Wall Hung Tool Cabinet

[Mark Wyatt]

I've been working on and off for about 4 months to complete this wall hung tool cabinet for many of the hand tools I frequently use. My shop is not large and I was being overrun with tools laying on every available horizontal surface. This cabinet is a larger version of one I started about 4 years ago an never finished as I quickly outgrew it.

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I've tried a couple of new ideas on this cabinet. The planes are stored vertically at about a 15 degree angle. They are held in place with rare earth magnets which are counter sunk and then epoxied into place. I have some concern about how this will hold up over time, but it works fairly well to start.

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The three boards holding the planes are loose, held in at the top and bottom with battens which are, in turn, held by screws. This will allow me flexibility should my collection of planes evolve over time. In fact, almost every fixture is held in by screws so that I may reconfigure and amend the set-up over time.
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The materials are poplar and pine as they were cheep and readily available. The poplar side panels actually start life about 10 years ago as a potential book shelf when the house we lived in had a lot of poplar trim. They never made the complete trip to becoming a bookshelf and when I discovered them in a pile of lumber I realized they would be the perfect size for this case.

I need to correct the front gap between the doors. When the weight of the tools was added to the doors, my consistent gap closed at the top and opened at the bottom. From prior study, I thought this might happen and left myself some material to plane off. I will then add a small bead to fill the gap.

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[Jeff Hamilton Jr.]

That is really neat Mark!

[Deane Allinson]

Great cabinet. Like they say...everything has its place and there is a place for everything. No more looking for tools.
Deane

[Von Bickley]

Mark,

That looks GREAT.....

[glenn bradley]

Very nice Mark. I find it much easier to put a tool back and then go get it again where I know where it is rather than set it on the bench and paw around for it when I want it. You've got a great customized spot for all those items. It looks great and adds protection at the same time. Well done.

[george wilson]

That is very nice. I wish I had the wall space for a nice cabinet,but every square inch of my large shop's walls is occupied.

[James Owen]

Very nicely done!
Well-organised without being crowded.
And looks great, too!

[Russ Webb]

Very creatively planned, efficiently organized, and nicely executed. Leaving yourself flexibility to change the plane tills to suit future changes to your complement of planes is an excellent idea.

It appears that you can also change much of the rest of the organization as you find a need. Great planning!

[Shawn Stennett]

Mark,

If you don't mind what are some of the dimensions?

[Ron Bontz]

Excellent cabinet and the timing was great. Getting ready to sit down to draw up a cabinet, but I needed something that would incorporate a saw till. Does this have the standard 12" depth? Overall dimensions, if I may ask? The flat panels really give a nice traditional touch IMHO.

[Jim Koepke]

Looks great.

I have been fretting for years how to stow my tools.

You have given me an idea to make it more modular to be able to change things around as needed.

My shop is kind of like what George described. Before something can be hung on the wall, something else has to be moved. There isn't much space left to move things to.

jtk

[Brent VanFossen]

Very nice. I've been planning to adapt the wall cabinets I have from shelves only to something like this.

[Bobby O'Neal]

Very cool! And make no apologies for material selection. It looks awesome!

[gary Zimmel]

Sweet cabinet Mark.
Looks like you've got a ton of storage now.

[Chris Vandiver]

Really nice looking and functional cabinet. Nice collection of tools as well!

[Bruce Page]

Nicely done Mark! I wish I had the needed wall space for one.

[Mark Wyatt]

Thanks for the nice feedback guys. I really appreciate it.

The overall dimensions are approximately 45" H x 37" W x 17 3/4" deep. The doors are 5" deep and the main cabinet is 12 3/4" deep.
The finish is oil and wax. It should be easy to add/fix finish over time.

Now I need to spend some time building something other than shop items before its time to start finishing the basement of the house.

[Bruce Page]

Now I need to spend some time building something other than shop items before its time to start finishing the basement of the house.

I think building shop improvements is fun because you don’t have to please anyone but yourself.

[Will Blick]

thanks for sharing, I also got some new ideas for my future storage cabinet.... great job...

[Jim Matthews]

So, if it's full - do you have enough tools?

[Mark Wyatt]

So, if it's full - do you have enough tools?

Well, it's not completely full. That small empty space up there on the plane board is for a Stanley #1 if I should ever find one in the field.
But the important thing is I feel I have enough room and organization in the shop to get down to making something. I started a new project tonight.

[Paul Saffold]

Very nice, Mark. Looks well thought out and designed.
Paul

[Jeff Mackay]

Mark,

It looks great!

You're a bit ahead of me, I'm in the process of building my own cabinet of a similar size, and I may borrow your idea on plane storage. Unfortunately, I only made the carcass 7 inches deep, so we'll see how things work out. Not sure I can get enough of an angle to store the planes that way.

[Brent VanFossen]

So, if it's full - do you have enough tools?

Of course, not!

[Jessica Pierce-LaRose]

Just to join in the chorus here; great job! It looks very nice; and is certainly inspiring to the planned wall cabinet I have in mind.

I really like the look of the poplar with the brown streaking.

I like the idea of putting the hinged auxiliary panels on the inside of the doors rather than in the main cabinet - seems like it would make getting some things out easier. Not sure I'll be able to make that work on my cabinet plan - don't think I've got enough room to swing things out that far, but it's a clever idea that didn't occur me. I'll have to play around.

[Bob Jones]

super nice. I'm working on one of those now for my shop. I thought about using double hinged doors, too. I decided against it, because I was scared that it would overstress the first hinges. Now that you have loaded them up, what do you think?

[Klaus Kretschmar]

I'm late on the party, Mark. Hopefully not too late to give my sincerest compliments. That cabinet is one of the nicest I've yet seen. There went a lot of thoughts into it while planning the layout. It is well organized and has lots of space. I especially like the double opening doors, great idea! The flexibility to make easy changes if the tool arsenal alters, amazes also.

All in all you've created a tool cabinet that should give you sterling service for years to come.
BTW, there is a small number of tools I spotted, that I believe to be familiar with...:D

Cheers
Klaus

[Paul McGaha]

I really like your cabinet Mark. I think with the design, porportions, and workmanship you absolutely nailed it.

Nicely done.

PHM

[Mark Wyatt]

super nice. I'm working on one of those now for my shop. I thought about using double hinged doors, too. I decided against it, because I was scared that it would overstress the first hinges. Now that you have loaded them up, what do you think?

Bob, the second hinged door part is made from 5/8" pine panels to keep the weight down. I also tried to put some of the lighter tools on them. They don't seem to add too much to the overall weight of the doors, but time will tell how well it holds up. I'd like to see photos of yours when complete.

[Mark Wyatt]

BTW, there is a small number of tools I spotted, that I believe to be familiar with...:D

Cheers
Klaus

Two of my proudest possessions! The ebony handle saw is a joy just to hold. They will see some work on my current project, although they are so nice I almost hate to use them.

[Joe A Faulkner]

I supose this explains why we haven't seen too many posts from you in the classified area lately! :)
Great job on the cabinet. French cleats? Your popular fronts reminded me of the Hickory Office cabinets I recently finished. http://www.sawmillcreek.org/showthread.php?183587-Hickory-Office-Cabinets

[Mark Wyatt]

I supose this explains why we haven't seen too many posts from you in the classified area lately! :)
Great job on the cabinet. French cleats? Your popular fronts reminded me of the Hickory Office cabinets I recently finished. http://www.sawmillcreek.org/showthread.php?183587-Hickory-Office-Cabinets

Joe, I like those cabinets. I've only worked some with hickory, but I want to use it on more projects.
My cabinet is attached to three french cleats for support.

[Dwight Beebe]

Hi Mark,

Very nice! I particularly appreciate seeing the cabinet full and then empty. I follow the Zero Rummage Factor (TM Darrell LaRue) approach, wherein everything is out on the walls, in sight and within reach (well maybe not everything :)) I might have missed it, but how have you hung the cabinet? I've used French cleats for my tool panels, but wonder if you've used a more robust method. Photos of some parts of my shop are here:

https://picasaweb.google.com/108901587400063562323/NorthStreetWoodworkingGOON?authkey=Gv1sRgCMCA5ePG9 dzIvgE

or

http://tinyurl.com/c5tlr2m

Regards,

Dwight

[Dustin Keys]

That really looks great! I really like how you designed it so that you could change things around in the future. That's always my hesitation with building/buying nice storage for stuff: What if I change my mind about the stuff I want to store? You've handled the issue really well.

I love how these cabinets use the space so efficiently. I was considering building a floor tool chest like Chris Schwarz has everyone building these days, but floor space is at a premium in my small shop (half of a two-car garage) and those chests just look huge to me. I currently use a full sheet of 1/4" pegboard on the wall opposite my bench, and I like that it uses the wall space but it doesn't use it even close to as efficiently as your cabinet. It's amazing to me how much stuff you can fit in there yet everything is still easy to find and retrieve.

I'm still putting my set of tools together, but once I get more set in what tools are important to me I think I will build a cabinet like this.

D

[daniel lane]

Mark, very nice cabinet! I may have to steal an idea or two from you for future builds. :)


daniel

[Jim Matthews]

Now I am sure my wife needs bifocals.

Peeking over my shoulder, she said - "Now THAT guy is just bragging."
At first I didn't understand, and thought she meant the quantity of man-toys.

Grasping the misconception, I correct her reading - "It's a WALL hung tool cabinet, dear."

[Tom Vanzant]

Mark,
Very nicely designed and executed tool cabinet. I used a similar scheme in my plane till... 12-15 deg and rare earth magnets but with narrow "curbs" between planes and a simple rest at the heels. Your design is much more flexible and many degrees prettier.

[Bob Jones]

Mark, what kind of latch are you using to keep the doors closed? do you like it?

[john brenton]

It's good that you made it in a way that allows you to reconfigure because you really need more planes. haha.