A Simple Idea That Changed Every Tool Drawer – The Story of the Drill Index

by Bernard Martin

Long before CNC machines and centralized tool cribs, the drill index was invented to solve a simple shop problem — keeping drills organized, protected, and immediately identifiable.

You’ve probably opened a drawer, reached for a drill, and thought, “Where is that size #7 drill so I can tap this 1/4-20?” If you’ve ever cursed at a disorganized pile of drill bits or spent a minute too many feeling for the right size by touch alone, then you already understand the value of a good drill index. But where did this simple shop tool come from? The answer goes all the way back to 1930, and it’s a piece of shop history that you may not be aware..

The First Indexed Drill Cabinet — A Smart Idea Nearly a Century Old
Back in 1930, an inventor named Eugene F. Huot from St. Paul, Minnesota, filed a patent for what he called an “indexed drill cabinet.” This was a big change in direction for the inventor who's first patent applicaiton was a for a Fish Scaler in 1927. It would change history and create the legacy that Huot Munufacturing carries on to this day.  That very first drill index patent was granted on October 17, 1933 as US Patent 1930617A. The goal was straightforward: make it easy for machinists and woodworkers to store and quickly find the drill they needed instead of rummaging through a loose stack of bits.  The patent opened with a simple mission...

"The chief object of this invention is to provide an indexed drill cabinet of convenient size for storing drills and adapted to facilitate the quick selection and removal of the desired drill."

Huot Wire Gauge Drill Index #1 to #60

What Eugene Huot went on to describe in that patent still resonates in a modern shop because of its sheer simplicity. And frankly, like many great patents, it just makes sense:

• A compact cabinet body with a hinged cover that fits in a tool drawer or cabinet.
  
• A set of drill holders mounted on rods, arranged so each group of drills is easy to access.
• Index markings next to each hole so you know you’re grabbing the right size.

You can almost hear the old machinist saying, “Put it back where it belongs, will ya?” just by reading the patent. The core idea was to turn drill storage from guessing and fumbling into an organized, efficient process — a purpose that hasn’t changed in nearly a century.

What Made the Original Drill Index Different
The genius of this early design is its focus on visibility, accessibility, and accountability. Huot specifically designed the holders so that:

• The drills stood upright and separated, ready to grab without sorting.
• Drills were grouped by size and tilted out of the way when not in use, making selection intuitive.
• The cabinet was small enough to fit right in your tool chest, not clutter up the bench.

That combination of rugged simplicity and clarity was an immediate hit with people who work with drills every day.

By the late 1940's Huot continued to develop new products and new patents.  Here's a great insight form his 1951 Patent US2564601A into what he was thinking:

"A workman having a set of drills often loses these drills by leaving them lying about in ldifferent places in the shop. It is desirable to have a drill holder comprising a casing or cabinet in which a plurality of drill-holding members are mounted, said casing or cabinet being of a size which can be placed in the workmans tool box or his locker and locked up whilev not in use."

From the Patent to Today’s Huot Drill Indexes
The drill index didn’t stay a curiosity — it became a reference point. Modern Huot drill indexes and dispensers take that same concept and refine it for the way shops run today. 

Modern Huot indexes:

• Come in fractional, letter, and metric sizes so you have exactly what you need for your work.
• Feature clearly marked holes that reflect the same indexed clarity Huot envisioned in the 1930s.
• Use heavy-gauge steel and durable finishes built to survive shop floors, not just sit in a drawer.
• Include options like drawer-style dispensers or stackable units that let you scale storage with your tooling inventory.

It’s not uncommon to see old Huot indexes from the 1930s pop up decades later, still intact and still usable, because the core idea was sound from the beginning.

Most shops today don’t have a drill index sitting next to every Bridgeport anymore. Manual mills have been replaced by CNC machines, and drill management has largely moved into the tool crib. That shift hasn’t made drill indexes obsolete — it’s changed where and how they’re used.

In a CNC environment, drill indexes live where drills are issued, returned, inspected, and replaced. A well-designed index lets crib attendants see missing tools immediately, verify sizes at a glance, and keep fractional, letter, and metric drills separated and accounted for.

That reduces downtime at the machine, prevents the wrong drill from getting loaded into a holder, and keeps worn tools from cycling back into production.

The principle Eugene Huot patented in the early 1930s still applies. Drills need to be visible, organized, and easy to verify.

Whether that index sits in a tool drawer, on a crib counter, or inside a rolling storage cabinet, the job is the same — protect the drills, speed up access, and keep the shop running without unnecessary interruptions.

Huot makes a series of stackable Master Dispenser Cabinets for Imperial, Metric, drills and end end mills as well as for Taper Shank drills, Taps and Reamers.