I need a little guidance on this issue. I'm new to woodworking. I have been putting together a basic set of tools and building skills as a hobby for the last two years or so. First, I'll tell you the current state of affairs and then the problems I'm facing...

My shop is half of a two car garage. I have built a woodworking bench that is floating in the middle of my shop space. Behind me as I stand at the bench are some repurposed storage units along the wall (someone was throwing them away). They are about 30" tall with an open shelf on which I set my planes for quick access, and drawers that hold drills and bits as well as some other items. The top of these units are for liquids (alcohol, naptha, polishes, paste wax, etc) and collecting clutter. On the wall above this storage unit (behind me as I stand at the bench) is a 4'x8' sheet of pegboard that I currently hang tools from. I use the standard 1/4" pegboard hardware you find at the BORG to hang and organize the tools. On the other wall I have in my shop space, the short one, is a repurposed desk that I use for guitar work.

I live in northeast Texas, which faces high humidity and temperatures for much of the year as well as frequent and large swings of both humidity and temperature. It isn't a kind environment for tools. Most of my tools are old ones that I've found at flea markets and antique stores, cleaned up, and put to use. The pegboard that I use for most of my tools was an idea from my dad's shop. He isn't a big woodworker, so most of his tools are general household stuff. I loved how organized his tools were, and how easy it was to grab what you needed in his shop, so I went with the pegboard too. I'm beginning to decide that the pegboard is great for household tools, but not ideal for woodworking tools. Even though I've gone to religiously coating tools with oil and paste wax, I still have rust to deal with regularly on my woodworking tools. A little rust on an old wrench or screwdriver isn't that big of a deal but it's a bigger problem on saw plates and chisels. The pegboard isn't quite as handy for the woodworking tools either as I would prefer to have the edge tools in wood holders of some sort that won't damage the edges and it would be nice to be able to move the holders to the tool tray of my bench when I'm working so that I don't have to keep turning around to grab what I need off the wall.

So I've decided that I may need to change my strategy on how I handle my woodworking tools due to the rust and the fact that the pegboard isn't as convenient for the woodworking tools as it is for the household stuff. I've heard some say that they fought rust issues much less after building a traditional tool chest for their woodworking tools. How many of you have found that to be the case?

The most basic decision I have to make is between a floor and wall chest. It's a small area, so floor space is at a premium. I do have the floor space for a traditional floor chest though if that turns out to be the best choice. The thing that makes the choice the most difficult for me is that my set of tools is still incomplete. I will undoubtedly need to add the following items as I tackle more projects: router plane, possibly a plow plane, a few more joinery saws, more marking, measuring, and layout tools, additional chisels, etc. Most of the people I see building chests have a pretty well defined set of tools that they use regularly so they can build the chest around those needs. I have a "work in progress" set of tools, so the beautiful wall chests that utilize every last 1/8" of space perfectly are not a possibility for me yet. I have to build something that will work for what I have now as well as what will be coming later, but I don't know exactly what will be coming later.

I need to build something that can accomodate my growing set of tools, help prevent rust as much as is possible in my climate, and make the best use of space possible. What do you guys think my best choices are?

PS, I know that the best rust inhibitor is using the tools regularly. The problem is that it's often 120* in my garage during the summer months, and so my tools are undoubtedly going to see significant periods where they don't get used because it's just too hot. I am doing this for fun after all...

Thanks,
D