I am currently designing a wall cabinet to store several of my Stanley and Lie-Nielsen planes. I have The Toolbox Book by Jim Tolpin where many examples of storage solutions are shown. However, I wasn’t able to find any details about how people actually “hang” their planes vertically. To complicate matters, I absolutely don’t want to desecrate my planes by drilling a hole in their soles. I was hoping others have come up with clever solutions that they would be willing to share.
Thanks.
Replies
For my iron planes, I have them in a cabinet with a magnetic tool bar that runs along the back. This keeps the blade off the shelf. The bronze planes (I have only two) sit on the shelf but are "stickered" so that the blade is about 3/8" off the shelf. Not sure if this is cannon, but I was taught this way back, and it wasn't hard to do.
Glaucon
If you don't think too good, then don't think too much...
I've considered horizontal orientation where planes lie on their sides (I can easily make a custom shelf for each plane, but it would take up more space in the cabinet than vertical storage since I would need to lift the plane up over a lip on the shelf to remove it. Also, I've always liked the look of a row of planes standing vertically.
Have a small cross bar at the top positioned so that when you are putting the plane away or taking it out the part of the plane between the front knob and front of the body casting can easily slide under. Then just by sliding up you clear the lip at the bottom, but when you let the plane heel sit on the bottom the cross bar is engaged. So long as you have more play at the front of the plane than the lip is high, it should work fine.
Yes, that is what I was looking for! Excellent suggestion. Sometimes, it's elegant techniques like this that are so elusive at design time. Do you have a picture you could share?Thanks.
I've not done it myself, but here is a quick scribble of what I had in mind - top and side views (click the enlarge box that shows up at the lower right if the pic is tiny on your screen):
http://home.comcast.net/~samson141/plane_storage.bmp
I have my Grandfather's wall-hung tool box. It uses a similar arrangement to what Samson suggests. The top of the plane noses up to either a bit of appropriately thin stock cut to fit the side-to-side profile of the plane, and then uses two spring clips (which he probably made) to hold the plane to the back of the box. There is nothing to hold the back end of the plane in place.
Beautiful solution, I am about to build a shop in my retirement home (1100 sq.ft) and I had the same problem. I see 4 to 5 wall cases for planes/chisels/carving tools/lathe tools and 5 combination planes (including all of the holows and rounds/nosings) . The last one is still a problem for design. I don't like drawers. Drawers hide the tools that you need and don't present a "home" to put the tool or atachment when it's time to clean up and that results in a ratty looking shop that is non-productive. Many thanks, Pat.
Glaucon, in Hawaii magnets cause rust for some reason. I do store my chisels against a magbar but I wont put my planes up that way. Interestingly, peoples friges get rust spots from magnets too and no one seems to be able to explain it. I am certain that its not as critical in dryer climes with way lower humidity. aloha, mike
Hawaii is surrounded by salt water, right?
"I cut this piece four times and it's still too short."
<Hawaii is surrounded by salt water, right?>Yep, like most of the world. We also have a greenhouse climate with a higher year round humidity than a lot of places. I personally never take my tools to the beach and wouldnt lend them to anyone who did. They can just get their tan when I use them outdoors. ;-)aloha, mike
I was referring to actual proximity and while most of the world is surrounded by salt water, my tools rust only during winter because of Lake Michigan. I have started to move the smaller cast iron tools inside for the winter recently and it definitely keeps them clean. It's da kine.If my tools want a tan, they can just lay out in the back yard like my neighbor sometimes does. Girl in bikini- aaaaaaagggggggggghhhhhhhhhhhh.
"I cut this piece four times and it's still too short."
Edited 1/29/2006 1:45 pm by highfigh
I was being a brat in my response. But truthfully, rust begins in the blast furnace with the addition of oxygen to ingot firing you have a built in problem. Sweaty hands add enough salt to the surface to start the oxidation process. Trying using camellia oil as an antioxidant (on the tools) and it should also lessen the problem. aloha, mike
I was being serious about the lake causing a lot of the high winter humidity problems, although not all of them. We get weeks below freezing and suddenly it's 40 with rain. I have about a cup of snow in my yard right now. I bought some moving blankets to cover my TS, jointer and planer. It has helped, so far. I have extra moisture from my propane heater, too. Not as much of a problem at 35 and dry with a fresh tank, but at 15 with a tank that's close to empty, it becomes a cold swamp. Actually, at 30K BTU, my heater is more like a coffee can (3 lb) with a match and a whirleygig inside. I thought they were using induction heating and argon gas for slag removal, but I would imagine they increase the temperature when they reheat the ingots for rolling or forging. Either way, cast iron isn't the cleanest metal and is somewhat porous, so oxidation is inevitable. I use paste wax to protect now and have used Top Cote in the past. They both work unless the time interval is too great or the water is actually standing on the surface. I have tools made of iron that have never been touched by wax or anything to protect and they have little or no rust on them so here, it's more a function of surface temp vs ambient temp and relative humidity. I went to HI about 25 years ago and yes, it definitely gets humid.
"I cut this piece four times and it's still too short."
Are you against storing your planes on their soles?
It would be easiest to store them on their soles. However, it takes up more space in the cabinet. That is the main reason I wanted to find an alternative orientation. I can get 2x - 3x more tools into the same size cabinet by storing vertically or on their sides.Edited 1/24/2006 3:38 pm ET by SimplyShaker
Edited 1/24/2006 3:38 pm ET by SimplyShaker
Until I can build a cabinet, I'm using peg board. A couple of weeks ago it dawned on me to use the short bunge cords with large plastic knobs. The kind used for attaching a tarp to a metal frame. The bunge goes around the knob and then the heel, at a slight angle, rest on a shelf. Vertical storage with the blade not resting on anything. Works great. Maybe this is will give you an idea.
Greg
I hang my planes on a rope, 1/4 diameter smooth nylon. Zig zag the rope on a vertical board thats about 3 1/2 inches deep. Allow 12 inches rope per plane. Dont cut the rope into segments, just string it along a series of points 3 inches on center. I used small fencing nails to fix the rope to the board. Hang the plane by the knob. After a couple of days the rope will be formed to a nice V shape that remains when the plane is removed.
I built this cabinet last summer without the shelves and optional drawer section.
http://www.plansnow.com/walltoolcab.html
I hung my planes with the method suggested by Samson and others and it has worked very well. Check out this site for some other tool hanging solutions.
http://web.archive.org/web/20041119011737/http://www.terraclavis.com/bws/
My 55 is the only one giving me a problem. Right now it just sits in the bottom of the cabinet leaning against the back panel.
I have a variety of Stanley's and use the pegboard to attach a small angled shelf with a lip at the bottem and a 20 deg tilt going back towards the top so I can set them in vertical with the heels at the top. A small strip between each plane keeps them from tipping over sideways. Using the shelf attached to the peg board with peg hooks allows it to be moved when re-arranging tools on the board.
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