Tool rolls for chisels: does this ever actually work?

[lowell holmes]

I also have a plastic shoe box full of chisels. ++

[Matthew Cashman]

Thank you all for sharing your knowledge. It sounds like the pieces I was missing were: pockets on both sides, put in handle-first, and potentially make some simple plastic guards.

I think I'd never considered handle-first because, firstly, my chisel handles are too fat for my tool roll pockets, and secondly it leaves all the pointy sharp bits poking out. I'll have to cast around for a roll that might fit my chisels correctly. The LV one does look good, but it doesn't have pockets on both sides...

[Stanley Covington]

Thank you all for sharing your knowledge. It sounds like the pieces I was missing were: pockets on both sides, put in handle-first, and potentially make some simple plastic guards.

I think I'd never considered handle-first because, firstly, my chisel handles are too fat for my tool roll pockets, and secondly it leaves all the pointy sharp bits poking out. I'll have to cast around for a roll that might fit my chisels correctly. The LV one does look good, but it doesn't have pockets on both sides...

Matthew

I don't advocate handle in the pockets except for chisels with blades narrower than the handles, like most carving chisels. But either way works.

If you take a strip of toweling and weave it alternating between chisel blades before rolling it up, they will be cushioned and protected. Takes a little longer to roll and unroll the tools.

[Ryan Mooney]

A set of pfeil carving chisels I was gifted came in a roll (picture below shamelessly stolen from their website) of a very slightly different design with some flaps to cover the pointy ends. Works pretty well, but the flaps to cover ends are made from some sort of fuzzy material that attracts shavings like a dog attracts fleas which is mildly sub-optimal.

[Mike Henderson]

A set of pfeil carving chisels I was gifted came in a roll (picture below shamelessly stolen from their website) of a very slightly different design with some flaps to cover the pointy ends. Works pretty well, but the flaps to cover ends are made from some sort of fuzzy material that attracts shavings like a dog attracts fleas which is mildly sub-optimal.

Even without the fuzzy ends, I get shavings into my tool rolls. When I'm getting set up to work on something with chisels, I take my chisel roll (the first one in the pictures above) and unroll it in my work area. My chisels are in the roll in order - 1/8" on one end and the largest on the other end. This makes it easy to know where to find the right size. And if the one I choose is too big or too small, I can just go the one next to the empty place in the roll. However, I have multiples of the most common sizes I use so that I don't have to stop and sharpen - I can just take another one of the same size and continue on. In my roll, there are 17 pockets (I believe) and I only have about 8 or 9 different sized chisels. One is a 3/8" fishtail for dovetails, otherwise, 1/8", 1/4", 3/8", 1/2", 5/8", 3/4", 7/8", and 1".

Every now and then, I blow out the roll with compressed air. I'm sure there are still shavings in some of the pockets, but, after all, this is a chisel roll.

Mike

[Patrick Chase]

I also have a plastic shoe box full of chisels. ++

I have a couple Durham cabinets in my shop (basically a bunch of shoebox-sized drawers) and use those to store some infrequently-used chisels. The ones with 17" deep drawers are particularly useful. Not so handy if you want to take a set of chisels somewhere with you, though. Rolls are hard to beat for that.

[Patrick Chase]

A set of pfeil carving chisels I was gifted came in a roll (picture below shamelessly stolen from their website) of a very slightly different design with some flaps to cover the pointy ends. Works pretty well, but the flaps to cover ends are made from some sort of fuzzy material that attracts shavings like a dog attracts fleas which is mildly sub-optimal.

TFWW makes a roll like that, but with capacity for longer tools.

[Jim Koepke]

I have a couple Durham cabinets in my shop (basically a bunch of shoebox-sized drawers) and use those to store some infrequently-used chisels. The ones with 17" deep drawers are particularly useful. Not so handy if you want to take a set of chisels somewhere with you, though. Rolls are hard to beat for that.

This might not work if one needs to take more than 4 or 5 chisels out to a job, but one of my tool totes is ready for the job:

Rack and Saw.jpg

In this image the chisel rack is holding screwdrivers.

jtk

[andy bessette]

My Marples chisels live in their fitted wooden case. The Japanese chisels are in a roll, with each pocket marked with the size, each chisel with a plastic tip protector. Others are stored separately with tip protectors.

[lowell holmes]

I've had a leather tool roll for my chisels for 10+ years. I don't remember exactly how long I've had it. My chisels
are in pristine condition.

[Derek Cohen]

I have chisels in leather rolls as well as the LV 3D rolls. However, these are not used for chisels in daily use, but rather to store chisels or transport them. Frequently used chisels are in stands close to hand where they may be easily retrieved and replaced. Rolls on a bench get in the way.

Regards from Perth

Derek

[Joe A Faulkner]

I recently added a simple plane\chisel\tool shelf behind the bench where I temporarily keep tools that I'm using on the current task at hand.

These racks have become the permanent home for a few tools - mainly miscellaneous chisels, a screw driver or two and some combination squares, but there is plenty of space to stash a hand plane or two and several other chisels that are generally housed elsewhere. If I worked every day in the shop, I suspect I'd expand this area to become the "permanent" home for several other tools. For general storage, the chisels are stored in racks in a cabinet.

[steven c newman]

User chisels sit in a rack along the back edge of my bench. The two or three IN use wind up in a benchdog hole, to prevent them from rolling off the bench. My users do not travel...I do have a few "beaters" I can toss into the tool tote......Don't like tool rolls.

[Andrew Pitonyak]

Keeping my chisels or gouges in a roll has never appealed to me.

When first starting to accumulate chisels it was easy until the herd kept growing.

Here is one of my solutions:

Attachment 383341

Dowels let in to the sides and ends keep the chisels/gouges separated.

Easy to keep them in order and move them around.

jtk

You know Jim, I have always liked you ...... and you have provided lots of good advice for me in the past, so, for you, I am willing to make a great personal sacrifice and take some of that herd off your hands at absolutely no charge.