Tools Rolling off the Bench Solutions?

[Mark R Webster]

Hi guys, just wondering if any of you have come up with a good solution for preventing your smaller chisels, Tite-Mark marking guage or other tools with round handles from rolling off your benches. (I know.. I know, level my work bench ) I have had chisels with flats that worked well. The tools that are bothering me the most is a screwdriver I bought from Lie Nielsen and the Tite-Mark. Have any of you gone radical and added some flats on your chisels or made a flat on the Tite-Mark fence?
Thanks
Mark

[Lee Schierer]

My father solved this problem by milling a flat on all the round handles. This flat prevented them from rolling on a flat surface and also gave him a tactile feel of the working end oritentation by where the flat was in his hand.

[Matt Evans]

Really easy. . .put enough other stuff on your workbench that you can't work on it. Nothing you care about falls off the bench that way.

I currently have a chisel rack attached to the bench that also holds an awl, a marking knife, square, dovetail square, etc. i have square and oval marking gauges at the moment, but a round shaft would fit in the chisel rack just fine.

When I didn't have a chisel rack built into the bench, I came up with chisel racks that hung on the wall with french cleats, then when I needed a set (along with square, pencil, awl, etc.) it would sit on the bench on its own.

[steven c newman]

Screwdriver rolling off the bench? Stick it into the nearest dog hole. Chisels, too.

[Mark R Webster]

I will have to add a few things to my bench ;-). Nice solutions! thanks!

[Mark R Webster]

Hmmm... that's a thought

[Bruce Page]

I use a piece of the perforated rubber shelf liner. It also works good as a sanding pad.

[Prashun Patel]

I have a 2x4 that has a series of v notches along the broad side. I hold fast this to the bench, and then rest my gauge, squares, chisels, mallet, and knife, even my saw, during a dovetailing session.

This is a drawing, not an actual picture.

[Mark R Webster]

Nice solution thanks!

[Stewie Simpson]

An outcome of this discussion should be an appreciation of why some earlier bench designs included a tool well.

[Malcolm Schweizer]

Really easy. . .put enough other stuff on your workbench that you can't work on it. Nothing you care about falls off the bench that way.

I currently have a chisel rack attached to the bench that also holds an awl, a marking knife, square, dovetail square, etc. i have square and oval marking gauges at the moment, but a round shaft would fit in the chisel rack just fine.

When I didn't have a chisel rack built into the bench, I came up with chisel racks that hung on the wall with french cleats, then when I needed a set (along with square, pencil, awl, etc.) it would sit on the bench on its own.

That's a great idea for a portable tool holder.

[Mark R Webster]

You are right Stewie

[Frederick Skelly]

Screwdriver rolling off the bench? Stick it into the nearest dog hole. Chisels, too.

Exactly what I do - awls, screwdrivers, narrow chisels, nearly any round tool that fits a 3/4" hole.

[Jim Koepke]

There have been a few dog holes drilled along the back of my bench. With a couple of tall dogs and a long piece of 1X1 against it, noting goes off the back of the bench without first hopping over the 'fence.'

For chisels, something like Prashun uses, though mine is made of pieces of scrap and glued:

Chisel Rack.jpg

This used to be mounted on a board on the wall in my California shop.

This is the very reason why if I ever build a bench it will have a tool tray.

jtk

[Joe A Faulkner]

My Bench is against a wall. I have a chisel rack on the wall which was originally intended to be used for chisels being used during a given work session. This worked well until it slowly got filled with misc. chisels and a few screw drivers that found their way into my shop. I intend at some point to add an open shelf above the bench that can be a temporary holding spot for planes. Marking gauges, squares, marking knife, jointer mallet, hand broom all hang on the wall. I think having a shelf reserved for keeping tools at hand but off the bench will work well in my situation. For chisels I plan to make a bigger rack.