Dominic Greco
08-30-2009, 8:50 PM
This past weekend I completed the saw storage portion of my tool cabinet. Back last year at this time I had installed my old stock of saws on the left side door panel. Along with them I had marking knives and some other assorted tools.
Here's a photo showing the old configuration on the left hand door panel.
http://i188.photobucket.com/albums/z287/DominicGreco/my_tool_cabinet_06-28-09a.jpg
Fast forward a couple months and add some saw acquisitions. I got a Wenzloff Small tenon saw for my birthday, a Graymercy Dovetail saw, a small jewelers coping saw, and I made a 12" bow saw. So I ditched the plastic handled Cobalt (Lowes), shelved the rusty old Warranted Superior Dovetail saw (I still plan to rehab that, but later), as well as my old Crown Gent's saw (which was as sharp as a bowling ball).
Another thing that prompted me to change the way I stored my saws was the way that my Dozuki and Dovetail saw were stored promoted rust. The wooden blocks that the blades sat in seemed to hold moisture. I had to keep a constant eye on them for fear of them getting rusty. That got old FAST.
So I took all my saws and laid them out on the empty door panel. Here's a shot of the layout.
http://i188.photobucket.com/albums/z287/DominicGreco/sawlayoutonpanel.jpg
Nothing was mounted on the right side panel. So I decided to move all the saws to that side and then use the left side for the rest of the tools I wanted to store (ANOTHER project).
These panels are really "sub panels" that fit inside the doors of my tool cabinet. The reason I made them this was was to avoid making my door panels look like Swiss cheese when I screwed up drilling holes. And I KNOW I would do that. So I just designed that problem out of the mix.
So after arriving at the ideal layout, I took a photo and proceeded to make tool holders for the saws that didn't have them already. I've always had this thing for the clever way that the tools in the Studley Tool Cabinet were locked in place. So I took that idea and made french fitted holders for the saws.
Here's a close up of the top portion
http://i188.photobucket.com/albums/z287/DominicGreco/SawStorage008a.jpg
Here's a close up of the bottom
http://i188.photobucket.com/albums/z287/DominicGreco/SawStorage009a.jpg
I wanted something that would secure the saws and stop them from bumping into one another when the door was swung open. But I wanted them to be easy to get out as well. Some like the jeweler's coping saw and flush cutting saw are held in by gravity. Others are held in by a set or retainers with a wooden toggle. Some of the wooden toggles even got a stop made so they wouldn't drop out of place. Like I said, I want them secure.
All of the holders were made from various pieces of scrap wood like walnut, claro walnut, pear, cherry and hickory. They all got a coat of Danish oil and were installed on the panel via screws from the rear side.
http://i188.photobucket.com/albums/z287/DominicGreco/SawStorage005a.jpg
Also made a holder for my eggbeater drill and mounted this under my braces. The door panel to the plane till is perfect for this.
http://i188.photobucket.com/albums/z287/DominicGreco/SawStorage010a.jpg
The best part of this project was that I pretty much used handtools for everything! The curves were cut with the bow saw, the parts shaped with a rasp and the holes were drilled with a brace or eggbeater. I did however, user my cordless drill to mount the holders to the door. It's sort of impossible to try to use a brace one handed! :D
Here's a photo showing the old configuration on the left hand door panel.
http://i188.photobucket.com/albums/z287/DominicGreco/my_tool_cabinet_06-28-09a.jpg
Fast forward a couple months and add some saw acquisitions. I got a Wenzloff Small tenon saw for my birthday, a Graymercy Dovetail saw, a small jewelers coping saw, and I made a 12" bow saw. So I ditched the plastic handled Cobalt (Lowes), shelved the rusty old Warranted Superior Dovetail saw (I still plan to rehab that, but later), as well as my old Crown Gent's saw (which was as sharp as a bowling ball).
Another thing that prompted me to change the way I stored my saws was the way that my Dozuki and Dovetail saw were stored promoted rust. The wooden blocks that the blades sat in seemed to hold moisture. I had to keep a constant eye on them for fear of them getting rusty. That got old FAST.
So I took all my saws and laid them out on the empty door panel. Here's a shot of the layout.
http://i188.photobucket.com/albums/z287/DominicGreco/sawlayoutonpanel.jpg
Nothing was mounted on the right side panel. So I decided to move all the saws to that side and then use the left side for the rest of the tools I wanted to store (ANOTHER project).
These panels are really "sub panels" that fit inside the doors of my tool cabinet. The reason I made them this was was to avoid making my door panels look like Swiss cheese when I screwed up drilling holes. And I KNOW I would do that. So I just designed that problem out of the mix.
So after arriving at the ideal layout, I took a photo and proceeded to make tool holders for the saws that didn't have them already. I've always had this thing for the clever way that the tools in the Studley Tool Cabinet were locked in place. So I took that idea and made french fitted holders for the saws.
Here's a close up of the top portion
http://i188.photobucket.com/albums/z287/DominicGreco/SawStorage008a.jpg
Here's a close up of the bottom
http://i188.photobucket.com/albums/z287/DominicGreco/SawStorage009a.jpg
I wanted something that would secure the saws and stop them from bumping into one another when the door was swung open. But I wanted them to be easy to get out as well. Some like the jeweler's coping saw and flush cutting saw are held in by gravity. Others are held in by a set or retainers with a wooden toggle. Some of the wooden toggles even got a stop made so they wouldn't drop out of place. Like I said, I want them secure.
All of the holders were made from various pieces of scrap wood like walnut, claro walnut, pear, cherry and hickory. They all got a coat of Danish oil and were installed on the panel via screws from the rear side.
http://i188.photobucket.com/albums/z287/DominicGreco/SawStorage005a.jpg
Also made a holder for my eggbeater drill and mounted this under my braces. The door panel to the plane till is perfect for this.
http://i188.photobucket.com/albums/z287/DominicGreco/SawStorage010a.jpg
The best part of this project was that I pretty much used handtools for everything! The curves were cut with the bow saw, the parts shaped with a rasp and the holes were drilled with a brace or eggbeater. I did however, user my cordless drill to mount the holders to the door. It's sort of impossible to try to use a brace one handed! :D