Popular Woodworking 2004-12 № 145, страница 63

6 STORAGE SOLUTIONS

Tools need to be protected, organized and easily retrieved. That's a tall order.

Here are some of the problems I've run into over the years: Hanging tools on a wall keeps them organized and close at hand, but unprotected. Keeping them in a traditional sliding tool till in a chest keeps them protected and organized, but you dig around for them endlessly. Drawers under a bench keep them protected and close at hand, but most drawers end up a jumbled mess.

Here's my solution, and so far it works well. The cubbyholes are sized exactly to hold a full complement of hand planes. Finding the right plane and getting it down for use has never been easier.

The chisel rack puts my most-used sizes out where I can get them. And the rack is designed to hold the tools even when the door is accidentally slammed.

The saw till on the right door is the same way. These two saws do 80 percent of my work and they're always handy.

The real feature is the drawers. The smaller drawers hold tools for a specific operation. In the larger drawers, the interchangeable trays stack inside the drawers and also hold tools for a specific operation. Whenever I dovetail, I grab the top right drawer. No more making mounds of tools on the bench.

Chisel Rack

This simple L-shaped bracket holds the five chisels I use most, plus my drawbore pins. Don't use a magnetic strip; it will magnetize your tools, which makes them difficult to sharpen.

Tool Trays, Lower Drawer

The bottom of the drawer is for the tools I rarely need. The tray at left holds files and rasps (I'm going to subdivide this tray as soon as some more rasps arrive in the mail). The tray at right holds specialty chisels and screwdrivers.

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100 Popular Woodworking December 2004