Storage of hand tools (warning - lots of tool !)

**derekcohen** · 14th June 2004, 02:49 AM

“Workshop” is a grand name for what I have. In reality it is the rear third of a double garage. Space is at a premium and so I have taken an interest in the design of workshops, both of members on this and other forums. I took some pictures after some recent reorganisation, mainly to record the contents for insurance. I thought I’d share these with you all. It will be a long time before everything is this neat again!!

The main picture shows the cabinets in which I store my power and hand tools. My karri and jarrah workbench was built about 15 years ago (before I became so taken with the Neanderthal ways) and now needs to be updated. It continues to do (just) satisfactory duty. Alongside it is an assembly table. This folds back onto the wall when unused, and the tablesaw can be parked in front of it.

While many here know of my special interest in hand tools, I do use power tools with almost equal frequency. I have posted pictures before of my 12” Carba-tec tablesaw/sliding table with in-built router table. I have a Carba-tec BS-1400 bandsaw with riser kit and a range of blades. One day I may even purchase a jointer/planer! Here I have included pics of my power hand tools and their storage.

I spent the past two weekends rebuilding the storage for my hand tools. They had begun to pile up on shelves in cabinets and were a pain to access, never mind in danger of being damaged, and damaging me. I decided to build a cabinet dedicated to chisels, another for the hand planes I mainly use, plus find a place for handsaws, spokeshaves, and screwdrivers.

The last area is my drilling and sharpening centre.

Power Tools Cabinet

Left side: A couple of Makita angle grinders (one converted to Triton sander), Makita Jigsaw, Bosch detail sander, Bosch reciprocating saw, 7 ¼” saw, Makita ¼ “ router, Elu ½ “ router, Festo ROS, Makita finish sander.

Right side: Glue gun, Heat gun, box of sanding pads, boxes of router bits (1/2” and ¼”), router template kit, individual router bits.

Below left: various spoke shaves, 2 Spear & Jackson rip saws, 2 Disston crosscut saws.

Below right: Top row – Record #43, Record #20, Stanley #78, Stanley #112, Stanley #4, Stanley #3.
Bottom row – Stanley #140, Stanley #65, Stanley #18, LN #102, Stanley #71, Stanley #66, Wooden scrub plane, Infill plane.

Main Plane Cabinet

Left door: Incra rule, Starrett 12” 4-piece combination square and 300mm combi square, Starrett 4” 2-piece combination square.

Left inside: Japanese dovetail, tenon, and rip saws, HNT Gordon smoother and Try Plane, Mujinfang large smoother and mini smoother, HNT Gordon ¾” shoulder plane, Stanley #92 and #93 shoulder planes, Stanley #90 bullnose plane.

Right inside: Stanley #4 ½ , #5 ½ , #7, #604, #271, and #80 (at top).

Saws

Nurse 14” tenon saw, Disston 12” tenon saw, John Cotterril 8” dovetail saw,
Crown 8” dovetail saw.

Chisels Cabinet

Left side: Japanese butt chisels; Witherby paring chisels. Pig sticker mortice chisel, Japanese marking knives.
Right side: Marples carving chisels, Crown skew chisels, variety of mortice and firmer chisels, set of Nooitgedacht paring chisels.

Below: Jennings folding draw knife, set of screwdrivers, Yankee push screwdriver set of Perfect Handle screwdrivers.\

Drilling and Sharpening Centre

Carba-tec floorstanding drill to the left. Open area of cabinet contains waterstones, granite slabs (for SS), sharpening jigs, and wet- and dry grinders. There is also a hand grinder and saw sharpening vise. Panasonic cordless drills (15.6v and 12v) on the bench top. Cabinet to right contains Makita power drill, braces, hand drills, drill bits, augers, dowel jigs, etc. I also have a range of spanners, Sidchrome and Metrinch socket sets, digital callipers, more screwdrivers, and Nicholson files. These are also used for working on my car restoration project.

I hope you have found this useful/interesting and perhaps it will spur others to share pics of their storage solutions.

Regards from Perth

Derek

**bitingmidge** · 14th June 2004, 08:57 AM

Derek,
I guess my reaction can be summed up in three words...

I

HATE

YOU !!!

Nah...apart from a severe case of tool envy, I am hoping one day to be similarly organised...my current state of play leaves me with a little more than two weekends work I'm afraid.

Thanks for the inspiration though...I am going to need more room for chisels and planes, I can see that now.

Cheers,

P

**ozwinner** · 14th June 2004, 09:23 AM

Originally Posted by bitingmidge

I am hoping one day to be similarly organised...

Aaahhuummm, dont forget weve seen a piccy of you shed, itll take more than a day.

Al

Oh yeah, thanks for the new avatar

**DPB** · 14th June 2004, 09:43 AM

Sumpin to do when I get back to OZ - make a note to self re Derek's shop.

Ta!

**Tankstand** · 14th June 2004, 12:02 PM

Very impressed Derek, I can only hope of being that organised, but i'd erase the pic of the car before some cretin follows it home!

**Big Clint** · 14th June 2004, 12:05 PM

Is that the front end of an old porshe in the last photo?

**derekcohen** · 14th June 2004, 12:21 PM

BC

yes, a 1957 356 "A" coupe. I've been working on it, on-and-off for about 6 years now. It's in reasonably good condition, runs well, but off the road at this time until I repair a bearing. Looked like hell when I got it.

Regards from Perth

Derek

**Grunt** · 14th June 2004, 12:21 PM

Storage of hand tools (warning - lots of tool !)

Ahh. Oops, just made a mess in my pants.

**Shane Watson** · 14th June 2004, 02:55 PM

Hey, I'm confused - Wheres all the dust?

Mind you its good to see another bloke with an iron in the workshop

**Zed** · 14th June 2004, 05:18 PM

severe case of TES (tool envy syndrome) over here. thats a lot of tools in your garage sir - you win by a large margin!

ok how 'bout some stats :

what do you use the most ?
what is used least ?
what automatically finds its way into your hands when you fire up ?
which tool do you dislike the most and why ?
is carba tech the GMC of the workshop ? should I be a delta or jet bigot ?

cheers

**Robert WA** · 14th June 2004, 07:12 PM

There are two things I really detest, nice manicured lawns and clean workshops. I bet your lawns look like bowling greens.
Dammit Derek, I used to think you were one of the good guys.
To add insult to injury, you have an old Porche!!!!!!

**derekcohen** · 14th June 2004, 07:27 PM

Hi Zed

Good questions.

The short answer? I reach for the sharpest tool! Well...maybe?

The chisels I grab for first if I need to pare are the Japanese. They hold an edge so well and fit my hand like a glove. I don't use them if there is any levering of chips (the steel is too brittle) and then turn to the Witherby's. Obviously, if I need to chop a mortice (mainly in soft woods) or square up a mortice (that has been routered in hard wood), I will use a mortice chisel. I will also use one if I only have one or two mortices and setting up a router or drilling out the waste is too time consuming. I use the Nooitgedachts for roughing out (cheap but excellent chisels).

The planes really need to be divided into soft and hard woods when it comes to smoothing. So the Stanley Bedrock #604 (with LN blade and chipbreaker) for smaller work and #4 1/2 (with Clifton blade and chipbreaker) for wider panels, both in soft wood, are the favourites. The HNT Gordon smoother is for hardwoods and trickier grains. The worst is reserved for my homebuilt infill plane. The Mujinfang large smoother is a tremendous Jack-of-all-trades. It's cutting angle in too low (at 40 degrees) for tricky grain but it doubles as a short try plane. The block planes of choice are the Stanley #65 (Hock blade), for wider work, and bronze LN 102, for narrower work.

But there are other planes that are the only ones to go to when the time comes, such as the Stanley #7 and HNT Gordon Try Plane when flattening long boards, or edge jointing boards. And the scrub plane (which I built) when I must remove a lot of wood quickly (it is amazing how fast it does this). And there are a multitude of other planes that provide a special purpose, such as a beading plane or a dado plane.

Having said all that, sometimes I really do grab what is sharp if the above are not. It's amazing what you can do if you know your planes. One really does not NEED many tools to build fine furniture! My collection is made possible only because it is really not expensive if you do it slowly and are prepared for a bargain to come up, and because it is a hobby.

My western saws are fairly recent purchases, so I am still inclined to grab a Japanese saw. The Jap saws are simply streets ahead in the quality of the cut. I can get a finish on a cross cut that does not even require sanding or planing! But I have begun using Western saws because our tough Oz timber breaks teeth in the Jap saws, which were really designed for soft timbers.

I usually don't "reach" for a hand power tool. My jig saw, circular saw (only used for reducing MDF sheets), biscuit machine, etc all are used very seldom these days. On the other hand, I find the drill press and bandsaw are definitely "go to" tools. I would be hard pressed to find a more versatile tool than my tablesaw. The router, either in table or hand use, it a deliberate decision and used when the design calls for it. Otherwise, mercifully so, silence reigns and I can instead listen to the music.

Regards from Perth

Derek

**derekcohen** · 14th June 2004, 07:30 PM

To add insult to injury

Jeez Robert, I'm sorry

Looking forward to seeing you soon

Derek

**Wongo** · 15th June 2004, 09:57 AM

Sorry Derek, Can’t think of a word.

**Wood Borer** · 15th June 2004, 10:09 AM

Very well done Derek,

I guess if you look after the tools, they will look after you - you are a living example of that.

- Wood Borer

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