Hand tool storage - Tool chest or wall cabinet?

Re: Hand tool storage - Tool chest or wall cabinet

Moses Yoder in White Pigeon, MI


>A well orgnized wall hung cabinet within convenient reach of your bench is definitely more efficient than a chest. A wall cabinet can have a lot more surface area readily available than a chest would. Tools could be hung on the outside of the doors, inside the doors, and on the back of the cabinet, making them more readily available than if stored in a chest. Plus the fact that you don't have to bend over to get the tools. And of course, I will be working on having both ;) Since I already have a wall cabinet and just had a chest fall into my lap. Something that would work very well I think is to put fregquently used tools in a neat little wall cabinet, and less used tools in a tool chest. I plan on having my tool chest on casters so I can roll it around the shop.

Re: Hand tool storage - Tool chest or wall cabinet

kelly


>I was hoping to build both this summer but my current project is taking longer than anticipated. I was thanking like Moses that I could put the more used tools in the cabinate and less used in the chest. Also I always thought the old chests were cool and always wanted one so I am going for both.

Re: Hand tool storage - Tool chest or wall cabinet

kevin French, Antrim, NH


>I built two racks over over my bench I don't like to hid tools in a cabnet. Out of sight, out of mind. I want the hand tool to be the first thing I reach for.

The outer rack has 2 bar magnets, the other is for my hand drills.

Would that make it a "Drill Till"?

Re: Hand tool storage - Tool chest or wall cabinet *LINK*

Tom Price


>I like my toolchest but not all of my tools are in there (would take an enormous toolchest).

Below is a link to my toolchest page.

- Tom


My toolchest

Re: Hand tool storage - Tool chest or wall cabinet

Ian Smith (Sydney Australia)


>I like your toolchest too Tom. Very nice.

Regards,

Ian.

Re: Hand tool storage - Tool chest or wall cabinet

Steve Kubien


>Funny thing Pete, I've been wondering the exact same thing.

My tool kit is considerably smaller than some others. I've got 3 bench planes, one block, a rabbet, a shoulder, and 3 or 4 moulders in need of repair. Maybe 4 saws I use regularly plus 2-3 each of braces, eggbeaters and push drills/screwdrivers. 10 (or so) chisels, the basic assortment of layout tools and a couple of hammers/mallets. Oh yeah, there are doodad tools in the mechanic-style chest and they can stay there. What I have a lot of are bits and pieces of metal, wood, sandpaper, tools, widgets and a huge mass of thingamabob's.

I've been leaning towards a chest for the tools and a mess of small drawers on shelves above the bench. My thinking is that this way, there is always a space/drawer for more thingamabob's and I can keep my bench clear for...well...being used as a bench! I'll be interested in what others have to say.

Cheers,

Steve Kubien

Re: Hand tool storage - Tool chest or wall cabinet

Pete Ducklow


>Hi Kevin -

I don't like to hide tools either. I would prefer to display them above my bench for easy reach. But since my workshop is in my garage, I'm concerned about security and moisture from the snow from my car. That's why I'd like to have them enclosed in some way.

BTW, you have one of my favorite benchs that I've seen on the internet. There's something very comforting about it.

Pete

Re: Hand tool storage - Tool chest or wall cabinet

Pete Ducklow


>Hi Steve,

I also have an antique chest of drawers that I stole from my sister's basement. It's mahogany and has about 40 small drawers. It had been used to store electrical parts. I suppose I could keep my smaller tools in that and use something else for the larger tools, but I think I would prefer to have everything in the same location. Either a tool chest with sliding tills, or a large cabinet with a place for everything. I don't want to be wondering where my block plane is. Still, I'm fascinated by chests with lots of small drawers!

Pete

Chacun � son go�t

Bill Houghton, fog comes and goes, Sebastopol, CA


>or, in internet-speak, Your Mileage May Vary. I've read some descriptions of the Seaton-style chest that argue that it's the most efficient way to pack lots of tools in a particular space. Myself, I think it sounds maddening, having to shove tills back and forth all the time to get to the tools on the bottom or in the lower tills.

Of course, this is a fine distinction from my preference, which is mechanics' rollaways and top chests. This solution might not work in every part of the country: I'm told that in high humidity regions the metal drawers would lead to rusty tools, though I'm curious why mechanics' tools don't then get rusty (maybe they do), and though I don't find mine rusting in the damp North-Left Coast winters.

For me, though, they're marvelous - not hard to find used, so not expensive (I did pay retail for one, but another cost $20, and the seller insisted that I take the contents, which were a mixed bag of old wrenches and things), very efficient space use, and no time fussing around building them. My son laughs at me, because in an 11x11 foot shop, I've got four rollaways and three top chests - though I should mention that only one rollaway and one top chest are dedicated to woodworking tools, the others containing the tools for car repair, plumbing, electrical, metalworking, sheet metal, and general all around work.

Anyhow: I think you have to look at your space, your tool inventory, and your work preferences, and then try to sort out what will work best. It's like workbenches, though: you'll wind up having to experiment some to find a good solution. Nothing prevents you from having more than one tool storage design. I expect to make tills for my saws (which currently hang nine feet in the air, rather inconvenient), drills/braces, and drawknives.

One thing I do want to try in my currently-imaginary next (larger) shop is a little side cart on which the tools in use at the moment can sit, so they're not on the bench.

Re: Neither

ThomD


>I use wall mounted racks, and try to arrange them so they can be moved wherever they will do the most good.

I don't really see the point of chests since I am not planing on stealing my own tools, as might happen in a shop environment. And I can't stop myself from borrowing them and not putting them back.

Re: Hand tool storage - Tool chest or wall cabinet

Derek Cohen (in Perth, Australia)


>Hi Pete

At a basic level, in my mind a tool chest is for longer term storage or transporting tools, while a wall cabinet displays tools for immediate access.

My preference is a series of wall cabinets and drawers. These are situated at strategic positions around my workshop. The woodwork tools are largely situated over or near my work bench

Here's an old picture:

Regards from Perth

Derek

Re: mechanics

Moses Yoder in White Pigeon, MI


>My borther had a nice set of snap-on tools that he kept in a large mechanics tool chest. The drawers were lined with something, I am not sure if it was a rubber mat or paper, and he would wipe the tools with an oily rag after using them, which I think is what prevents mechanics tools from rusting.

Probably most people who read this will alredy know, but it took me a while to figure it out. As the air in your shop gets warm during the day, it can gain moisture conetent, so the relative humidity can go down but the air will still have more moisture than at night. As the air cools, it cannot hold as much moisture, and so moisture will condense on the tools and any other surface. This is what causes tools to rust from just setting out in the open. A tight storage chest will prevent rust in two ways 1) not as much air circulation limits the amount of moisture around the tools 2) the temperature difference between the tools and the surrounding air will not fluctuate as fast. Having a thin coat of oil or wax on tools prevents the condensation from actually contacting the metal.

Re: Hand tool storage - Tool chest or wall cabinet

Rusty Miller


>I just recieved the new issue of Woodwork yesterday and it has a nice article by Micheal Cullen on build a stand up tool chest. Very nice looking chest. You may want to check it out.

Rusty-Tye, TX

It's a bit like real estate ... accessibility ...

Ian in Sydney (on his notebook again)


>To my mind, a tool chest is for storage BUT ...

a chest with drawers (mechanics chest or campaign chest) might suit you particularly if wall space is a premium. I'm slowly building one for myself loosely based on a plan from Lee Valley. Essentially it's a double bank of shallow drawers with one or two drawers wide enough for saws and a box deep enough to store planes above the drawers. I'm planing on keeping the large planes in the box, with set out tools, block planes and chisels stored in the drawers.

If you decide to go with a wall cabinet, Chris Bouvardt (I'm sure that's the wrong spelling) had an article in FWW some years ago covering how to design one to fit your own tool collection and working preferences.

Have to represent... pt I

James Watriss


>I don't know about having a chest spill over on you.

My first chest was built in a workshop at school. 12x12x18, 4 drawers, and 2 of the drawers have trays. I'm constantly inspired by HO Studley, so it was all about fitting the most in there that I could. Yes, I know he built a wall cabinet, and I'm pushing tool chests... but I think organization and a little attention to making sure that you can get to everything will make all the difference. Anyone can pile stuff in and fill nooks and crannies.

I think at last count...

-The top drawer had 2 sets of chisels, my brass mallet, and room for a tray of all my marking and measuring stuff. When the chest was unlocked, that tray sat on top of the chest for easy access.

-The left drawer had scrapers, a burnisher, miscellaneous things, utility and x-acto knife, and so forth, as well, I think, as my tite-mark.

-The right drawer had a block plane, a 271, 2 spokeshaves, and 2 shoulder planes. The tray held the shoulder planes, and had holes and a cutout so that it could fit over/around hte block plane and the stem from the 271

-The bottom plane held a low angle jack, a wallet with 2 or 3 blades ground at different angles, a high angle 4, and either a #3 or my infill plane. Tape measure, coping saw, chamfer plane.

I couldn't fit either a full sized japanese saw, or my 24" starret ruler in there, let alone carving chisels and such...

Re: Have to represent... pt I 

James Watriss

Part II...the north bennet street tool chest

James Watriss


>The completed bennet tool chest is eclipsing the smaller chest in this picture.

The actual origin of the North Bennet chest is kinda funny, given the spreads in the taunton book on chests. They weren't meant to be anything more than a simple, locking chest of drawers, and the measurements given were such that the chest would fit neatly on a shelf under the new benches that the school got, oh, 20-something years ago.

The new chest is long enough to hold my full-sized japanese saws. The drawers are deep enough that I can lay chisels side by side, aligned front to back. There's room for a lot more stuff. And the bottom drawer is deep enough that I can sit something like 11 hand planes side by side in it, standing up. The longest plane that will fit in there right now is, I think, a 5 1/2. Oone of these days I'll be able to pull the bottom drawer out and simply make a plane till. A drawer like that chock full of planes gets heavy very fast. The top left drawer holds a notebook and some pencils. The top right drawer is cork-lined, with shallow french-fit spaces for marking and measuring. In short, it's the new marking and measuring tray. And then some. It also has enough space to put hardware that's going on a project when I'm not using it. Screws, etc... things like that.

The rest of it is currently nowhere near as organized as the little chest, and I'll admit, sometimes I miss using the little fella. There's something to be said for being a minimalist sometimes.

Unlike the old-school lidded chests, this chest has no sliding tills, no screwing around, and as long as you're half-way organized, everythign is right where you put it, so there's no digging and hunting around for things.

Re: Part II...the north bennet street tool chest 

James Watriss

Re: Hand tool storage - Tool chest or wall cabinet

Adam Cherubini


>Before I built my chest, I was concerned about accessibility. I built it to store and transport my tools, and I wanted an historical-looking chest for my historical looking tools.

The transportability thing didn't work out too well. Loaded, my chest weighs a couple hundred pounds. Not too much for two strong men, but too much to manuever out of my basement and into my minivan. So that was a bust.

But accessibility is actually quite nice. I have no problems accessing tools. Unlike mechanics tools, the tools required for a given task are usually few and different tools are needed only hourly or daily, not minute to minute. That said, I prefer to store my bench planes under my bench an hang my saws on the walls. Also, you need a space for pencils and dividers and gauges and squares as such thing are in continuous use. These items deserve the name "bench tools". But I don't really have "bench chisels". They stay in the chest.

Don't underestimate the value of a lock. Locks keep out desperate spouses who need "screw driver thingys" and children. Also, its my understanding that dust is a big contributor to rust. I tend to keep my box closed, especially when I'm working. And I've never seen a wall hung cabinet that can hold half of the tools in my chest. I don't think I'd want a couple hundred pounds of razor sharp tools hanging off the wall. I also don't think the wall cabinets are pretty. I suspect long after I'm dead, my chest will live on as a blanket chest as many others have done.

I think it would be fun to make a Seaton style till. While some claim these tills were intended to be removed and stored or on a bench for easier access, I've never seen any evidence of such.

Bottom line, I think my chest holds infrequently used tools. And when you think about it, all of us have many of these. If I had it to do over again, I would have liked to stored my saws under the lid. I just didn't have stock wide enough to make the chest higher.

Adam

Re: Hand tool storage - Tool chest or wall cabinet

kevin French, Antrim, NH


>Thanks Pete. It's been a work in progress and has change some since that pic was taken, although the changes are smaller now.

Re: Hand tool storage - Tool chest or wall cabinet

V Parisian


>Thanks for sharing these shots and schematics. Your details are well thought out. Great stuff here.

Love the pic of your shop. More proof that a man can never have enough tools. :>) This should be a stock picture for all of us to use when SWMBO questions the quantity of tools we possess. :>)

Regards from hot and sticky Houston

Victor

Re: Hand tool storage - Tool chest or wall cabinet

arw01


>The artcile in this months Woodworks magazine is very good detailing building a solid wood cabinet for all your tools to lock up in. I would think seperating the case into layers than could be broken down would be a good for moving someday, but could still be locked together from the inside to slow down thievery.

Alan

Re: Hand tool storage - Tool chest or wall cabinet

Tom Price


>Victor, thanks for the kind words. I find that I enjoy working out of a toolchest versus a hanging tool cabinet - I had a hanging cabinet by the bench for several years and decided that it took up too much of my scarce wall space. Plus I had space available from about waist height to the floor behind my bench. So now I house all of my layout tools, user chisels, block planes, router plane, doweling jig, Yankee bits, dado saw (has a fence attached), user saws, squares, half set of hollows and rounds, user spokeshaves and drill bits. Braces and auger bits have their own wall shelves as does the bench plane array. I particularly like using chisels in a till since, when I'm done, I only have to drop the chisel back in the slot without worrying that I might not get it in the fixture properly and it dropping on the floor (or my foot). Also I manage to pack a lot of chisels in a relatively small amount of space and I don't have to open and shut drawers to get to them.

I have a lot more tools than is shown in the pictures currently on my web site. Time to thin the herd, I need to post some 'For Sale' notices on the OldTools list.

- Tom

Photos?

Pete Ducklow


>Adam, you wouldn't happen to have any photos of your chest, would you? I'd love to see them

Thanks

Pete