Shop drawer labels?

[Matt Putnam]

I’ll be building some cabinets for drawers in my shop soon. I’ll likely end up with 16-20 individual drawers. I have some general ideas on what I’ll store in them but I know that will evolve. I’m curious how anyone here uses labels on shop drawers.
My cabinets will be prefinished ply cases with taped edges and solid wood drawer fronts. I’ll be making simple wooden drawer pulls that are a few inches long and somewhat blocky. So these drawers/cabinets will be somewhat utilitarian but not totally industrial looking.
I think if I don’t label them I’ll be forever opening a lot of drawers to find what I need. But I also don’t want them to look hokey with a (what I think of as) traditional looking bin label.

Anyone have any good ideas or pics of your solution? No doubt I’m thinking way too much into this but I accept that. I have a lot more time to daydream about my shop projects than I do to actually work on them.

[Larry Frank]

When I made my drawer pulls I routed a slot with a dovetail bit and the put labels in the groove. I print the labels on my computer and used Excel.

[Jim Becker]

I just use a label maker...white tape with black lettering...

[John K Jordan]

I use label maker too, black on white, clear on white, or white on clear depending on the background. I use bold black on bright orange on occasion to get my attention where needed!

But on things that might change and on boxes and plastic containers that usually live on shelves I write big letters with a Sharpie on 1" wide white or grey gaffer's tape. I can read these labels from 1/2 way across the shop even when on the top shelf. Quality gaffer's tape can be removed without leaving residue. If I'm feeling particularly obsessive I might cut the tape with scissors instead of tearing it. :) In some people hand-written labels might trigger a conflict with the neat gene I was born without or the perfection disorder I learned to overcome for cases where it didn't matter.

JKJ

[James Biddle]

we just ordered Card Holders from Lee Valley for our drawers...easily lets you change the labels as you move stuff around

[Matt Putnam]

I really like this idea. It may be that one wouldn't even see the slot if there isn't a label in there.

I also appreciate the other suggestions - tape, label maker, etc. I'll see what I land on for a solution when I get there. At this point, these cabinets are on paper only.

[Alan Lightstone]

I just use a label maker with black on clear. I do add contact cement beforehand to enhance the labels staying in place. It really seems to help.

[Charles Lent]

I also use a label maker, but don't bother to label some drawers that are clear plastic, only hold one kind or size of something and you can see what is in them. I should probably keep the label maker somewhere close to the drawers, but don't, so I sometimes get behind in my label making. For larger items, I usually label both ends of the cardboard box with a permanent marker and stack them on a shelf. They tend to change position and even get put back backwards, so labeling both ends is the best way for me. I buy some things in bulk, so needed a good way to keep track of the overflow. This way has worked so far.

Charley

[Jim Dwight]

I have close to twice that many drawers and no labels. I occasionally have to open more than one to find what I want but I don't consider that to be a big deal. I find it much more frustrating to not put stuff back and have to go searching for it. As long as it is in the drawer it belongs in, opening an extra drawer to two is not a big deal to me. Sometimes I find something I wasn't looking for that is of interest. It helps that I have drawers storing similar things (like fasteners) grouped together. I also have three drawers close to 24x24 that are less than 2 inches deep. All kinds of little tools go in those and don't get buryed at the bottom.

[Kevin Beitz]

If it's for nails/screws type stuff I just hot glue one of what ever's inside to the outside of the drawer. That's my label...

[Frederick Skelly]

I cut a piece of blue painter's tape and write on it in black marker. Then stick to front of drawer. It's inelegant, but cheap and easy to change. YMMV.

Fred

[Dave Cav]

I cut a piece of blue painter's tape and write on it in black marker. Then stick to front of drawer. It's inelegant, but cheap and easy to change. YMMV.

Fred

This. Masking tape. Sharpie. Done.

[Robin Dobbie]

But I also don’t want them to look hokey with a (what I think of as) traditional looking bin label.

I don't think there should be anything hokey about something functional, cheap, and easy to change. But if you wanted to go in a completely different direction you could do what computers do to display what's in different sections; Icons.

Have a drawer for handplane related materials? Mini hand plane (http://r.ebay.com/HASl6C) below the drawer pull.

Drawer for sandpaper could have a pull with some old sandpaper glued to it.

Drill related accessories could be secured behind a drawerfront with a 2.5" forstner hole with some chinesium bits (http://r.ebay.com/kpYefR) dropped in and secured with clear epoxy.

Anything with handles in a drawer with these (http://r.ebay.com/XPh4vR) screwed on.