I’m an Asst. Editor at Fine Woodworking and try to keep up with the various folders on the Knots forum. I’ve noticed that recently there hasn’t been much action in the Hand Tools folder. That bums me out, because I’m a bit of a hand tool nut. I’ve attached a few pictures of my ridiculously over-the-top tool cabinet. It was the first real piece of furniture that I made (I had previously made my daughters crib). I used machinery to mill the lumber (at a friend’s shop), but all the joinery and the finish surfacing was done by hand. The drawers were hammer veneered. This project contains a lot of firsts for me: dovetails, drawers, and veneering among them. So, where do you keep your hand tools? Does anyone else have an embarrassingly overdone tool cabinet? PS: I inadvertently attached some jpegs that are way too big. I’ll resize and post them again for those on dialup.
Replies
Here are the resized pictures.
Now, that's a nice tool cabinet! Mine are stored in an "oops" kitchen cabinet. The door panel is a scrap of plexiglass. Living in Alabama, my L-N planes and the good set of chisels reside in my office to keep that nasty red stuff from collecting on them. Saws are on a pegboard and the 'beater' chisels are on a magnetic tool holder behind the workbench.
Ray,Until recently I lived in Columbia, SC. I never really had a problem with rust on my tools, and I left them in the garage all the time. As nice as the tool cabinet might be, my wife was not going to let trapse back and forth into the house to get tools out of it!Matt
well, shame on your wife ;-) We used to travel to Mid-Coast Maine every year to visit an old friend. Each trip included a visit to Warren, ME and the Lie-Neilson shop (one tool allowed). My wife knows how much those tools cost, she was with me, and she'd skin me if there was a speck of rust on any of them. Actually, instead of on the shelf, they probably should be in the safe :-)
Ray,I never had any rust on any of my tools when I kept them in the garage in SC. (And I didn't put anything on them either). So, don't think too poorly of my wife.;) I wouldn't have wanted them in the house anyway.Matt
Matt,
Just kidding about the wife. I don't know what it is about South Alabama and rust. I left all my tools in an unheated shop in Washington for 20 years & never had any problems with rust. After 10 years here, I finally sold my old table saw & got one with an aluminum table, just couldn't keep ahead of it. Boeshield, paste wax, camilla oil, you name it. Nothing seems to work very well around here. A lot of my tools are in those airtight "Lock & Lock" containers with a bag of silica gel - that works.
Ray
Ray,
Another option that works quite well is using a small heater found in gun cabinets, installed inside your tool cabinet. Keeps 'em all warm and dry.
Still another is installation of low watt lightbulbs, in a light socket of course......
Regards,Bob @ Kidderville Acres
A Woodworkers mind should be the sharpest tool in the shop!
Bob,
That's probably my next step, a large cabinet in the shop with low-level heat. We used them in the Military for drying radios, and I do have a heater in the gun safe. I do own a large metal bench and have been considering enclosing the bottom portion for a 'dry' tool cabinet, but I hate to drill holes in it as it has a fantastic coating and hasn't evolved into a dusty red pile yet :-). Since it's "termite-proof" (wooden planes) it's a pretty good option. I believe a dab of caulk in each screw hole and a good coat of paint on the wooden parts just might do the trick.
Ray
MKenney
I store my planes, measuring and marking tools in an old school cabinet that I salvaged. It's not pretty, but the price was right. I'm in a garage shop like you, but my climate would destroy a nice piece of furniture like you have. I've toyed with making a large plywood cabinet similar to the one feature recently in FWW, and when I get my stand alone, climate controlled shop, I'm going to build a nice black walnut or mesquite cabinet for my planes, chisels and other handtools. Tom
Those photos were taken at my former home in Columbia, SC. The tool cabinet is on its way to CT now. I'm anxious to see how the climate here treats it. I'll have another garage shop, but I'll at least insulate this one (even if I don't heat it).I encourage you to make some kind of tool cabinet. They're a good deal of fun to make. They're also a great way to learn the ins and outs of furniture construction. I learned all the basics making that tool cabinet.Matt
MattI'll give it a go. One thing I have learned is the school plastic laminate cabinets are too deep. I'd rather have a cabinet that is 10" or so deep. Tom"Notice that at no time do my fingers leave my hand"
Ok, Matt--now you've gone and done it--yesterday I started on my tool cabinet based on the one from Tools and Shops 2007. I cut the top, bottoms and sides, and the corresponding finger joints, and when I get a chance I'll keep working. Thanks for the inspiration. I'll post some photos of the finished project. Tom"Notice that at no time do my fingers leave my hand"
Please do post them. It's always nice to see the work others do.Matt
Matt,
I store my frequently used handtools in a partially built tool chest. Other tools sit on a shelf foolishly attached to the back of my workbench (wasn't my idea) or below the bench on shelves.
Your tools chest looks like it belongs in the dining room, not the shop (no offence).
Chris @ www.flairwoodwork.spaces.live.com
- Success is not the key to happines. Happiness is the key to success. If you love what you are doing, you will be successful. - Albert Schweitzer
Edited 5/16/2008 9:09 pm by flairwoodworks
Edited 5/16/2008 9:10 pm by flairwoodworks
Chris,Thanks for the compliment. Don't worry about offending me. I've been told more times than I can remember that it's too nice to be a tools cabinet. If a picture is worth thousand words, then at least 900 of them are misleading in this case!
Nice work. I wish I had that kind of time. I have a hard time keeping up with necessities.
But to answer your question, in any of the following:
- On top of a Frid-style workbench I built 25 years ago.
- On a pegboard that was here when I moved in
- On a pine shelving unit left by a prior tenant in the apartment I rented in 1976
- In a metal storage cabinet from Office Depot
- In a nylon tool caddy from Home Depot
- In a wooden crate with a label on one end "Pears" that I scavenged from my family's farm to move myself into graduate school apartment. The beloved "pear box" initially served as nightstand and after graduation got a handle and became my carpenter's tool box. First tools: hand saw, #4 plane, surform, 3/4" chisel, claw hammer, drill.
Hammerhand,I did put lots of hours into the cabinet, but it wasn't as hard to find time as you might think. I made it when I was a college professor (I admit professors do have great hours!). I had a student whose father is a professional furniture maker. He would let me come out to his shop whenever I wanted and he taught me the ropes. I would go to his shop about once a week and work from about 1:00 pm till about 8:00 pm. Of course, I would go more often when I could. After I finished the tool cabinet I kept going to his shop whenever I could and made two tables, my son's bed, and a bench there.Admittedly, I had an opportunity not everyone has. But if you join a local club, I bet you can find someone similar. Hopefully, you'll find someone closer. I drove about 80 miles round trip to get to my friend's shop! Oh, the money I spent on gas.
Edited 5/16/2008 11:05 pm ET by MKenney
M,
Wot a neet workshed! :-)
I keep some planes in a cabinet under the bench but virtually all my handtools are aligned along magnetic rails at the far edge of the bench from that I work at. This means they are quickly found, used and put back. (A place for everything and everything in its place, very necessary in a small, crowded shed). There is even a small smoother and a scraper plane dangling on the magnets. Some non-steel stuff is hung on various hooks above the magnetic rails.
There are disadvantages. Some lesser-employed tools gradually get dust on them (which does actually indicate usage rate). The worst effect, though, is a slight magnetisation of the tools so that when sharpening requires any significant steel removal the filings stick to the blade until wiped off. I keep a small tack cloth handy just for this purpose.
It often seems a PITA to have to root in a cupboard or drawer for a tool, especially when one is in the throws of some joint-making episode. Even having to bend down to extract a shoulder plane from the drawer under the bench becomes a nuisance, in comparison to the quick-grab of the tool from the rack. It is worse when one cannot remember which drawer or cupboard houses the required tool. It is then that the muttering starts.
The rack also means that there is no need for one o' them tool wells in the bench, which people seem to fill with shavings, sawdust and forgotten-or-lost buried tools.
****
Anyway, that cabinet o' yourn is nice and should be in the study, housing your Taunton publications, embalming fluid and the best whisky glasses. That is woodworking too, tha knows - reading the tomes whilst stimulating the wetware with idea-lubricant.
Lataxe, of magnetic personality (both poles).
Lataxe,I too am a fan of that Shaker adage "A place for everything and everything in its place." That's partly why the cabinet is so close to my bench (a lack of space is the other reason). I use a tool and put it back in the cabinet when I'm done with it. I had so little space in that garage (what you see is pretty much all I had) that I had to be neat and orderly.Matt
MK,
Aww right young man, fess up.
I seen that cabinet in the Ikea catalog but it din have them fancy feet or the crown moldin on thuh top. And ya haid that Gedrys fella faux paint it to look like mahoginny dincha? Becha got that Lowe guy from Peabuddy make the feet too. How com thay aint no slant top writtin place or hiddin compatmints, huh?
Seriously though that cabinet lends a new meaning to tool storage, very nicely done. Kind of makes my attempts look, well, I'll think of something..........
Now watch out for that thar rake leanin up agin the door cuz ifn ya step on his teeth he'll whop ya in the noggin.
Regards,
Bob @ Kidderville Acres
A Woodworkers mind should be the sharpest tool in the shop!
Bob,That's a good guess, but I did all the dressing up myself! Also, if it looks like mahogany, that's a trick of the camera. It's actually walnut, ash, and maple burl veneer. Poplar is the secondary wood on the drawers and cabinets.And that sneaky rake will be nowhere near my bench in my new garage.Matt
Matt -
As much of a hand tool freak as I am (I have more than 25 British infill planes, and more than 300 wooden molding and bench planes of various descriptions, as well as the requisite collection of panel and back saws, brace & bit, spokeshaves, etc...), I have to admit that I have a "modern" tool storage cabinet - the biggest possible Craftsman metal roll-around tool chest that you typically see mechanic's tools in. It has the advantage of being pretty well sealed, so I don't have to worry too much about humidity changes, but it has no style whatsoever.
I'm seriously impressed by your tool chest design. I've seen a lot of them here at FWW an in Tolpin's "The Toolbox" book, but this is the first time I can recall seeing an 18th Century Chippendale chest-on-chest design adapted as a tool chest. Was it purpose-built, or was it a repro piece that just elegantly fit the need?
David
David,The cabinet was designed with this purpose in mind. To be completely honest, I set out to make the top cabinet only. It was to be a wall mounted cabinet. Well, when I got the top piece done, my fried (the pro whose shop I was able to use for the milling) convinced me that it would be too heavy to hang on the wall. So, I made a bottom cabinet to put it on. It turned out in the style it did because my friend makes Hepplewhite and Chippendale style furniture. When he taught me how to do something (e.g., make feet or crown molding) he taught me how to do it in that style. You can get a sense of my style from the piece I'm currently making (see: http://blogs.taunton.com/n/blogs/blog.aspx?webtag=fw-editorsblog; Look for the entry titled "inspiration. . .then perspiration). I glued the base up this morning (in cherry). I'll start making the "table" that is between the base and the cabinet this afternoon. Once the glue sets on the base, I'll finish shaping the legs.
Edited 5/17/2008 1:23 pm ET by MKenney
Well - you'll get no argument from me about the style of your tool cabinet. I'm incredibly, inexhorably biased - there was no furniture produced after 1815 or so that was the equal of that produced in colonial America after about 1720. ;-)
That's one reason I own so many molding planes. I'm not as dedicated as Adam Cherubini (I don't own any hobnailed shoes), but for the most part my work is "unplugged".
And while I've a lot of good things to say about Craftsman's top of the line tool cabinets, even if it's used for woodworking tools rather than mechanic's tools, it's sleek black metal surface is totally out of character with its contents.
Your tool cabinet has given me some ideas - perhaps I'll have a mechanic's roll-around tool chest for sale in a few months....
A REAL woodworker would never have put wooden blocks under the feet!
Just sort of funnin' ya! NICE!
Edited 5/18/2008 6:50 am by WillGeorge
He would if he wanted it level and not sitting on bare concrete!
He would if he wanted it level and not sitting on bare concrete! ??
Even the OLD ROMANS loved concrete!
Didn't the Dutch start putting wooden things under their feet?Chris @ http://www.flairwoodwork.spaces.live.com
- Success is not the key to happines. Happiness is the key to success. If you love what you are doing, you will be successful. - Albert Schweitzer
Matt,
In multiple places. Drawers under my benches and hanging in a cabinet on the wall. I also have a Kennedy roll around. I like things neat and orderly but since I've acquired a number of passed down tools things are a real mess. I attached a couple of pictures but I won't open any of the drawers for you.
My problem is too many specialized interests that require specialized tools. For example. I have a small metal lathe and a mill and all the tools that go with it. I like to design and build electronic gizmos. So there are a whole set of other hand tools that go with that. I'm a professional modelmaker. Yes, more specialized hand tools. I also do sculpting... I think you get it.
I am planning to re-organize the garage/shop. I don't think I'll make something quite as nice as your cabinet. Although, your "overdone" cabinet gives me an idea. I could make a nice cabinet to go in my den for all my electronic tools. Since I end up in there anyway because dust isn't a great thing when you're building electronics.
Len
"You cannot antagonize and influence at the same time. " J. S. Knox
Len,That a very organized bench. I like it. If you make storage for the house don't be afraid to spiff up nice!Matt
Matt,
You said:
"I've noticed that recently there hasn't been much action in the Hand Tools folder."
Are you kidding?
The Hand Tool Folder has one thread that is likely to go over 3000 posts in the next 24 hours.
To me, that is A LOT OF ACTION.
Stop on over and join in on the fun. There is no real topic. It is more of a chat room. Lots of action. Hope to see you there.
Mel
Measure your output in smiles per board foot.
Mel,I have no idea what that thread is about, and I don't think I've got the energy to figure it out (said with a friendly smile). I have noticed it though. Perhaps I'll give it a go this week.Matt
Edited 5/18/2008 7:55 pm ET by MKenney
Matt,
The thread started out innocently enough, with a question about a Lie Nielsen plane. Somehow it became a "chatroom" in which a bunch of regulars just stop in and post a random message about things, or respond to one of the others. NO SPECIFIC TOPIC. There are many others who stop in and post a message. Masrol is one of them. He just stopped in and posted a few messages and answered others and made a number of friends. Please don't look for any consistency in the thread. There is nothing to figure out. Often there are a number of conversations going on at the same time. Most of us are smart enough to figure that out.Anyway, it is good to meet you. I LOVE YOUR TOOL CABINET. It is phenomenal. If I made something like that, it would be in the dining room, and it would be under the command of my wife, not me. BEAUTIFUL WORK.Have fun.
MelMeasure your output in smiles per board foot.
I store most of my hand tools in a tool cabinet I made based off of Greg Radley's tool cabinet in the Toolbox Book. It's about 6 1/2' tall by 30" wide and 15" deep. I made it out of red oak and walnut. It's nice enough to look good but if I do damage it (which I have rearranging the tools around) I won't care because it's only oak. the tool cabinet stores about 200 tools with about a hundred of them being antiques.
Edited 5/18/2008 9:18 pm ET by mvflaim
That's a great tool cabinet. It's good that you intentionally made it to be something you don't mind dinging every now and then. I strongly believe that shop furnishings should be rough and tumble. My cabinet just got away from me (with some encouragement from friend). I do my best to take care of it, but I'm not too concerned about it. Nicks, dings, and dents just add character.
Thanks! A few years after I built the cabinet I built a matching tool chest that sits on top of one of my workbenches. I store all of my wrenches and misc tools in it. Today it's stained all over the place with "character marks" but like I say, no biggie since it's only oak.
Present: My hand tools are scattered about in all kinds of random and imaginative ways.
Future: I am currently in the process of devising a tool cabinet along the lines of Chris Becksvoort's (FWW#153). However, since it would be impractical for me to create even an inventory of my tools, much less gather them all into one place, I am taking a two-phased approach.
Phase I: I've mounted four 2' × 4' plywood panels to the wall, using French cleats. These represent the four "panels" of the final cabinet (the two center ones represent the back of the body of the cabinet; the two outer ones the insides of the two doors). Over time, I will gradually get most of my hand tools mounted somewhere onto these four panels (a few will end up in drawers). Because the panels themselves are basically throwaways, I have no reluctance to aggressively rearrange tools as the need arises.
Phase II: Once I've gotten everything mounted and arranged to my liking, I will know how big the final cabinet needs to be (hopefully, at least a little bit smaller than 4' × 4'), and I will build it, then transfer the tools from the panels to the cabinet.
A couple of rules that I plan to follow as scrupulously as possible: All tools should be mounted so that (a) the cutting edge or other "active" part of the tool is shielded in wood, and (b) if I lose my grip on one as I'm removing or replacing it, it will fall to the floor in such a way as to minimize the likelihood of damage. So, for example, I present my over-the-top screwdriver storage rack:
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-Steve
That looks almost like my screwdriver storage unit, but mine is spread out across the floor and three benches, my pickup and the kitchen counter at the house. Otherwise, they're identical.
Den,
If he has his screwdrivers all mounted on one o'them 2' x 4' panels he was talking 'bout, imagine how big those screwdrivers are! That's just one panel too. I can't wait to see the whole cabinet!
Imagine how big the rest of his tools must be!? Betcha he eats 3-4 Hungry Man dinners just whettin his appetite.
Regards,
Bob @ Kidderville Acres
A Woodworkers mind should be the sharpest tool in the shop!
Edited 5/19/2008 2:36 pm ET by KiddervilleAcres
Yeah, what wouldn't we all give for really big tools.
"Imagine how big the rest of his tools must be!?"
You have no idea....
-Steve
That's what my everything-except-screwdrivers storage looks like.-Steve
you're kidding, right?
Nope.-Steve
Steve,
Love your screwdriver holder. You have a mind whose limits I cannot fathom. I can't imagine what you might do with saws, planes, awls, marking knives, squares, flies, rasps, sandpaper (God forbid), etc. Some might think you have gone TOOOOOOOOOO far. I don't think so. You are raising the bar for the rest of us. I have heard that since your post of of the photo of your screwdriver holder, Festool has started researching systainers that hang on the wall to store their tools, Lie Nielsen is coming up with a magnetic wallboard for keeping your planes, which magnetizes and demagnitizes with the turn of a switch for easy mounting and demounting of the planes. Tormek is coming up with a $700 wall mounted unit to hold your Tormek attachments. You are revolutionizing the field of woodworking. I understand that since your post of your screwdriver holder, the unthinkable has happened -- Woodcraft and Rockler have started to work together to develop new lines of tool holders that woodworkers will need. A person who attended one of their secret meetings told me that they expect to increase sales by over 300% because of the windows of opportunity that you have opened. I think that Festool will be the big winner with their upcoming "WallUnitAiner" line, which actually locktogether to form a system that will eventually cover all of your walls and ceilings, and they are already working on floor units. All of these units will have electric plugs and speakers. I understand they are working with Bose to use their small speakers in these units to provide woodworkers with the best surround sound that is possible.AND ALL BECAUSE OF YOUR SCREWDRIVER HOLDER.You are opeining up a new way.
You could be the Obama of Woodwork.I salute you.
Mel
Measure your output in smiles per board foot.
"I can't imagine what you might do with saws, planes, awls, marking knives, squares, flies, rasps, sandpaper (God forbid), etc."
No need to. The scales will drop from your eyes, all in the fullness of time.
-Steve
steve,
" squares, flies, rasps, sandpaper "
Dunno about you and Mel, but I like to keep my flies on those sticky paper strips. Always know where they are that way. I prefer keeping it in a vertical position, hanging from the ceiling. Haven't made any pivoting racks to store them, but I've been meaning to.
Ray
"Dunno about you and Mel, but I like to keep my flies on those sticky paper strips."
I think it's about time Mel and I dragged you into the 21st Century. Flypaper is just sooo Federal Period.
-Steve
That's nice. I like to keep my screwdrivers loose around the house just so I will only have to take two steps to get one. It won't be the right one but I'll only have to go two steps. lol.Len
"You cannot antagonize and influence at the same time. " J. S. Knox
Those aren't my only screwdrivers--they're my working-around-the-woodworking-workbench screwdrivers. I have other screwdrivers in other parts of the house.-Steve
Steve,
Technically speaking, those are screw removers. Screws are driven the same way as nails, with a clawhammer.
Always trying to help,
Ray
Wow, yall have some nice toolchests! Even the "screwdriver/remover" storage is nicer than anything I have lol. My handtools are all in rubbermaid plastic drawers from wally-world! In my own defense I am still new to woodworking and already had the drawers in the shop, once my handtool collection started taking up too much room on the bench I cleared out the drawers to give em a proper resting place :)
~Malice
M,
I like rubbermaids but the ladywife has stopped me cutting out bits of her wetsuit as it let's the cold sea water into places that are sensitive. I hardly ever get to have rubber fun, unless I make a mistake with a pencil.
Lataxe.
That's funny, I thought wally world burned down or something quite a while ago.Brian
You wouldn't know this, what with your motorsickles and all that, but driving in reverse is still driving.
-Steve
steve,
point taken, will remember that next time I drive a nail with the claw end of the hammer.
Ray
Joinerswork, et al,
To get back on topic, here is how I store my handtools - the ones I use most often. The drawers contain my marking tools, scrapers, and rasps.
The stereo is most often loaded with the discs I get with the BBC Classical Music magazine, or 60's rock, or my current fave - Off Kilter, a rock band fronted by a bagpiper.
Mike
mb,
To get back on topic (?) I have a special place for all my rasps, rifflers and files. I call it a file cabinet.
Comic Steve Allen used to say, "I keep all my scars in a scar box." (say it aloud)
Ray
"scars in a scar box" Thanks for the grin.
Mike
After some months using the rear veranda as my workshop with the double garage/workshop was closed for a second story addition, I am in a position to complete a rebuild for the first time in 12 years.
Here in Australia a bloke's Shed is a sacred santuary. The quality of said Shed, however, varies quite considerably. I suspect many see energies directed at the creation of the shed/workshop, per se (such that workshop furniture appears to be the only things ever built), while others view the work that comes out of the workshop as providing greater satisfaction.
I am interested in the thoughts of others about the quality of home workshop cabinets, particularly how much time they spend/have spent on building these verses furniture. I do like the idea of owning a spectacularly constructed workshop - it is a dream - but I have found it hard to rationalise spending too much time or using furniture-grade wood on workshop cabinets. This is just me to date, and no slight intended to anyone who has built something special (I aspire to the work that began this thread but they have been low on the priority list). I tend to build all mine out of boring, but cheap, pine.
When I moved all the tools out of the garage, I also threw out a bunch of crappy cabinets.
So I am presently in the process of adding new cabinets and dressing up the workshop with new jarrah and glass doors (replacing white melamine on MDF). That will unify my remaining hodge-podge of cabinets made/acquired over the years, as well as allowing some of the internals that are worth viewing to be displayed (both because this is visually pleasing and because it makes tools easier to find).
What I have at present is really quite ugly, but it is functional. One corner of my workshop ...
View Image
A few closeups for those interested ...
Japanese and Western chisels:
View Image
Cabinet scrapers and my backsaw "tree":
View Image
Some handplane storage:
View Image
And now dovetailing cabinets for the workshop re-build ...
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I will endeavour to update at the completion.
Regards from Perth
Derek
Derek
Can I have your 'old' workshop? Hey, your profile says your occupation is in the medical field. Still valid?
your profile says your occupation is in the medical field. Still valid?
Part time woodworker and dreamer, full time clinical psychologist specialising in children and adolescents.
Regards from Perth
Derek
I always hated the idea of spending all that money and have your tools just laying around and getting damaged or just not remembering where you last used them. So I decided to build a tool cabinet out of hard maple and left over pieces of mahogany. All the tools were fitted to their holders for an easy and uneventful transport if needed. The cabinet is wall mounted on a block wall with french cleats and measures 3'X4'X9" with the wings being 18"X4'X4".
The upper cabinets were included to show the use of installing a dry eraser board instead of wood panel for the doors. My saw faces these uppers and it is easy to read either a cut list or drawn plans as one goes through the construction phase.
Hey folks,I've seen some very impressive work here. And I'll just say this again. I am a bit embarrassed by how extravagant my tool cabinet is. I just got carried away.Matt
Guys - A bit off topic.
PLEASE down-rez your images to 100 KB or so before you upload them! The site, unfortunately, doesn't do it for you (hear that, FWW moderators? - it would be a much-appreciated feature).
I, along with lots of other forum participants, love looking at other's work, but it's aggravating waiting on 6MB images to download (which takes a while even with a cable modem), and once they download, you have to scroll around the picture to view the whole thing. You can, of course, re-size the whole page, but you then have to un-do that when you go back to the text entries.
Down-sizing images is easy - any digital camera's computer up-load software will do it, and you can also select the option on your camera before you take the picture. 640X480 pixels as a jpeg will easily fit into 100-200KB, and is more than plenty for others to view your work.
I just right click the link and select "Open in a new tab" (Internet Explorer) and it resizes automatically. As you say, though, it still takes a while to load.
Grant
Derek, I build my shop cabinets for function, i.e. drawerlock corners etc. I save hand cut dovetails for what leaves the premises! That said, the cabinets you discarded probably look better than mine.
Dick
Hi Dick
Here is an update on the latest cabinet.
Basic carcass was dovetailed and the dividers are sliding dovetails or stopped dados (everything is by hand) ..
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A friend gave me a couple of boards of Sepature, a Malaysian timber. This has been a near-impossible piece to plane smooth without tearout. The grain goes everywhere. Her is a link to a picture (taken by this "friend" - I thnk I will take him off my Christmas list for this! :)
http://sports.webshots.com/photo/1481669702080126573NPimjE
A standard angle plane just leads to massive tearout. A high angled smoother worked well in the end. I think it was worth the effort.
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Now for the internals. It is planned that this will be home to my braces, eggbeaters and related tools on the open side, and spokeshaves and rasps on the other. I have never seen a "drill till". If any one has one, or pictures of one, would you please post them here?
Regards from Perth
Derek
Really nice.
This has been a great thread. I have to rework my shop. Does that ever stop?
I thought about glass doors but was afraid I put a piece of wood through it. Also I really don't like my tools out on display. Unless I open a cabinet to show them. Len
"You cannot antagonize and influence at the same time. " J. S. Knox
Derek,In your photo "Chisels-storageMay2007.jpg" Left side,second and third tier--are those chisel holders on a wood pivot? Or are they just the limited vestige of shelf sides? If pivot, would it be for greater access? I think that is or could be a great idea for overlapping layered racks. - a limited pivot so as not to spill off contents. If pivot, could you post a detail photo? Like your layout of having your "sharpies" directly at hand near your bench. Astute layout.
ThanksJohn
Hi John
The chisels are set into staggered shelves - no pivotting ... although I do have intents in that regard at some stage .. when time allows. The staggered shelves allow me to remove and replace a sharp blade without danger of contacting other sharp blades.
Regards rom Perth
Derek
My thoughts exactly.
Perhaps when you get the details worked out you could share the details here or on your site.Thanks againJohn
John,
I always dream of building a cabinet like that, but then I think: "What if I get another tool? That would require me to rebuild/reconfigure it." So I put it off.Chris @ http://www.flairwoodwork.spaces.live.com
- Success is not the key to happines. Happiness is the key to success. If you love what you are doing, you will be successful. - Albert Schweitzer
John,I have yet to fill mine. Don't know if I ever will. The two "holes" on the bottom of each side of the drawers is for two drawers that I'll eventually build. They'll be like drawers turned on their sides, but the "bottom" will be in the middle of the top and bottom (the sides of a horizontal drawer), and I'll hang chisels on either side of it. That'll open up at least one of the smaller drawers in the center. Just plan bigger than you need now.MattI've had a perfectly wonderful evening, but this wasn't it. - Groucho Marx
Bob,
That sounds logical. I often wonder how Studley did it.Chris @ http://www.flairwoodwork.spaces.live.com
- Success is not the key to happines. Happiness is the key to success. If you love what you are doing, you will be successful. - Albert Schweitzer
Who is Bob?MattI've had a perfectly wonderful evening, but this wasn't it. - Groucho Marx
You called me John.Chris @ http://www.flairwoodwork.spaces.live.com
- Success is not the key to happines. Happiness is the key to success. If you love what you are doing, you will be successful. - Albert Schweitzer
Sorry Chris. I've been replying to too many persons as of late.I've had a perfectly wonderful evening, but this wasn't it. - Groucho Marx
Sorry to jump in but you could just not buy any more tools;) Sorry I could not resist.Troy
Jeeesh Troy,
That's blasphemy!
What're ya tryin to do get us all killed? The tool Gawds will have it in fer ya ifn ya don't get out yer eraser and tidy up that post.
Steve S., you still have that tree? I'll bring the rope!
:-)
Regards,Bob @ Kidderville Acres
A Woodworkers mind should be the sharpest tool in the shop!
I'm sorry for not replying sooner, but I was so flabbergasted by the concept of "not buying more tools" (my hands shake just typing the words), that my fingers were speechless, as it were.
Anyway, I've got lots of trees and lots of rope.
-Steve
Sounds like a rational response to my post:)Troy
Troy,
But then I would have to find something else to spend my money on.Chris @ http://www.flairwoodwork.spaces.live.com
- Success is not the key to happines. Happiness is the key to success. If you love what you are doing, you will be successful. - Albert Schweitzer
True but that's what hardwood dealers, sawmills and wine shops are for:)Troy
John & Derek,
I made a prototype for a chisel holder a while back. It consists of a box that is fitted into a cavity in the door of my plane/chisel cabinet which has sized slots that the chisels stand in. On the sidewall of the door I attached a 3/8" wedge of wood by slicing a piece in half at an angle.
When the free wedge is removed, the box tilts forward for tool extraction. This also allows me to stack the boxes closer together and doesn't require clearance at the top to get the chisels out. The intent was as above with the added benefit of making the chisels more portable, i.e. I can remove the box completely and place it anywhere on the bench or I can also pack it into a traveling toolkit.
I'll get some pics tonight and post here tomorrow.
Regards,Bob @ Kidderville Acres
A Woodworkers mind should be the sharpest tool in the shop!
John & derek,
Ok you guys this is a bit rough. As I said B4, it's a prototype so try and keep the snickers to a dull roar. I've since added considerably to the chisel collection and new accomodations are in the works.
Here is a pic with the chisels in the normal position in the cabinet. The wedge visible on the left side of the box is removeable; the box simply rests on the bottom shelf.
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Here is a pic with the wedge removed allowing the chisel box to tilt forward. The angle for the wedge can be modified to allow clearance of the upper shelf depending on the depth of the cabinet.
View Image
Removal of the chisel box allows it to be moved to where it is more convenient or could also be placed into a recepticle within a tool tote to be taken outside the woodshop.
Patent pending.............. :-)
Ooops, forgot the last pic.
View Image
Regards,
Bob @ Kidderville Acres
A Woodworkers mind should be the sharpest tool in the shop!
Edited 5/28/2008 9:52 am ET by KiddervilleAcres
Edited 5/29/2008 8:34 am ET by KiddervilleAcres
Hi Bob
That is a fine idea. It is similar to a chisel holder I like, one that was designed by a forum member on WoodNet (my apologies to the author, but I forget whom). His design permits the chisel holder to lie flat in a unit (vertically) and be removed to act as a rest on the bench.
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Regards from Perth
Derek
Ah hah! Now that's a cool design. Makes storage portable and chisels are easily accessed. Guess the old mind aint all that far out there after all. I like yours better.
My goals are to be able to use my chisels in the woodshop and with a new shave/carving horse that I'm building.
Regards,Bob @ Kidderville Acres
A Woodworkers mind should be the sharpest tool in the shop!
Bob,Saddle bags to go with your horse?Regards,John
Derek and Bob,Just saw the shots.
Both great.
Bob, is the bottom of the holder square or is it radiused? Looks like a device that could utilize a pressure spring and catch. No?Derek, are the small pins on the outside for retaining it in something or are they just externalized hinge remnants?
Nice configuration.John
Edited 5/28/2008 7:46 pm by boilerbay
Hi John
Sorry, I can't say much about the construction of the box. It is not mine (just an image I saved as I thought it clever). I would assume that they are pins to permit the parts to pivot.
Regards from Perth
Derek
Bob,Thanks, it sounds like a great access device. Looking forward to seeing a shot. By the by, have you decided on which roll top carrier device you may want to go with?We could get some of the Knots engineers involved with it. Come up with something really new and have it go down in history. Say someone from.....NASA?We do have a lot of very creative people here and it would be great to get input. Of course, your no slouch but you do have Guinevere (my name for your QA project) on your hands.... and the garden, and the....Make it a new knotter project and have the mag publish it or we would blackmail them :->
Tell them we will give it to Christopher Schwarz.Reeeel tard of dem tortise/fennel and birdtail articles.sneakyJohn
Hi John,
The carrier device I assume you're talking about is for the cylinder fall secretarie? If so, there's several pics in The Encyclopedia of Furniture Making that shows some different types. One in particular operates with the cylinder top such that when you open it the writing surface is pushed to the out position. Very clever.
I did Edit my previous post but here is the free standing chicel box. The bottom is flat although I did consider radiusing it. The chisels seem to lean forward just a bit so removal of the wedge causes the box to tip forward anyway. Maybe the walls in the woodshop aren't plumb!?
View Image
Regards,Bob @ Kidderville Acres
A Woodworkers mind should be the sharpest tool in the shop!
"Maybe the walls in the woodshop aren't plumb!?"
I suspect that it is you, my friend, who isn't quite plumb....
-Steve
View Image
Regards,Bob @ Kidderville Acres
A Woodworkers mind should be the sharpest tool in the shop!
Beautiful work. Suggest that you do a feature article on the cabinet and it's construction in FWW.
Thanks for the compliment. You'd have to convince others to get that done. I'd love to do it, but it would probably mean that I'd have to build it over again, and I'm not sure I'm up for that. And what would I do with two cabinets?
" And what would I do with two cabinets?"
I've got space in my dining room.........(and living room, den, bedroom, butler's pantry, maid's pantry.....)
-Jerry
How, precisely, is the maid's pantry different from the butler's? And wouldn't you want one for each? You don't want the employees getting jealous of one another!
Actually, the Maid's Panty is off of the kitchen and the Butler's Pantry is off of the dining room. They are connected by a sliding window at counter level. It has, however, been several generations since the house saw the use of servants. Don't have a clue as to how they got along, but the servants quarters in the back of the house are a bit cosy....
-Jerry, who cooks and serves his own meals.
I've seen those small rooms before in other houses. There was one in a house in Brooklyn where I lived for a year. If I had to live in it I would go insane. I know for a fact that someone who grew up sleeping in it is a sandwich short of a bagged lunch!MattI've had a perfectly wonderful evening, but this wasn't it. - Groucho Marx
Matt,
Yeah, tell me about small rooms. And bagged lunches. Anyway, the two rooms in question are indeed back to back pantries intended for serving staff. When my father, who was an interior designer/architect, took over the house in 1954 he maintained the "spirit" of the place as it was originally planned. Old houses are fun.
Sorry, I have to sign off now and go feed the servants....
Best!
-Jerry
PS: Do let me know when that second cabinet is ready....
"And what would I do with two cabinets?"
Aw come on, Matt. It's really simple. Fill with more hand tools.Len
"You cannot antagonize and influence at the same time. " J. S. Knox
And what would I do with two cabinets?
One for your everyday tools and the other for your hardly ever used BUT if needed things?
Nothing nearly as neat as yours.
Planes, small tools are below the workbench on a shelf. Those less frequently used are at the back. Saws are hung from a set of dowels (2 per dowel) in a 2x4 screwed to the wall. Screwdrivers and awls are in a 2x6 on the back of the bench, held in a series of bored holes, arranged by type & size. Turning tools are laid out on a small wheeled table in the vicinity of the lathe, sandpaper is in 10x12 film boxes on a shelf below the lathe tools.
I have a tool carry box I made that can hold a basic selection of tools for use outside the shop, the two short sides were kerfed to take a pair of saws, the bottom is an open box long enough to hold a fore plane.
I used to travel about 40 miles (one way) to use a friend's shop. (It is very well equipped.) And I always wanted to make a travel box for the tools I regularly took out there. I think that I will make one soon. Right now, all of my hand tools are in the shop @ <em>Fine Woodworking</em>. Once we move into our house, I'll take them home, but will still want to bring them into work every now and then.MattI've had a perfectly wonderful evening, but this wasn't it. - Groucho Marx
Matt,
Just put a set of these on the bottom of your tool cabinet and roll it into the back of your pick-up! One on each leg should do it!
View ImageChris @ http://www.flairwoodwork.spaces.live.com
- Success is not the key to happines. Happiness is the key to success. If you love what you are doing, you will be successful. - Albert Schweitzer
Chris,The biggest problem with that plan is that I don't have a truck. When I moved to my home, it came in the back of our hatchback Integra over 2 or 3 trips. Of course, those wheels would make for an interesting piece!MattI've had a perfectly wonderful evening, but this wasn't it. - Groucho Marx
heres how i store mine :
Anywhere theres an empty spot. On the saw, on the workbench, on pcs. of wood, at least till I can make a fine tool cabinet like yours.
James
I use a traditional tool chest to house all of my hand tools. I started out with a Duncan Phyfe style but that design did not allow for larger bow saws or standard push saws, so I redesigned. Tony Konovaloff from the "Toolbox book" had some good design details so I borrowed a few of these as a basis for the redesign. It turned out very well and functions better than expected.
What no pics?
That's just not fair! :-)
Regards,Bob @ Kidderville Acres
A Woodworkers mind should be the sharpest tool in the shop!
Matt,
Check out this thread over at Sawmill Creek.
http://www.sawmillcreek.org/showthread.php?t=85994
Best!
-Jerry
I LOVED THAT BENCH.
Thanks for the link. I use Jatoba all the time.. NICE wood to work (usually as in sometimes).
I for one wonders how, in the 'heat' of doing a project, those cover the drawers door's fit in? Pretty to be SURE.. BUT.. practical in every day working?
I am NOT knocking the bench in any way. Great work and then some .. I think a bit different than most folks?
Matt and all those who've posted pictures:
Very cool stuff! In our shop we've perfected the art of storing hand tools in secret hiding places. Yes, we do have nice cabinets similar to some of those shown here but really that's such a boring way to store tools, I mean there's simply no adventure in it. You go to the beautiful cabinet and carefully open the door or drawer and there in the nicely french fit indentations should be your block plane or card scrapers, chisels etc. Now that nice cabinet full of shiney tools will certainly impress your clients and perhaps we should all have one of those cabinets all set up right up front so we can say "Oh yes we manage our hand tools with the greatest care."
But, I'd like to pose this for your consideration, if you actually know where your tools are you'll eventually wear them out! We recently had the delightful opportunity to find a brand new Lie Nielsen block plane hubby or I (couldn't have been me!) left in our lumber storage barn. It had fallen into one of our secret hiding places and we forgot about it once we carried on for a few days and finally bought a new one. Well just last January we were loading a batch of cherry into the racks and on the floor behind one of the framing timbers and in a nice warm mouse nest was that beautiful now ten year old block plane. It was a bit dirty and dusty but the blade still had the original edge and it works just like it were new! Now how about all those screw drivers that seem to find those secret hiding places?
Very nice work guys, I'm really going to have to break down and buy a digital camera so I can share pictures too.
Madison
Here is an update on the cabinet I posted earlier, then just essentially a dovetailed carcass. Now it is fitted out and hung. Just the glass to go into the doors, so I have taken a few pics before it is made difficult by reflection.
I am not sure that the centre section (with the plough planes and router planes) will remain as is, but the cabinet was built to store spokeshaves, braces and eggbeaters. The drawer holds a couple of rolls of auger bits.
View Image
Pine carcass, Jarrah doors, and Sepature drawer front ..
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Regards from Perth
Derek
Hello Maddy,
I'm glad your mice have better bathroom manners than ours here in VA. Ten yrs in a nest here would have reduced that plane to a pile of pee pitted rust. I once had a chisel, a gift, ruined by a wayward mouse using it for a urinal. It was the coveted (by me) "Pine Knot" brand, and don't you know, that rodent piddled right on the trade mark! The resulting pitting eroded the metal, making it illegible. Potent stuff.
Ray Pine
Ray:
I'm not sure our mice are any more polite than yours, this batch seemed to have the bathroom down the hall and the plane seemed to be a part of the living quarters, if you know what I mean! They've made a heck of a mess in other areas though so I know what you mean.
Madison
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