I spent yesterday morning lapping and honing the irons for several new
chisels and planes that have appeared in my garage lately. After honing to
a frightening edge and shaving most of the hair off my left arm to be sure
they really were sharp I spent some time just staring at them on the bench.
I couldn't shake the feeling that I should be doing something with all these
nice tools other than looking at them though. Finally it hit me. I need to
display them!
But seriously, I do need to create some storage soon as I'm not going to
just toss these things into a big box like I do my craftsman wrenches and
sockets and such. Can anyone suggest a good project for wall hanging
storage that would be a good skill builder as well? Lot's of dovetails
would be great! I'm not asking for free plans or anything like that. Just
suggestions for a storage project that would get my new chisels planes and
handsaws involved.
Thanks!
-Chris
Sumpthin' nice comes to mind, like a cabinet of some sort. Doors, and drawers,
and secret compartments. Oh, and with dovetails, everywhere! You could hang it
on the wall, and open the heavy, well balanced pantry doors to reveal your
arsenal of Scary Sharp* iron to the great unwashed...sorry, I got carried away.
But it sounds easy, kinda Shakeresque.
>Chris S wrote:
>I spent yesterday morning lapping and honing the irons for several new
>chisels and planes that have appeared in my garage lately. After honing to
>a frightening edge and shaving most of the hair off my left arm to be sure
>they really were sharp I spent some time just staring at them on the bench.
>I couldn't shake the feeling that I should be doing something with all these
>nice tools other than looking at them though. Finally it hit me. I need to
>display them!
>
>But seriously, I do need to create some storage soon as I'm not going to
>just toss these things into a big box like I do my craftsman wrenches and
>sockets and such. Can anyone suggest a good project for wall hanging
>storage that would be a good skill builder as well? Lot's of dovetails
>would be great! I'm not asking for free plans or anything like that. Just
>suggestions for a storage project that would get my new chisels planes and
>handsaws involved.
>
>Thanks!
>
>-Chris
Someday, it'll all be over....
Chris:
I built a pair of wall hanging tool cabinets from
scratch using a modular approach. Got to try
finger/box joints, through dovetails, half blind
dovetails, dados (how do you spell the plural of
"dado"?), sliding dovetails ... Learned a great
deal - and at low risk. The modular approach
limits screw ups to just one module - at a time -
and if you want to rearrange later you swap out
a module or two and make new ones.
You will be amazed at how much stuff you can
get into a relatively small cabinet, especially
if you make the doors 2-3 inches deep. And
when things have a "home" they're a lot easier
to find. I can go right to any of the tools in
one of my wall cabinets - in the dark.
Check it out and you may get some more ideas
for yours.
(all one line so watch the line wrap)
www.wood-workers.com/users/charlieb/RightToolCabinet.html
charlie b
ps: when you get to 3" x 3" x 3" drawers STOP!
Chris S wrote:
> nice tools other than looking at them though. Finally it hit me. I need
> to display them!
>
> But seriously, I do need to create some storage soon as I'm not going to
> just toss these things into a big box like I do my craftsman wrenches and
For ugly but functional, I have a number of 4x4 blocks of mystery heartwood
into which I've bored a series of deep holes suitable for holding chisels
and whatnot points up.
I also have a tool cabinet that's really a remnant from the days when my
tools were stored out on a screened-in back porch that was very visible to
the irritating neighbor who used to bring out a lawn chair and sit in my
back yard, staring at the back of my house. (We were both renting adjacent
houses from the same landlord, and she evidently thought my yard was her
yard too, or something. I think she was trying to get in my pants, but if
I was going to give SWMBO an excuse to cut my penis off, I sure would have
chosen a much more appealing way to get in trouble than *that* crazy
chick.)
So, um, anyway, you could do the tool cabinet, except do it prettier than I
did. The back and sides are lined with pegboard, and the doors are thick
enough to permit the attachment of short screws for holding various things.
I have all kinds of saws and scrapers and whatnot in there. Limitless
possibilities. You could even do the front with M&T frames with plexiglass
windows, and put a light in there so you can flip it on to display your
pretties in all their shiney glory.
--
Michael McIntyre ---- Silvan <[email protected]>
Linux fanatic, and certified Geek; registered Linux user #243621
Confirmed post number: 17775 Approximate word count: 533250
http://www.geocities.com/Paris/Rue/5407/
How about something like this?
http://www.terraclavis.com/bws/
"Chris S" <[email protected]> wrote in message news:<[email protected]>...
> I spent yesterday morning lapping and honing the irons for several new
> chisels and planes that have appeared in my garage lately. After honing to
> a frightening edge and shaving most of the hair off my left arm to be sure
> they really were sharp I spent some time just staring at them on the bench.
> I couldn't shake the feeling that I should be doing something with all these
> nice tools other than looking at them though. Finally it hit me. I need to
> display them!
>
> But seriously, I do need to create some storage soon as I'm not going to
> just toss these things into a big box like I do my craftsman wrenches and
> sockets and such. Can anyone suggest a good project for wall hanging
> storage that would be a good skill builder as well? Lot's of dovetails
> would be great! I'm not asking for free plans or anything like that. Just
> suggestions for a storage project that would get my new chisels planes and
> handsaws involved.
>
> Thanks!
>
> -Chris
Christopher wrote:
> I like the idea of doing something that would protect while being a nice
> display. I also like the idea of being able to use the back side of the
> doors for more storage. I'll probably end up going with whatever give the
> most storage capacity since I'm short on room.
Oooh, I have a vision that's much prettier than mine. Build shelves on the
inside of the doors, with little rails in the front to keep stuff from
falling off when the doors are opened. Think spice rack, or maybe a fancy
dart board. Then you can open the doors and have all your shiney planes
sitting on the shelves while the rest of your pretties are hanging on
pegboard or something on the inside.
Suggest if you use any pegboard, go for the 1/4" stuff instead of the 1/8"
stuff. (I think those numbers are right.) I used the cheaper stuff with
the itty bitty holes, and it's actually a PITA. Hard to get the hooks in,
and once they're there, it's hard to keep them from pulling out along with
whatever tool I'm removing.
To keep the perf board from getting all dull and crappy looking over time, I
gave mine a double shot of poly, front and back. It looks very classy.
(Well, really classy in the same way a fancy double wide house trailer
looks classy. It's K-Mart classy, but looks better than straight pegboard
anyway.)
--
Michael McIntyre ---- Silvan <[email protected]>
Linux fanatic, and certified Geek; registered Linux user #243621
Confirmed post number: 17794 Approximate word count: 533820
http://www.geocities.com/Paris/Rue/5407/
"Chris S" <[email protected]> wrote in message
>
> But seriously, I do need to create some storage soon as I'm not going to
> just toss these things into a big box like I do my craftsman wrenches and
> sockets and such. Can anyone suggest a good project for wall hanging
> storage that would be a good skill builder as well? Lot's of dovetails
> would be great! I'm not asking for free plans or anything like that. Just
> suggestions for a storage project that would get my new chisels planes and
> handsaws involved.
Hi Chris,
there are many possibilities to store tools. Tool boxes, tool chests,
cabinets, drawers, pegboards - it depends mainly on your taste and
your application.
How much tools do you want to store?
You mentioned that you want something like a wall hanging cabinet but
you should maybe consider a small extra tool box for mobile use.
Here are A FEW examples of really nice cabinets and a small box:
http://www.woodcentral.com/shots/shot422.shtml
http://www.altes-handwerkzeug.de/holzw/projekte/wzk.html
http://www.altes-handwerkzeug.de/holzw/projekte/tueren/tueren.html
http://www.woodworking.de/cgi-bin/forum/webbbs_config.pl/read/393
http://www.woodworking.de/cgi-bin/forum/webbbs_config.pl/read/2599
Pegboard and storage in drawers:
http://benchmark.20m.com/workshop/ShopTour/shoptour.html
http://benchmark.20m.com/workshop/WorkBench/workbench.html
Hope this helps,
Christian
"Chris S" <[email protected]> wrote in message >
> But seriously, I do need to create some storage soon as I'm not going to
> just toss these things into a big box like I do my craftsman wrenches and
> sockets and such. Can anyone suggest a good project for wall hanging
> storage that would be a good skill builder as well? Lot's of dovetails
> would be great! I'm not asking for free plans or anything like that. Just
> suggestions for a storage project that would get my new chisels planes and
> handsaws involved.
How about this one http://www.taunton.com/finewoodworking/pages/w00100.asp ?
Looks great to me.
Regards,
Christian
"Chris S" <[email protected]> wrote in message
> I couldn't shake the feeling that I should be doing something with all these
> nice tools other than looking at them though. Finally it hit me. I need to
> display them!
Glad to see I'm not the only one who sometimes stands around the shop
just enjoying looking at my tools.
-David
On Tue, 16 Sep 2003 19:54:53 -0500, "Chris S" <[email protected]>
wrote:
>And you are suggesting that I now plunge
>that iron into a piece of wood?
Get another set as "users"
"Joel Jacobson" <[email protected]> wrote in message
news:[email protected]...
>
> > I spent yesterday morning lapping and honing the irons for several new
> chisels and planes ..... I couldn't shake the feeling that I should be
doing
> something with all these nice tools other than looking at them though
.....
>
> Might I suggest woodworking?
>
I don't understand what you mean.
"Tom" <[email protected]> wrote in message
news:[email protected]...
> Sumpthin' nice comes to mind, like a cabinet of some sort. Doors, and
drawers,
> and secret compartments. Oh, and with dovetails, everywhere! You could
hang it
> on the wall, and open the heavy, well balanced pantry doors to reveal your
> arsenal of Scary Sharp* iron to the great unwashed...
But I've already seen them. Oh, you mean "those people".
"Andy Dingley" <[email protected]> wrote in message
news:[email protected]...
> On Mon, 15 Sep 2003 20:59:32 -0500, "Chris S" <[email protected]>
> wrote:
>
> >But seriously, I do need to create some storage soon as I'm not going to
> >just toss these things into a big box like I do my craftsman wrenches and
> >sockets and such. Can anyone suggest a good project for wall hanging
> >storage that would be a good skill builder as well?
>
> Try a copy of "The Toolbox Book"
> http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/tg/detail/-/1561582727/codesmiths
>
> Lots of pictures (and some drawings) for wall-hung tool cupboards.
> Some people favour individual near-vertical shelves to rest their
> planes on. This fits those awkward long smoothers into a shallow
> cupboard and it also displays them nicely.
>
I already have a copy and forgot all about the wall hung storage. Thanks
for reminding me.
-Chris
"Andy Dingley" <[email protected]> wrote in message
news:[email protected]...
> On Tue, 16 Sep 2003 07:41:16 -0500, "Chris S" <[email protected]>
> wrote:
>
> >> Might I suggest woodworking?
>
> 8-)
>
> >I don't understand what you mean.
>
> There comes a time when all of us tool collectors ought to get out
> there and make some shavings with our shiny toys.
>
Do you know how long it took me to lap and hone the iron for my tiny little
collection of planes and chisels? And you are suggesting that I now plunge
that iron into a piece of wood?
"Charles Erskine" <[email protected]> wrote in message
news:[email protected]...
> How about something like this?
>
> http://www.terraclavis.com/bws/
>
Very close to what I'm looking for. My wife still thinks my new workshop is
a garage and wants to park in there. Floor space for walking around the
sides of a car is going to to be scarce so storage that mounts on the wall
and doesn't stick out too far is going to be the name of the game.
-Chris
"david" <[email protected]> wrote in message
news:[email protected]...
> "Chris S" <[email protected]> wrote in message
> > I couldn't shake the feeling that I should be doing something with all
these
> > nice tools other than looking at them though. Finally it hit me. I
need to
> > display them!
>
> Glad to see I'm not the only one who sometimes stands around the shop
> just enjoying looking at my tools.
>
> -David
Heh, I planed a bit off the side of a mahogany 1X8 Sunday and spent at least
30 minutes just running my finger over the glass smooth surface saying "wow"
over and over again. I showed it to my wife and she spent a good bit of
time doing the same thing, though I'm sure she was less impressed than I.
-Chris
"charlie b" <[email protected]> wrote in message
news:[email protected]...
> Chris:
>
> I built a pair of wall hanging tool cabinets from
> scratch using a modular approach. Got to try
> finger/box joints, through dovetails, half blind
> dovetails, dados (how do you spell the plural of
> "dado"?), sliding dovetails ... Learned a great
> deal - and at low risk. The modular approach
> limits screw ups to just one module - at a time -
> and if you want to rearrange later you swap out
> a module or two and make new ones.
>
> You will be amazed at how much stuff you can
> get into a relatively small cabinet, especially
> if you make the doors 2-3 inches deep. And
> when things have a "home" they're a lot easier
> to find. I can go right to any of the tools in
> one of my wall cabinets - in the dark.
>
> Check it out and you may get some more ideas
> for yours.
>
> (all one line so watch the line wrap)
> www.wood-workers.com/users/charlieb/RightToolCabinet.html
>
> charlie b
>
> ps: when you get to 3" x 3" x 3" drawers STOP!
I like it. The modular idea is pretty good too since I could change things
later and a mistake would not blemish the entire cabinet.
-Chris
"Robin Ellzey" <[email protected]> wrote in message
news:[email protected]...
> Norm Abram of NYW built a wall-hanging toolbox during this season.
> Check out his website at http://www.newyankee.com/getproduct3.cgi?0313
> Good luck.
>
>
Thanks. Disappointing to see nothing but some screwdrivers and pliers in
the toolbox pictured there. Guess that's to be expected though.
-Chris
"Silvan" <[email protected]> wrote in message
news:[email protected]...
> For ugly but functional, I have a number of 4x4 blocks of mystery
heartwood
> into which I've bored a series of deep holes suitable for holding chisels
> and whatnot points up.
My ugly but functional is a couple 2X4 sheets of pegboard I hung in a
corner. It helps for a lot of things but doesn't give me a nice place to
keep planes.
>
> So, um, anyway, you could do the tool cabinet, except do it prettier than
I
> did. The back and sides are lined with pegboard, and the doors are thick
> enough to permit the attachment of short screws for holding various
things.
> I have all kinds of saws and scrapers and whatnot in there. Limitless
> possibilities. You could even do the front with M&T frames with
plexiglass
> windows, and put a light in there so you can flip it on to display your
> pretties in all their shiney glory.
>
I like the idea of doing something that would protect while being a nice
display. I also like the idea of being able to use the back side of the
doors for more storage. I'll probably end up going with whatever give the
most storage capacity since I'm short on room.
-Chris