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View Full Version : I need some ideas on a makeover



Matt Ranum
02-03-2009, 10:01 PM
Ok, its my slow time of year and enjoying my relaxation time, and its time to reorganize my shop. I have my corded section pretty decent along one wall and now I turn my sights to the other side. That is going to be my neanderthal side, and I need some ideas on designing some tool and storage cabinets.

Let me try and paint you a picture of what I have to work with. My building is 24x24x8-1/2 high. On the West wall there is a 3'x3' window in the middle of the wall, and on the South there are 2, 3'x3' windows equally spaced.

Down the center of the shop I have a planer and a jointer/tablesaw/router table workstation, my bench and my knockdown table.

On the North side I have a 16' overhead door that sits as close to the East side as possible, to the West of that door sits an upright freezer and my mechanical tool box.

On the West wall, starting from the North I have an entrance door in the corner, alongside that I have my corded section of tools. drill press, RAS,shaper,Shopsmith, bandsaw,and an air compressor in the Southwest corner.

On the South wall(from West to East) sits some make shift storage cabinets until you get to the center, thats where the furnace sits.

Now we get to where I need some input. On the East wall and the Southeast wall. Right now there is a lumber rack that is going to be redesigned and moved to the North end of the East wall. Next to that would sit an area to store sheet goods vertically.

I figure I have about 10' on the South and 10' on the East that I can build cabinets in. The Southeast is kinda screwed for wall cabinets with the window right in the middle of the work area but the entire East is all wall floor to ceiling.

I'm thinking I would build standard kitchen style cabinets for the floor that would wrap the 2 walls together. I want to come up with a nice hand tool cabinet for the East wall but I don't think I need it to be 10' long. I mean I'm sliding down this hill pretty fast but ....I just don't have that many tools yet.;)

For those of you who have thought your tool cabinets out, what would you do different? Would you keep things spread out a bit more if you had room? Would you keep larger planes in lower cabinet drawers? Maybe divide tools between upper cabinets and lowers?

Right now I'm looking at storing 2-26" saws, a 20" saw, 3 smaller dovetail sized saws. 15 planes the largest of which is a #8. 5 spokeshaves, 15 chisels,6 squares(combos & try squares)and the usual other stuff like marking gauges etc. but I know this list is going to grow over time so I don't want something I will outgrow in 2 years either.

Any ideas will be helpful and if you have some pics by all means lets see them.

John Keeton
02-03-2009, 10:22 PM
Matt, let me help simplify your task by taking several of the planes and spokeshaves off your hands - and maybe a few of the chisels, as well. I will, of course, pay shipping as that would only be fair.

On a more practical note, Gary Zimmel has been building his Neander corner with lots of drawers, and is doing a really nice job. I would suggest you look at his thread for some ideas on storage. http://www.sawmillcreek.org/showthread.php?t=100584

There are also several threads on tool/plane cabinets. Good luck!

Matt Ranum
02-03-2009, 10:31 PM
Well John, as generous as that offer is I think I will have to decline and keep my new adiction going.;) Thanks for the link I will check it out and do some more searching. I did some searches but wasn't coming up with what I was looking for. I'll look some more.

Jim Koepke
02-04-2009, 12:33 AM
As handy as having a lot of drawer can be, I still like to be able to just reach up and grab a tool without having to remember which place I can't see into it is hiding in.

jim

John Keeton
02-04-2009, 7:05 AM
Here are some threads I found - I am sure there are others. Hope these give you some ideas.
http://www.sawmillcreek.org/showthread.php?p=943982
http://www.sawmillcreek.org/showthread.php?t=62228
http://www.sawmillcreek.org/showthread.php?t=77712
http://www.sawmillcreek.org/showthread.php?t=27964&page=2
http://www.sawmillcreek.org/showthread.php?referrerid=5960&t=99117
http://www.sawmillcreek.org/showthread.php?t=64263&page=2
http://www.sawmillcreek.org/showthread.php?t=100614&page=2
http://www.sawmillcreek.org/showthread.php?p=581692

Matt Ranum
02-04-2009, 7:58 AM
As handy as having a lot of drawer can be, I still like to be able to just reach up and grab a tool without having to remember which place I can't see into it is hiding in.

jim


That was one of the things that I was thinking about. I do that with my mechanical tools all the time, grabbing the wrong drawer.





Thanks John, I'll look them over.

mike holden
02-04-2009, 9:55 AM
Matt, I made these two cabinets for my chisels and planes and mounted them above my workbench. Since the pic was taken, I have added a rack in the lower left for some 4 and 6 inch bessey F-clamps.
Mike

108981

Dominic Greco
02-04-2009, 8:01 PM
Matt
You wrote:
"For those of you who have thought your tool cabinets out, what would you do different? Would you keep things spread out a bit more if you had room? Would you keep larger planes in lower cabinet drawers? Maybe divide tools between upper cabinets and lowers?

Right now I'm looking at storing 2-26" saws, a 20" saw, 3 smaller dovetail sized saws. 15 planes the largest of which is a #8. 5 spokeshaves, 15 chisels,6 squares(combos & try squares)and the usual other stuff like marking gauges etc. but I know this list is going to grow over time so I don't want something I will outgrow in 2 years either.

Any ideas will be helpful and if you have some pics by all means lets see them. "

I had a somewhat similar situation. I thought that adding a wall hung hand tool cabinet would be a great way to get organized. How was I to know that this project snowballed into a full shop reconfigure!

In order to hang the cabinet, I needed to clear the walls. To do that I needed to rearrange the pegboards, move tools, etc.

http://i188.photobucket.com/albums/z287/DominicGreco/Myhandtoolshop1.jpg

http://i188.photobucket.com/albums/z287/DominicGreco/toolcabinet_1b.jpg

The cabinet that started it all really does help in keeping me organized. It's right near my bench, so I can just reach out and grab a tool when I need it. The cabinet is about 51" wide x 42" tall x 13" deep. It holds about 45 planes, a couple dozen chisels, 4 or 5 saws, marking gauges, and other assorted handtools. It features (6) drawers that hold extra plane irons, plane accessories (fences and such), drill bits, cabinet scrapers, files, and my combination squares. The doors have panels where I plan to store more tools. Only the left hand one is populated now (photo doesn't show that since it's old). I'm still working on the right hand tool panel.

Matt Ranum
02-04-2009, 8:57 PM
Now that is some serious inspiration guys, thank you.

Dominic, that looks like it would size out to make a very nice "upper" cabinet. I see you have a center support under it, is there only one or do you have some on the sides as well? Thats a lot of weight to hold.

Dominic Greco
02-05-2009, 8:44 AM
Dominic, that looks like it would size out to make a very nice "upper" cabinet. I see you have a center support under it, is there only one or do you have some on the sides as well? Thats a lot of weight to hold.

Yeah, well that gusset support was a retrofit after the lower shelves began to sag under the weight! I estimate that when full the cabinet weighs over 200 lbs!:eek:

I originally designed the cabinet so that cubby dividers SHOULD have been made of hardwood and glued/nailed into position. However in a fit of laziness I still regret I made them from 1/4" hardboard and made them a loose fit. That took away an enourmous amount of support area! So of course the lower shelves sagged! When I remounted the cabinet (with the help of a good friend) I installed the gusset and reinforced the existing connections (i.e with Glue, screws and nails). After that all I needed was the one central support to bring everything back into plumb. Now I can open the doors and they stay where I put them. No swinging back or closing from being out of plumb!

Matt Ranum
02-05-2009, 8:57 AM
Good to know,I'll have to make sure I design for some potentially substantial weight. thanks