking at storing tools over a bench in your garage or storage area.

Cleaning out your garage and introducing a garage system to organise your items is a popular project for many Australian families during the summer. Spending more time outdoors sends us into our garages more often and the need to organise becomes more apparent.

Over the past few weeks, I have helped several customers with a small storage solution to sit over an existing or new bench they are building.

This is a very simple tool storage system with just a few panels for a small area. In most cases, it will simply be used for smaller lightweight tools that are regularly accessed.

Storing Tools Over a Bench – Garage System

When I was growing up, my father used to have hundreds of tools. Unfortunately, he stored them in drawers and buckets. It was a compact solution but never helped him when he was actually looking for the ones he needed. Over time he graduated to hang the most popular and useful tools on his wall or on a smaller plate on his bench. It kept them close at hand when he needed them.

If you have a small bench space in your garage then the last thing you want to do is to fill the bench with tools. The freer you can keep the bench, the more useful it will be for you. Using the wall space adjacent to your bench is the ideal space for those more popular smaller hand tools.

SlatWalls for Storing Tools

StoreWALL’s slatwalls are ideal for small and large projects and the best garage system for that over-bench area in your garage. Why? Rather than just having 1 rack of tools, or screwing tools holders into your wall, why not have the wall lined with a garage system which allows you to hang your tools anywhere on that wall area. Slatwall will line your wall with grooves which can then be fitted with hooks or shelving so you can store your items.

Designing Your Bench Space

A customer I spoke to this week, was designing a new cupboard and bench area in her garage. It was being made by a kitchen cabinet company. The length of her bench was 1.8m and the proposed wall area above the bench 500mm. I offered her two options for using StoreWALL. We could hang two panels one on top of the other giving her a height of 610mm (305.8mmx2). She could either cut the top panel down to make her 500mm height or raise her wall area to 610mm to fit the full panels. Given it was only in the design stages, she was leaning towards raising the height of her wall area.

Another gentleman based in Perth used 4 Heady Duty 1219mm panels for his over-bench area. He requested 2 of the 4 panels be cut in half so that he could join them to make 1.8m in length. The height using the Heavy Duty panels reached was 762mm.

StoreWALL panels are super customisable when it comes to size and shape. They can be joined to make the length you need. They can also be stacked to make the height you need. You can then cut them both vertically and horizontally to fit the exact space you need. Furthermore, if your wall has powerpoints or other items pocking out, StoreWALL panels can be cut to fit them and provide a clean finish to your wall.

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Magnetic Garage Shelf

Magnetic Garage Shelf

One of the many latest editions to the StoreWALL range is the Magnetic Garage Shelf. Well its actually a Magnetic Bar but with its CamLok locking system. Once securely attached to your StoreWALL panels it in fact becomes a very handy shelf for you many tools.

Magnetic Garage Shelf

How is it made?

The 609mm Magnetic Garage Shelf is secured with 2 CamLok equipped backplates which once attached to your StoreWALL Garage Panels ensure it will never move or fall. The outer metal bars are made from durable nickel and inside the plates there are several magnets about 20mm in depth. The outside of the bar is powder coated a stone grey colour to match all other StoreWALL accessories.

Using Nickel bars to secure the magnets, the Magnetic Garage Shelf will resist chipping, dings and dents.

Being all metal and magnets, its actually a rather heavy accessory for its size weighing about 2KG.

Unique StoreWALL Magnetic Garage Shelf

Having invested some time searching the market for something similar, I am confident that there are not many other Magnetic Garage Shelfs or bars available today. I think you will struggle to find something similar from your local Bunnings, Mitre 10 or similar hardware store. It is quite a unique accessory. With the StoreWALL CamLok backplates, it is also one of the most secure on the market as well.

The last you would want is for the shelf to securely hold your tools using its strong magnets, but for the shelf itself to fall from the wall panel. StoreWALL’s CamLok prevents this and as you can see from the below video, there is no way it will come loose from the wall panels.

Magnetic Garage Shelf

Storage Options

StoreWALL’s Magnetic Garage Shelf can hold anything with metal in it. In the demonstration below, I have secured screw drivers, spanners, a hammer, measuring tape and a knife. They all sat securely on the magnetic bar and showed no signs of falling off.

The Shelf not only works on StoreWALL panels but will work on many other garage wall panel systems as well. You will even get CamLok working on your alternative wall.

Garage, WorkShop, Tool Shed

Garage, Workshop and Tool Shed are what immediately come to mind when I think about who will benefit from the Magnetic Bar. However it doesn’t need to be heavy tools that you attach to it. Think about smaller items that usually float around your benchtop. Items like Allen Keys, drill bits and tools, smaller spanners that are easy to misplace.

StoreWALL sells a great range of Garage Wall Panels

The Magnetic Garage Shelf will work on all StoreWALL panels, including our Heavy Duty, Standard Duty and Basic Duty.

We have prepared a short video below showing it being secure to the wall and several tools being added to it. I also show you all around the Shelf so you get a clear picture of our it is made and how durable it is.