Almost done with my saw till

[jason thigpen]

Finally! No more saws hanging off drywall screws at random spots throughout the shop! Yay for organization! I built this saw till using materials straight from the Borg. The entire carcass is made of their "whitewood" 1x12's. I hand ripped the center pith out of each piece and used the quarter sawn pieces for construction. I had to glue up several different panels put of these pieces. Depending on the width of the pith, each piece yielded between a 9-11" quarter sawn piece. And all for less than $35!

The ideas for the till come from various samples found here and amongst other sites on the web. The curve on the side pieces was inspired by Derek's till. I used the skew back on my Atkins to trace the main profile. The till will be able to hold eight full size saws. At this point I only have three, so plenty of room for expansion. On the right side, I plan on dividing into two sections. One for some mid size back saws and the other for my small joinery saws and coping saws. Also thinking about making drawers for the two openings. Mostly to help keep dust and rust at bay on my files and whatnot. The finish is four coats of barn red milk paint with two coats of BLO on top. Gonna put a coat of paste wax on it today. The kerf block for the large saws is a piece of cedar. I plan on using the same for drawer fronts should I go that route. The contrast to the paint color is nice. Case construction is dovetails and dadoes for the most part. The frame and panel back sits in a rabbet. I tried to include a closeup of the dovetailed bottom. Details are kinda hard to see through the milk paint. Any and all critiques and comments welcome!

[Adam Cruea]

Looks nice!

Where did you get that beast of a backsaw? That thing looks huge!

[Chris Griggs]

I like that Jason. I need to get around to building one of those one of these days. Mine are all hanging on one of these (http://www.amazon.com/Delta-Michelangelo-Two-Bike-Gravity-Stand/dp/B000ACAM38/ref=sr_1_33?ie=UTF8&qid=1361719862&sr=8-33&keywords=bike+rack).

Nice work!

[jason thigpen]

That backsaw is a miter box saw from my wife's grandfather. It came with a sweet craftsman miter box. The handle on it was toast, so I had to make a new one. I'll try to post a pic later. It has a 28" long, 11tpi plate. The etch on the blade claims it's a Sears Craftsman saw. Not sure if they manufactured them or if someone like Disston made the saw for Sears. I built the till to specifically fit that saw. I figured it would be the biggest I would own.

[Jessica Pierce-LaRose]

Man, I thought sharpening my 10pt panel saw was a pain in the rear - After 28 inches of 11tpi I think I'd go blind . . .

Nice job on the till! I'm a big fan of milk paint for shop stuff.

[Jim Koepke]

Nice Job.

My shop needs one of those.

jtk

[Keith Pitman]

255301

Looks good . . . and a lot like mine. :-)

[jason thigpen]

Nice looking till, Keith! I do believe yours is one of the ones I ran across while researching. Do you have a close up pic of the hanging arrangement for your smaller saws? I still haven't quite figured out how I want to set mine up.

[Jim Matthews]

In keeping with your recent project, it needs spots.

Maybe some antler pulls?

[Gary Hodgin]

Nice. I've got to come with something like that. I've got saws hanging everywhere.

[Keith Pitman]

Nice looking till, Keith! I do believe yours is one of the ones I ran across while researching. Do you have a close up pic of the hanging arrangement for your smaller saws? I still haven't quite figured out how I want to set mine up.

I'll try to get a picture tomorrow and post it here.

[Phil Marcus]

Very groovy! I really need something a lot like yours (says my wife). In fact, it's so organized, it scares guys like me!

By the way, is that one of the Veritas saws with the polymer spine? If it is, would you recommend it to the saw challenged beginner? I'm just starting out with hand saws.

Thnx, Phil.

[jason thigpen]

They are the Veritas saws. Both a crosscut and dovetail. They were my first small joinery saws. I love them. They both cut a very clean kerf and are easy to start. And of course, the price is very attractive. I would highly recommend them.

As far as that miter box saw goes, here are some pics. You can see the old handle next to the new one. The hardware was chromed I think. I stripped everything down with a wire wheel and used gun blue to darken the metal. I think it goes well with the rest of the saw.

[jason thigpen]

I just realized some of those pics were not right side up. Not sure what happened! Sorry bout that.

[Dave Anderson NH]

255375Nicely done Jason. The only problem I see is the same one I had when I built mine, it is already too small. You will not believe how quickly you will acquire saws and the till will fill up. This is an old picture from about 10 years ago so it doesn't show all of my other saws that either hadn't migrated into the till or hadn't yet been acquired.

[Chris Griggs]

They are the Veritas saws. Both a crosscut and dovetail. They were my first small joinery saws. I love them. They both cut a very clean kerf and are easy to start. And of course, the price is very attractive. I would highly recommend them.

As far as that miter box saw goes, here are some pics. You can see the old handle next to the new one. The hardware was chromed I think. I stripped everything down with a wire wheel and used gun blue to darken the metal. I think it goes well with the rest of the saw.

Damn Jason. You did a pretty sweet makeover on that bad boy!

[Keith Pitman]

255396255397
Nice looking till, Keith! I do believe yours is one of the ones I ran across while researching. Do you have a close up pic of the hanging arrangement for your smaller saws? I still haven't quite figured out how I want to set mine up.


Here's a couple of cellphone photos that should enough detail. I made a simple U-shaped bracket. It's attached with screws from the back. It works well enough, but the saws that fit into the slots in the top are almost vertical and some of the shorter saws don't reach the top slots and just rest on the back. I'll be interested to see your solution.

[jason thigpen]

Thanks for the pics Keith. Definitely helps point me in the right direction.
I do have quite a few antler scraps laying around. They would make a sweet drawer pull! Or even a hanger for my coping saws.
Lots of new ideas to process now. Thanks guys!

[Dan Carroll]

255414

This is mine -- finished it a couple of weeks ago. Gave me some practice with dovetails and was fun.

Dan

[jason thigpen]

Nice job Dan! You sure filled it up quickly!!

[Dan Carroll]

I had to build it; just to have a place to put them where I could get to the one I wanted. Seems like the saw I needes as always the on three deep on the hook. I also made a set of drawers for my table saw blades to get them off the of hooks as well. I am slowly upgrading what I have and getting rid of the plastic handle ones.

[Bill Fleming]

Very nice, I am in the middle of designing a saw till and was thinking of hanging the back saws with the panel saws stored like you have done. After seeing yours I may reconsider.

Cheers Bill

[Mike Holbrook]

Nice job!
Unfortunately I am in the same boat as Dave Anderson, my collection of hand saws will require a little more space. I say it will because I still do not have all my "restores" in working order yet. I hope to end up with 6 or more hand saws in various: lengths, tooth configurations, plate steel ... and 3-4 back/halfback saws. I will probably have a dozen or so that want get used regularly as they were bought cheap and have various issues. I may need two storage areas anyway as I work in two different buildings on 12 acres. I have a home business. Maybe something a little larger but nice for my shop and something a little rougher for overflow and lesser saws to be housed at my business building where most of the work is rougher. I am thinking about more of a cabinet with front doors that will keep the dust off my saws.

I am also thinking about a carrying box, like carpenters use to use, to hold good saws. I have seen some very nice carpenters boxes. Something that could hold a few saws, a block plane, brace, square, a couple decent chisels....A mobile hand tool collection for construction & cabinet installation jobs.

[Dan Carroll]

Do what makes sense for you in your shop. What others do is not all that important. You might get some ideas from other, but you have to work in your shop, not someone else and if it does not make your shop time more enjoyable, then do something else that will.