I started with these Kobalt Small Sorters (P/N 295963). I also picked up some ½” Birch Plywood (P/N 6199) and ¼” birch plywood (P/N 6196).

I setup my router table with a chamfering bit to knock the hard edge off of all of the exposed edges before gluing up. This will allow the parts sorters to shelved easily and reduce the sanding I have to do.

Here I’m using an acid brush to spread glue in the dados for the inserts. I want good even coverage of glue.

I shot a couple of pins at an angle to hold the shelf inserts in place while the glue dried. The tip of my pin nailer is beveled almost to a point so I can get into tight spaces for this kind of stuff. The pins all but disappear and most times don’t require any putty or filler. And with this being utilitarian and not fine furniture, I don’t care if you see where pins were shot in anyway.

Here’s a close up of the pin nails. I used 5/8″ pins to hold everything together while the glue dried.

After a dry fit, I glued up everything, shot a few pins to hold it steady, and clamped it to dry. I’ll put the back on last. I was working on 3 other projects at the same time, trying to benefit from economies of scale. I quickly learned that I do not have enough clamps. YOU CAN NEVER HAVE ENOUGH CLAMPS. EVER.

While I was busy building, my son wanted to help by sorting. I gave him most of the stuff that wasn’t really sharp like machine screws, washers and nuts. He loved it, and felt it was an important contribution. It was.

For some reason, I really like the look of waxed plywood. Not much of a sheen but offers a little protection from the humidity here at Dadand Florida. Just open a can and apply with a rag or whatever. I used a round wax pad like you use to wax your car.

Waxed ply on the right. Natural on the left. That is all.

Here’s one of the completed sorter organizers. I built two since the setup was a little time consuming—I just cut twice as much stuff.

I got really lucky here. The sorter organizers perfectly fit on one of the shelves without adjustment. I didn’t want them moving around every time I pulled a sorter in and out, so I drilled some countersunk holes and shot a few screws into the shelf to keep it in place.

Well, here’s the two finished sorter organizers. All that’s left is to label each sorter so I know what’s inside. Then I can grab one sorter easily, and see if I have what I need before a trip to the store, or bring the sorter right to the job so I have what I need. Plus it looks pretty okay I guess.