How Do You Store Your Planes?

[David Ragan]

Commemorative ltd edition from LN................ No one else bought one.

That angle was taken to show the hooky-thingies - does look strange though.

Hey Kent, Raining down there this morning?

What is the deal with the double-handled saw?

[David Ragan]

Hey Kent, Raining down there this morning?

What is the deal with the double-handled saw?

OK. ha ha. I see it now, after looking at it forever.

[ken hatch]

Living in the the desert Southwest where everything either bites, stings, or sticks has its advantages. Rust is seldom a problem, an occasional wipe of a oily rag to get the dust off is about all that is required. If it were more work I'd have fewer tools. My storage solution is basically no solution.

My most used, goto planes are keep on a till that is behind my main work bench:



Some of the smaller planes and specialty planes are kept in an open cabinet next to the till:



A few more of the users are under the bench:



And last, the hollows and rounds, some beading planes, a wood stock scrub, and others are on a shelf over the secondary work bench:



A hodge podge but it works. I threaten all the time to build a nice wall cabinet/till for the tools but there is always something of higher need, Maybe when I quit this semi-retirement that is long on the "semi" and short on the retirement and actually retire I will get around to building it.

[Frederick Skelly]

@Rob Payne: Beautiful cabinet and really nice collection. Finishing it and displaying it was a tremendous way to commemorate your good friend. I'm glad it was able to pass intact to someone else who will appreciate it!
Fred

[Chris Hachet]

I only have five planes. I'm not into extensive collection of anything, but my Stanley 102 and 4 are available at the back of my bench and the rest are on their sides in a Craftsman tool chest. Semi-heated/cooled garage, dry, no rust on anything.

I use the same half dozen or so planes all of the time...you don't need sixty on hand to do good work. I like your storage!

[Steve Rozmiarek]

Rob, thats amazing work and a touching story.

I'll toss a pic in the fray. Old pic of my old shop, will probably do something similar in the new one but the inventory and storage changes quite often, so might alter the cabinet and add another. I like being able to see the tools so I like the simple shallow shelves better than something that hides stuff. Love the saw till too.

[John Schtrumpf]

Hi John,

That's a very interesting tool chest / cart! Would you care to share a little bit about more about it? Maybe some more pictures? Inquiring minds want to know!

Thanks
Tom.

I live in an apartment. So I wanted a tool chest not just to store my tools, I also wanted to be able to work out of it like a tool cart. A large dutch tool chest was close to what I wanted. I changed the top to a flip up, to gain a shelf to put things on while I am working. The middle skirt / girdle's purpose is as a standoff for the saws on the side, and a French cleat across the back to hold the front panel (the handle is a cleat), and the handles are really saw hangers. The box of the chest is around 36" high by 30" wide by 13.5" deep, split around 20" for the bottom section and 16" for the top section, the flip up portion is around 13.5" tall.

Edit: I forgot to say that the chest was built with the tools inside it, plus a cordless drill.

[Daniel Rode]

My setup is pretty basic but it works well enough.
DSC02236.jpg

[John Sanford]

Rob, thats amazing work and a touching story.

I'll toss a pic in the fray. Old pic of my old shop, will probably do something similar in the new one but the inventory and storage changes quite often, so might alter the cabinet and add another. I like being able to see the tools so I like the simple shallow shelves better than something that hides stuff. Love the saw till too.

Hey Steve, you know, if you applied a bit more of the tri-dimensional storage mode used by Studley, you might be able to find some wall space to actually hang that Studley poster.

[John Sanford]

My setup is pretty basic but it works well enough.
DSC02236.jpg

Dan, I really like the lines on yours. It's an elegant design. Is the slotted block in the lower left for scrapers?

[Daniel Rode]

Thanks John! I drew it up in sketchup first and that allowed me to play with the design a bit before cutting.

The block is just a scrap of pine with some slots cut in it. Dead simple, but It keeps the scrapers handy

Dan, I really like the lines on yours. It's an elegant design. Is the slotted block in the lower left for scrapers?

[Steve Rozmiarek]

Hey Steve, you know, if you applied a bit more of the tri-dimensional storage mode used by Studley, you might be able to find some wall space to actually hang that Studley poster.

LOL! I have the pic strategically placed to inspire on the bench, trying to catch a muse. It didn't work. What you can't see is the second attempt at organizing that left door in the cabinet laying on the bench behind the combo plane boxes. First is in the trash can, third is in the cabinet, fourth in my mind, (now in the cabinet), and fifth brewing. Ooof, it's hard being indecisive! I have decided that Studley wasn't human. Also that my attempts at tri-dimensional design are laughable at best, and usually dangerous.

Adding, I'll post a pic of number four attempt if anyone wants to see it.

[John Sanford]

For starters, I repurposed a couple of book shelves that I picked up at a garage sale for $5 each. I am in the process of building a plane till\tool cabinet. It is only 30" tall x 30" wide x 15" deep. It is designed to accomodate 8,7,6,5 1/4, 5, 4 1/2, 4, 3 bench planes, a small collection of block planes, a yet to be acquired collection of molding planes, a rabbet plane (78), a router plane, paring, mortise & bench chisels, dovetail saw +2 backsaws. The main cabinet will be 12" deep, with 3" deep doors on piano style hinges. The open shelves I currently use allow too much dust to settle on things.

What? No shoulder planes? You are a wild man.

[Steve Rozmiarek]

LOL! I have the pic strategically placed to inspire on the bench, trying to catch a muse. It didn't work. What you can't see is the second attempt at organizing that left door in the cabinet laying on the bench behind the combo plane boxes. First is in the trash can, third is in the cabinet, fourth in my mind, (now in the cabinet), and fifth brewing. Ooof, it's hard being indecisive! I have decided that Studley wasn't human. Also that my attempts at tri-dimensional design are laughable at best, and usually dangerous.

Adding, I'll post a pic of number four attempt if anyone wants to see it.

Attempt number four... A bit off topic, but related sort of, how do you store braces??? This is awkward in use but better than the last attempt.

[Thomas Schneider]

Thanks John! I really appreciate you taking the time to post these pic's. I hope you don't mind if I borrow a couple of ideas from you

I live in an apartment. So I wanted a tool chest not just to store my tools, I also wanted to be able to work out of it like a tool cart. A large dutch tool chest was close to what I wanted. I changed the top to a flip up, to gain a shelf to put things on while I am working. The middle skirt / girdle's purpose is as a standoff for the saws on the side, and a French cleat across the back to hold the front panel (the handle is a cleat), and the handles are really saw hangers. The box of the chest is around 36" high by 30" wide by 13.5" deep, split around 20" for the bottom section and 16" for the top section, the flip up portion is around 13.5" tall.

Edit: I forgot to say that the chest was built with the tools inside it, plus a cordless drill.