JPayne Woodworking Creative Craftsmanship
Pegboards yes pegboards almost all of us have seen them in our grandfathers shop or in an older workshop. They are usually a thin piece of board with a bunch of holes drilled into them. They allow for storage and quick access to tools, supplies or really anything. These older pegboards do there job but have some major draw backs. First they are usually made from particle board and these boards are not strong enough to hold a large amount of weight. Second a lot of the pegs used for these hole style boards are simple steel rods that are outfitted with a bent lower section used to hold the pegs into place. While these boards will do the job to a certain extent as they allow for plenty of storage especially of tools or supplies that have holes or an ability to hang from the rods on the board they are limited in what they can hold due to the design of the the peg and the boards. Hanging things like power tools for quick access or chisels on a rack can be more difficult.
Well those days are over. With the new shop/ tiny home build under way I wanted to be able to have plenty of quick access storage. So I reached out to the guys over at Wall Control and they sent me out some of there steel peg boards. These are very different than the old particle board style board. First they are are an all steel construction. With a slotted peg hole design. No more are the days of the loose fitting bars into a round peg board hole. More on that in a bit though.
Installing the Wall Control beg boards is a breeze. The boards come in small sections that make them very modular and also make installing them easier as they are much lighter and easier to handle than a large 4×4 sheet. To install the boards I started by measuring down from the top of the wall where I wanted the bottom of the peg boards to sit. After marking the bottom position of the boards on the studs of the wall I used a straight board and screwed it into place while also making sure the board is level. This served two purposes. First it ensured the proper placement of the boards and level installment. As well as would give a support to hold the board sections into place while securing them to the studs.
Place section at a time onto the support and using an 1/8 drill bit drill a pilot hole for the supplied mounting screws that come with the boards. I found that using the Dewalt Drill to drill one hole into each center mounting hole first then installing the screws in those two holes at that time would secure the board sections to the wall and ensure that is would not move while drilling the rest of the holes. With the two center screws holding the board into place follow the same process on all of the remaining mounting holes. Once you have all of the screws into the first section of the board move onto the next.
After installing all of the board sections into place remove the lower support from the wall. Now you can start installing the accessories. This is were you can let your creative mind run wild. The guys at Wall Control offer a ton of accessories for these steel peg boards. From hook, to shelves, to trays and small parts cabinets. Really anything you can think of you can find a way to store with some of these accessories. With a small bit of planning ahead to think about the layout you would like to achieve you can get the right set of accessories for you particular needs. I went into this with tool storage and access in mind wanting to be able to quickly access my Dewalt Tools. I wanted to use the multiple style hooks and shelves and they work great.
One worry I had before starting this project was the amount of wight the tools would be adding to the pegboards. This was no problem for these steel pegboards. They held the weight perfectly and the best part is they look amazing in the shop. I went with the gloss black color but they offer a few different colors that will match whatever design you would like for your space. Now that I have a few of these boards up on the walls I am really thinking about outfitting the entire shop with these boards. Not only does it make the walls a modular storage space but would look amazing as well.
If you guys are needing storage in your shop go check out Wall Control at https://www.wallcontrol.com/ these guys can help you figure out exactly what is best for your needs and get your kitchen, shop, garage, or home outfitted with a good looking storage option.
For more videos and content make sure to SUBSCRIBE on YouTube and also follow me on Instagram @jpaynewoodworking
