Lathe tooling storage

[Shawn Siegrist]

I’ve had a lathe for about 10 years now. My first lathe was a grizzly G0462, turned mostly pens and wine stoppers with a few bowls. Turning bowls was an eye opener, both good and bad! Tons of fun, but my lathe was too small and too fast! I ended up buying a laguna 2436, along with d-way and Thompson tooling. I have a tool chest for storing my lathe tools and chucks, but it’s not ideal. What are you using to store and organize your lathe tooling and chucks?

[Rich Aldrich]

I made these tool holders early on to hold turning tools. They work well for me. The drawing is attached and can be modified to suit your needs. This was made before I started replacing tools with Thompson tools - most of my tools now are Thompson.

[Shawn Siegrist]

That looks great!!!

I have three easy wood carbide tools, and about a dozen D-Way and Thompson tools. The easy wood tools have permanently attached handles, while the D-Way and Thompson tools all share removable handles. I’d like to incorporate all of the tooling, handles, and chucks into a convenient storage system.

[John K Jordan]

That looks great!!!
I have three easy wood carbide tools, and about a dozen D-Way and Thompson tools. The easy wood tools have permanently attached handles, while the D-Way and Thompson tools all share removable handles. I’d like to incorporate all of the tooling, handles, and chucks into a convenient storage system.

Shawn,

There have been other threads that discuss tool organization. Some are hard to find since info might be buried deep within a thread. For example, a recent thread on lathe placement branched out into other subjects including windows and wall space, dust collection, sharpening, and tool storage. This is one post I made in the middle of the thread:
https://sawmillcreek.org/showthread.php?290490-Room-for-my-lathe&p=3110425#post3110425

For pictures of how I like to arrange tools I put some in another message in that thread. Others posted pictures too and discussed options.
https://sawmillcreek.org/showthread.php?290490-Room-for-my-lathe&p=3110218#post3110218
There have been many threads over the years that discussed tool storage - perhaps you can find some with the search feature.

As I mentioned in that thread, for me it is important to store tools so I can immediately see which is which. A rack with the points up is ideal if you have the wall space and not too many tools. The problem becomes more challenging at the tool collection increases, or as some might say, spirals out of control. (Last time I counted I had 54 Thompson tools here - that's not out of control, is it? :)

JKJ

[Dick Mahany]

I saw a tool cart on a Glendale Turners site years ago by B. Loitz that I liked. Based on his pic, I set out to build one that would also hold all of my chucks, centers, and misc tools. It works well for my needs, but many folks do not like the sharp gouge tips pointing up. It has three swivel casters so it can be maneuvered into tight spaces for storage in my small shop.

455760

455761

[tom lucas]

Because my lathe was the last piece added to my shop, I had to design storage to work with the space I had. I did not want to blow my shop up to get a more "optimum" setup. Anyway, I have 4 storage areas: under the lathe, off the tail stock, a swinging tool rack, and a chuck/bits storage rack. Most are shown in this thread: https://sawmillcreek.org/showthread.php?280125-Chuck-and-Stick-storage&highlight=

Under my lathe, I have 6 drawers on top of 240 lbs of sand, and left room on top of drawer box to store rests and tools-in-use.
https://sawmillcreek.org/attachment.php?attachmentid=403249&d=1549845130

[ChrisA Edwards]

I'm still new to turning and so only have accumulated about 10 chisels and a couple of chucks, faceplates etc..

But my lathe tool storage had to do double duty, so it acts as a cabinet for tools, sanding and buffing accessories and as a mobility device to bring my lathe from its storage position to a working spot.


https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jgZ5uo34Ez4

[Shawn Siegrist]

Thanks for the info!

[Shawn Siegrist]

Thank you all for the ideas and pictures, time to start planning!!!

[Allen Mattsen]

I've seen this video. Great job!