Tool Caddy

[Kris Cook]

I am thinking of building a removable tool caddy to hang off the back rail of my tool tray. I considered building one into my bench but decided against it.

My bench has a fairly stout rail on the back in which I have drilled three holes (see photo). These holes allow me to place my articulating lamp at different locations to cover the entire bench. I was thinking of building something that would hook over the back rail and have a dowel protruding to index into one of these holes.

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The caddy would be wide enough to handle a couple of saws (DT and crosscut) and have slots for chisels, a mallet or two and maybe a combo square.

I am open to ideas or pictures that you may have to share.

Thanks in advance,

[Glen Johnson]

This version of my caddy works well for me. A center area has two holes, one for a mallet and other for a cup that holds small items such as pencils, marking knife, dividers, six inch rule, etc. Perpendicular slots hold combination squares, squares, and steel rulers. 3/8 inch holes around the larger holes hold screw drivers and awls. Wood bars with a gap between the middle section and the outside, create a space for chisels and marking guages. A drawer at the bottom hold my saftey glasses, tape measure and other things that don't have a home up top. I cut to hand holds on each side to help move the caddy around or off my bench as needed.

[Kris Cook]

Glen - thank you for sharing. That is helpful, and helps me visualize what I need for my setup. I see what looks like a hook-rule in your caddy. Do you use it a lot? If so - what do you think of it? I use a 16' tape and usually burn an inch to avoid potential error in the hook but I have been eyeballing the hook rules.

[Jim Ritter]

Here is one I started a while ago and it is still evolving some things have changed since these pics were taken. The brass tabs hook over the back of the tool well so it can slide side to side or I can lift it off all together. The sides are long enough to have it stand upright if I ever do need to lift it off the bench.


Photo1

Photo2



i may have gotten a little out of controls and over stuffed the caddy.

jim

ok what did I do wrong? I used the img link from Photobucket.

[Glen Johnson]

I probably use a tape measure for rough measurements and layout more than I use the hooked ruler. I probably use dividers more than the hooked ruler for precise measurements. It leaves a little hole for my marking knife to register on when I draw layout lines. I have increasing gone with story sticks and sticks with proportional markings as suggested in the Walker and Tolpin's book By Hand and Eye. It seems to help my accuracy.

[Robert Engel]

I find a counter with some drawers and a tool cabinet practically a necessity.

One thing I find very handy (yet to build) is a lamp holder that slides along the rear rail.

Here's my setup. I thought about a bench top tool caddy but I know that's too fussy for me while working. Besides, I can just turn around and all my tool storage is quite handy.

I'm in the process of adding two more drawers to left and right under bench.

Hope this gives you an idea :-)

bench drawers.jpg

[Malcolm Schweizer]

Great minds think alike! I am adding some T-Track on the edge of my bench, and will make a tool tray that is removable and also I can add various accessories that screw into the T-Track. Also I am building something for the chisels to live in that can be taken out of the cabinet and moved to the bench so that my chisels are all there for projects where I use more than one. Same thing goes for the carving tools.

I should add that I am doing this in lieu of the built-in tool tray. I'm not a fan of the "clutter catcher", but I do love having something that I can put there when I need it.

[Robert Engel]

While I'm thinking about it, a trap door in the middle of the tool tray/shavings collector is another thing on my list.

[Kris Cook]

Jim - thanks for the reply - I would like to see your pictures. I tried pasting the urls into my browser but no luck.

Robert - I have my tool cabinet right behind the bench but I would like to have something a little "closer to hand". As regards the lamp I had planned to build a sliding holder similar to Cosman's. I have an articulating lamp (architect style) that extends quite a ways. By putting 3 holes spaced fairly evenly across the back rail I can easily cover any area on the bench from one of those holes. I purchased the lamp bushing from Lee Valley that accepts the lamp end and fits into a 3/4" hole. Much simpler than a slider and works great.

- Trap door - hmmm. Sounds interesting.

Malcolm - I do have a tool tray (clutter catcher) and I am hoping the tool caddy will reduce some of that...

[Bill McDermott]

How about a caddy/rack that straddles and slides along the walnut "monorail"? Maybe you can forego the idea of the holes and mount the lamp on the rail car and move the whole shebang with a slide to the left or right, or just lift off and set it on a saw horse, or what not. This tool rack, featured in PopWood seems pretty simple and useful, riding on the rail in a removable configuration might be an improvement.

[Kris Cook]

Bill - thanks for sharing this. I like the idea of the sliding rack.

[Chet R Parks]

Malcolm,
I for one, would be vary interested to see how you use T-Tracks on your bench and your shooting board as you mentioned a couple of weeks ago. If you don't mind sharing.
Thanks
Chet

[Kris Cook]

Here is one I started a while ago and it is still evolving some things have changed since these pics were taken. The brass tabs hook over the back of the tool well so it can slide side to side or I can lift it off all together. The sides are long enough to have it stand upright if I ever do need to lift it off the bench.

i may have gotten a little out of controls and over stuffed the caddy.

jim

ok what did I do wrong? I used the img link from Photobucket.

Jim sent over via email the pics he tried to post. Here they are below.

image4.jpeg

image3.jpeg


image1.jpeg


image2.jpeg

[Kris Cook]

Jim- thanks again for sending the pictures over. Your caddy is very much along the lines of what I was thinking of. Those look like brass tabs on the front. I guess there is not danger of the thing tipping off the back as it is also bearing on the vertical surface of the back rail?

Thanks everyone for the input. Feel free to keep posting ideas if you care to.

I need to get back on these dining room chairs and finish them before I start on another shop project. I will update when I get something going.

[Gary Focht]

Here is my pitiful tool caddy. Holds almost every hand tool I have. Has a stand alone base so I can carry it wherever I'm working and just set it down. Didn't have a hand tool oriented workbench at the time I built it.