The home hobbyist can't always afford the luxuries in a professional CNC shop. But with a little ingenuity and out of the box thinking, you can replicate those luxuries. Tool carts are standard for a professional shop. But not every home machinist has the dough to spend on a tool card. No problem. It's easy to make one yourself. Just get a few items and put them together. Buy a
CNC 40 tool tray or 2 or 3 and a 16 x 30 utility cart. Here’s what to do.
Find an Inexpensive Utility Cart
Look at Harbor Freight or Home Depot for a sturdy utility cart. Check out teacher supply or office supply stores too. The size is important. You want a 16 x 30 utility cart. You want one that is on wheels too. Those wheels give you the most versatility because they make your cart mobile. It doesn't matter if it is metal or high-grade plastic. They aren't expensive.
US General sells them for under $50. Get a cart that with two or three shelves. The number of shelves you need depends on the number of tools you want to store. Make sure it is a 16 x 30 cart.
The CNC 40 Tool Tray Set Up
Now that you've got your tray, you need to hold your tools. So, get the number of CNC 40 tool trays you need for your current tools with room for expansion. The CNC tool tray sold by
The Tool Company is 15 ¾” by 6 ¾”. That's the perfect size for your utility cart. See, 4 of these trays can sit side-by-side on each shelf of your cart. That means a simple 2 shelf cart will hold up to 80 of your 40 taper tools. It's just that easy to protect your tooling and keep everything in order. Just like the professional shops, but at a fraction of the cost. Now, this example was for a shop using a 40 taper machine. But it will work with a 30 taper too as long as you get your trays from The Tool Company. That's because their 30 taper tray is the same dimension. It holds the same number of tools too. The taper size is the only difference.
What's Holding You Back?
So why haven't you done this yet? Do you think it's no worth it? Bah! You'll machine more efficiently. That's because the tool trays are numbered for easy tool calibration and selection. You can set up the tools in the proper sequence, set them up in the tray, and save time. The American Tool Company CNC 30 and 40 tool trays are made of high-impact plastic. They protect your expensive tooling. They even have side ears to make it easy to pick the tray up out of a cart. It’s like they think of everything. So what are you thinking?
Buy your CNC 40 tool tray from The Tool Company and order your utility cart. You'll have one of the luxuries of the big guys by the weekend.
