Hand plane storage advice

[Jason Buresh]

So I have a problem. I have many hand planes and no place to put them. They are scattered all over my bench and shelf. Most are good users. A few are for parts.

440302

Here is the wall I would like to build a plane till for. I would like to fit my 26" transitional, no8, no7, no6, 2 no5's and 2 or 3 no 4's here. I thinking about a traditional slanted plane till design with some cubes underneath to store my 45, router plane, 78, and a future dedicated tongue and groove plane.

I can't go too deep with the till. I am thinking 6-8" maybe? I am also tossing around the idea of making a freestanding cabinet with a traditional till on top, cubbies, and then open shelving beneath for miscellaneous planes.

This is my first shop I have ever set up. Can I get some opinions from more seasoned folks on how you would store these? I know in the end I have to do what's best for me and the way I work, but I'm suffering paralysis and analysis.

440303440304440305

[David Eisenhauer]

Even a shelf (or two) across the wall would get them off of the bench and out of the way. I would probably go for the plane till if I wanted something a little more dedicated but I don't know how many planes and what size till it would take to hold all of the planes. A shelf or two could always be used for other items if you later decided to build a dedicated plane storage solution, or the shelves would be easy to take down and use the material for something else. My idea for the shelf is that it gets you past the "analysis through paralysis" stage right now and creates some working room on the bench. Shelf, plane till or freestanding tool cabinet all could be not the final answer as your shop layout develops over time as you dive deeper into woodworking.

[Nathan Johnson]

To David's point, I have mine on narrow shelves for now.
It's hard to plan a till when I don't know how many more planes I'm going to buy. :)

[steven c newman]

Hmm..wall hanger?
440307
440308
1 x 8s.....

[Michael J Evans]

I like that Steven, looks very nice and functional

[Jerome Andrieux]

Hmm..wall hanger?
440307
440308
1 x 8s.....

This is a nice setup, however, I am definitively on the open shelves / till side.
I don’t like to open / close doors to fetch something (laziness), I don’t like them left open / ajar (psycho) and I would certainly break this glass and get angry :)

[Jason Buresh]

Hmm..wall hanger?
440307
440308
1 x 8s.....

That would be perfect except knowing myself, having the smaller planes 2 deep would drive me nuts. I know for most people this isn't a problem.

I may put a glass door similar to yours on whatever I decide to build though. Much easier to wipe dust off of glass than all the books and crannies of a plane.

Thanks Steven!

[Andrew Pitonyak]

I like that Steven, looks very nice and functional

I like that he can have multiple planes in each slot. might accomplish the same thing by rotating 90 degrees.... but I like it too.

Wonder what he has in them there drawers :-)

[steven c newman]

Drawers hold spare parts, and un-used block planes. "Glass" is Plexiglass. Other than the #7s and #6s....all else is 3 planes deep...

Can be a wall hanger, or, like mine sit on a shelf.

I usually open this up, select a plane or three, and then close it back up for the day...

[glenn bradley]

Per an idea in a Fine Woodworking article, I hang many of mine from paracord.

440318

Easy to alter when things change.

[steven c newman]

Or...go all out...like this one from WOOD...
440319
Might take up a bit too much space?

[David Eisenhauer]

That tool cabinet could definitely bring the Dungeon up to Better Homes and Gardens status Steven C. Looking forward to the build.

[steven c newman]

Haven't enough room down there...so
440325
Have to "re-configure" a bit...

[Jason Buresh]

Per an idea in a Fine Woodworking article, I hang many of mine from paracord.

440318

Easy to alter when things change.

I kinda like this idea! But with the weight of a no 8 would that be too much stress on the knob hanging it like that though?

I'm probably overthinking it

[Jason Buresh]

Or...go all out...like this one from WOOD...
440319
Might take up a bit too much space?

Now that would be the cat's meow, but might take up a little too much room. Unless I put it against a different wall, but that would be kind of annoying running back and forth to the cabinet.

Hmmm

[Andrew Pitonyak]

Drawers hold spare parts, and un-used block planes.

Good use...



"Glass" is Plexiglass. Other than the #7s and #6s....all else is 3 planes deep...

I had to buy some for a large blessing box that I built for the church and that stuff was crazy expensive. I purchased it at Home Depot, maybe that was the problem. In my mind, "plastic" window material should have been very inexpensive not crazy expensive. A glass place might have had it cheaper, no idea. I just know that I was shocked at the high price.

[glenn bradley]

I kinda like this idea! But with the weight of a no 8 would that be too much stress on the knob hanging it like that though?

I'm probably overthinking it

I'm reasonably sure I am putting way more, and more aggressive, dynamic force on the knob while using the plane than the static hanging weight could ever achieve. The Veritas shooter and jointer both weigh in at just under 8 lbs (the heaviest planes I have) and the para-cord is rated to 550 lbs ;-)

I used a piece of 1/4" pegboard because I use pegboard for other things around the shop. The original idea . . . ah, here it is (https://www.finewoodworking.com/2009/10/09/keep-planes-close-at-hand) . . . was a bit more upscale. I had started with the dividers in place between planes (you can see one to the right of the jointer). I soon found there was more banging into the dividers than there ever was bumping tools together so I eventually removed most of them.

[Jason Buresh]

Glenn,

I really like the versatility of your setup. I use 550 cord all the time when I'm hunting and camping so I have a good supply. I am going to strongly consider this design

[Phil Mueller]

I don’t have a picture, but I embedded magnets into a custom panel for my most used planes. The magnets hold the metal planes vertical (which took up less space than a tilted till).

If interested, I can take a photo and post.

[Bob Jones 5443]

Jason, you have a nice bit of wall to get this done. For the eight planes you mention, the till I built for my four planes might be expandable to hold all of yours. Mine holds all the bench planes I'll probably ever have: a 607 Bed Rock, a Stanley Bailey 5-1/2, a L-N 4-1/2, and a Stanley No. 62 block plane.

440368 440369

The till itself sticks out maybe an inch from the wall, so the overall projection is just a bit more than the height of the planes. No need tilt it. I have it on the wall with two French cleats, plus a square key inserted to prevent accidental raising off the cleats. The plane toe slips in under the till's top cleat, and then the heel slides into the bottom cleat. Gravity holds them in; the top cleat keeps them from leaning out.

I like that I don't have to swing open a door to get the planes. As for dust, when I pull out a plane, if it's dusty, I just whisk it off with a little bench brush. I keep the metal parts lubricated with camellia oil anyway. But since I centralized dust collection and put in an air cleaner, I don't get much dust buildup.

I think Steven's case is beautiful and I'll be he's proud of it. Mine is modest but I like the cherry and brass screws.

For my router plane, since you asked about that, I use a different part of a larger French cleat wall, to the left of the bench:

440370 440371

This of course sticks out a lot, like all the tools on that portion of the wall. I aim to use the minimum possible wall area for each tool, and allow boxes to stick out as much as 12 or 13 inches. That way, the wall holds every tool that isn't in a drawer.

The French cleat wall only gets plywood cleat boxes, so no particular aesthetic here. I tell myself the holders are merely functional, working prototypes that I can always rebuild someday with nicer wood and joinery. But I needed to get the tools up, out of the way, and where I can quickly put my hands on them.

Like your planes, my tools swam around on my bench for years until the French cleat wall and the plane till. It's a joy to have a place for everything right at arm's length. I especially like how I hold my 30+ router bits, 25 or so Forstner bits, 16 screwdrivers, and 14 chisels on the wall. All tools fit on less than 1.5 square feet of wall.

Let us know how you solve the storage question! Good luck.