Organization is a constant battle in my shop.  I vary my interests and tactics a lot, and I am into a lot of different types of making.  Woodworking has been pretty consistent and hand tools are probably here to stay.  I built my workbench a few years back and added a lot of drawers into the base.  It has been good, but the drawers turn into a mess.  Stuff sliding everywhere and items ending up crammed in the back.

Enter kaizen foam.  There are a few products out there like this, but I happened to find it at my woodcraft less than a week after researching it on the manufacturer’s website.  It is super expensive to ship unless you buy a lot, but woodcraft had it at a good price so I picked up two different thicknesses.

This was the only drawer I had in mind.  It has some delicate measurement devices in it, and they get banged around and lost often.  After doing this drawer though, I got inspired.

Gorgeous!  Can I just say that I love marking gauges?  At first I really wanted their product that had the white core and black outside.  Now, I think that is a mistake.  My cut jobs were kind of poor in places, but it looks fine because everything is the same color.  A white core would show any mistakes.  Seriously, go with all black.  Or white if they have it, I bet this will show sawdust like crazy in a few months.

The foam is in layers.  You cut to a depth and tear out enough to make a pocket for your tool.  Tearing layers wasn’t bad, but sometimes making consistent levels was difficult.  The foam is tough enough to stand up to abuse, but easy to cut.  It is kind of cathartic to trace everything out and slowly cut the shapes.  I will not be using this in all my tool boxes, but will probably pick up a few more sheets the next time I have the chance.