Wall Tool Cabinet Conundrum...

[Jim Neeley]

Like many here I suppose, I've drooled over some of the cabiets in Tolpin's book but it leaves me wondering... When you build something like that, where every tool has its place and the cabinet is full, do you stop acquiring new tools? I'm not talking the volumes associated with an ebay business or anything close... it'd just seem to stink to invest all that time building such a beauty only to max it out... and it's not like that kind of cabinet is conducive to frequent rearrangement.

[Jim Koepke]

That is my reason for not building a real tool storage system of yet. All my tools haven't been bought yet.

jtk

[Norman Hitt]

Nah, you gotta remember that normally you have to have a project to justify needing a new tool, Sooooooo, you start "another" tool cabinet which naturally justifies More Tools, and Viola, you now have a place to store them.:D (See, you just have to get your thinking in the proper perspective).;)

[Ed Looney]

Like many here I suppose, I've drooled over some of the cabiets in Tolpin's book but it leaves me wondering... When you build something like that, where every tool has its place and the cabinet is full, do you stop acquiring new tools? I'm not talking the volumes associated with an ebay business or anything close... it'd just seem to stink to invest all that time building such a beauty only to max it out... and it's not like that kind of cabinet is conducive to frequent rearrangement.

Jim
I assume you love hand craftsmanship and old school methods as many of us do. With that said I recognize that preserving the old tools is just as important as preserving the skill necessary to use them. It seems I can always find a place in the shop for one more old tool that has potential if it were only cleaned up and fettled back into shape. Now if I could only find time to make another storage cabinet.

A while back I found a user Stanley coopers or compass plane and cleaned it up and tried it out. After struggling with it for a while I found myself wishing that I could spend an hour or two with someone who could pass on the skill and experience of using it properly. What I fear is that I have preserved the tool and can pass it on but I will not be able to pass on the skill and mastery of using it.

Ed

[Roderick Gentry]

I built wall racks rather than cabinets so I would have better access and be better able to change stuff up. I'm not a collector, but I am an upgrader, but over the last while I have come to the end of my patience with constant new purchases. When I got started in this stuff in the late 70s the quality of tools we had available to us was far lower than in the past. Today it is probably generally higher, at least for the basics, so it doesn't make sense to pursue perfection if the end result is lower productivity or satisfaction. So maybe the objective should be to acquire a set of tools, and complete the process not to be in a never ending acquisition mode. That might be what the cabinets and racks tell us.

[Steve Branam]

This is part of the reason I built a wall-mounted rack system (http://www.closegrain.com/2011/02/workshop-reorganization.html) rather than enclosed cabinets. I selected a full set of the tools I wanted to have accessible (probably in more choices than I really need), but I knew I would be tinkering with the composition of that set over time. The wall still has some room for expansion, and can be rearranged pretty easily.

But I've switched from acquisition mode. At last week's Nashua Live Free or Die auction, I only bought some out-cannel gouges at the tailgate sales in the parking lot. And an Archimedean drill. And a wide Record shoulder plane. And two block planes. But for me, in such a rich environment, that was remarkably restrained! I almost didn't go at all, but I really was interested in some specific gouges.

I collect tools for the purpose of having them to use, not just to own or display, so now I can spend the time previously spent in acquisition on developing my skills with them. The simple collecting part is fun, but my real satisfaction comes in using them. Those gouges and that large shoulder plane really do complete my set. The only reason I expect to buy anything now is if I want to upgrade to a better quality item or replace a damaged one.

[Jim Belair]

When I built my cabinet maybe a year and a half ago, I sized it for my entire plane collection (including a few old woodies that I hope to refurnish at some point) plus about 25%. I'm now down to about 10% free space. At this point I'll start moving little used planes to other storage- like those waiting for refurb. and specialty planes like my #20. So far this is working but I'm less than 2 years down the road. As has been pointed out, unless you're collecting, at some point I suppose one has to decide they've got enough tools.

Jim B

[Greg Wease]

Those gouges and that large shoulder plane really do complete my set. The only reason I expect to buy anything now is if I want to upgrade to a better quality item or replace a damaged one.

You mean it is possible to apply brakes while slipping down the slope? I didn't think that possible!

I have always preferred storing tools in drawers but after seeing your storage wall I have some rethinking to do. But it will need room for expansion because I'm not sure my set will ever be complete.

[Sean Nagle]

One thing to keep in mind about a tool cabinet [let's say a wall-mounted cabinet]. In order to be functional, aesthetically pleasing and manageable as a piece of furniture, it is going to be a certain size +/- a few inches here and there. Scan the forum and look at what has been built.

Given the constraints I've mentioned, there is always going to be a finite number of tools that such a cabinet will store.

[Jim Neeley]

I didn't think brakes did much more than steer you downhill on the luge run!! :D

[Bruce Haugen]

...The only reason I expect to buy anything now is if I want to upgrade to a better quality item or replace a damaged one.

One of the dumbest things I ever said was when I told my wife that I didn't really need any more tools. DOH!!

[Steve Branam]

Yeah, I told my wife the same thing...3 weeks before Nashua!

She got a good laugh out of it. :D

[Gary Hodgin]

My wife has heard that one so many times it doesn't work anymore. She just reminds that that's what I said the other day and goes out an buys herself something. In the end, my tools cost me about twice what I actually pay for them. I could save a lot of money by not buying tools. I plan to do that some day.

[Jim Neeley]

Sean,

I used to believe this, until I saw Gary Zimmel's cabinet (bowing humbly to the great dovetail master) below. It definitely meets the (1) functional, (2) aesthetically pleasing and (3) manageable criteria.

Technically yes, it too is finite but man oh man... even with a drawer dedicated to each grit of sandpaper it'd take me a loooong time to fill it... though it'd be a fun challenge!! ;)

I've pasted a few of the pictures he's posted (I hope that's OK Gary, I think I've got my drool off of them.)


192096192095192094192093
One thing to keep in mind about a tool cabinet [let's say a wall-mounted cabinet]. In order to be functional, aesthetically pleasing and manageable as a piece of furniture, it is going to be a certain size +/- a few inches here and there. Scan the forum and look at what has been built.

Given the constraints I've mentioned, there is always going to be a finite number of tools that such a cabinet will store.

[Matthew Dunne]

I guess I don't get tired of looking at that. Beu-Ti-Ful! Thanks Jim and Gary.

[Sean Nagle]

Ah, Gary does have the right solution to the OP's dilemma. Just build a cabinet. When it's full of tools, build another, and then another,... :D

[Roderick Gentry]

I don't know, a lot of wives might not know what a Hotley plane is worth, but show them 50 thou of "kitchen cabinets", and they might twig to what all this is costing one way or another. :)

[Steve Branam]

That is just awesome!

[JohnPeter Lee]

I have a very small work area in my basement, and use 2 cabinets and a small set of drawers to hold all my hand tools. I have hit the proverbial wall with cabinet storage myself just recently. So, I decided to part with tools that don't get much use, and then supplement with better tools. No net loss of toolage, though there are fewer tools overall (remove redundancies). Fewer handplanes overall, but higher quality ones. Fewer chisels period - how did I get so many? Put all chisels in drawers under workbench and make better use of the interiors of the doors. I did not make enough room for handsaws, so I still have a little "problem" that I'm trying to resolve. My cabinet interior is not reconfigurable, so I'm looking at using the doors to do more.

Such is life. Don't wait just do something, make your life better now, then modify as needed. It's all a work in progress, like most everything else.

JP


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[Peter Pedisich]

Such is life. Don't wait just do something, make your life better now, then modify as needed. It's all a work in progress, like most everything else.

JP


192126 192127http://www.sawmillcreek.org/images/misc/pencil.png

I like that!, although I don't always heed this advice...ok I rarely do. Like Gen. George Patton said: "In battle, a good answer now is better than a perfect answer ten minutes from now"

[David Weaver]

One of the joys of complex migraines is that you see different things than reality (once you "come to" after the initial part of the migraine). Several times yesterday, I looked at this thread and wondered what "wall carborundum" was.

Separate and aside, unless you travel with your tools, I'd save the cabinet building for once you have the tools you'd like to keep in a cabinet and don't rotate/buy/sell them a lot.

You'll know when you're to that point because you've made what feels like a few lateral trades without feeling like you did anything useful by the time you've tuned up and used the new tools. Takes the shine off of buying. You can always "make" after that, though, to fill in the voids you never could fill in due to rarity or unaffordability, but guaranteed it will take much longer to fill a box that way.

[Zach England]

I don't know what I am more jealous of--the cabinets or the tools.

[Dave Lehnert]

do you stop acquiring new tools? .


http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cXXm696UbKY&feature=player_detailpage

[Jim Neeley]

Ed,

I too love hand craftsmanship and wish I could find someone here in Alaska who would be willing to share their skill and mastery of the hand tools. I have not yet met that person but I refuse to give up; there's far too much I'd like to learn, eventually master and pass on to others. My tools will be around long after I'm gone from the earth and I'd like for them continue to be well-used.

Jim



Jim
I assume you love hand craftsmanship and old school methods as many of us do. With that said I recognize that preserving the old tools is just as important as preserving the skill necessary to use them. It seems I can always find a place in the shop for one more old tool that has potential if it were only cleaned up and fettled back into shape. Now if I could only find time to make another storage cabinet.

A while back I found a user Stanley coopers or compass plane and cleaned it up and tried it out. After struggling with it for a while I found myself wishing that I could spend an hour or two with someone who could pass on the skill and experience of using it properly. What I fear is that I have preserved the tool and can pass it on but I will not be able to pass on the skill and mastery of using it.

Ed

[Jim Neeley]

My thought exactly, Dave. "do you stop acquiring new tools? " ==> Inconceivable!!


== Baby Laughing Video ==

[john brenton]

My current tool cabinet is ugly, but I would think of it as a mock up....that at this point doens't leave me wanting for anything. Really, its a relatively small tool cabinet but holds all the basics to protect them from the elements. I put it together with the idea of holding all of the base essentials (marking tools, chisels, planes) and keep specialty items like carving chisels in drawers. I was going to do the super premium tool cabinet (that would have looked nothing like that awesome one in the pics above), but realized that it wasn't what I wanted.