What does your tool wall look like?

[Joe Petersen]

I would like to see how you folks store your implements. I checked out a book a while back that I can't seem to find again. A book of shops. Anyway had some nice placement ideas. Can I see pictures of your tool walls be it peg-board or shelves or drawers for my own expansion.

Joe Pete

[Bart Leetch]

You can get lots on open shelves .

Also in a small shop things like plywood sometimes get set in front of them. If you have doors on them you not only have to lean the plywood out far enough to open the door but then you have to open the door. Yes small shops have their draw backs but they are way better than nothing.

Just one of my experiences in a 13 1/2' x 24 1/2' shop.

By the way how big is your shop?

[Jim Becker]

I don't have a wall usable for tool cabinetry...so I'm about to build a rolling tool cabinet to handle all my small, but growing, Neander tool assortment as well as other tooling for drilling, driving, etc. The mobility will be convenient and it will be height matched so that it can be useful for other tasks, too.

[Wiley Horne]

Joe,

Here's a link:

http://www.traditionaltools.us/cms/modules/coppermine/albums/userpics/10007/Bench%2BApron.jpg

Wiley

[Mark Singer]

Joe,

Here's a link:

http://www.traditionaltools.us/cms/modules/coppermine/albums/userpics/10007/Bench%2BApron.jpg

Wiley

Wow! Got tools! Got expensive tools!

[Ken Werner]

Wiley, there's got to be a story to go with that bench and tools.
Ken

[Bill Houghton]

I'm slowly putting up wall storage in some stud bays of my 11 foot square shop, but I have way more tools (blush) than would fit in the stud bays alone. I also maintain our house and cars, so I have auto mechanic, electrician, plumber, sheet metal, and general mechanical tools to store. I rely heavily on mechanic's lower and upper chests - four lower, two upper, plus a machinist's upper chest, and probably an additional machinist's upper chest in the offing, when I finish the current reorganization project. I will probably get around to taking pictures some time.

This part of the North Coast of California has relatively low humidity, so metal tools in metal drawers don't seem to lead to rust, though I do have drawer liners to reduce metal-to-metal contact. If you live in an area with high seasonal humidity, you might want to experiment before going this way (put one of your cheaper tools on some sort of metal thing, like a steel cookie sheet, and see what happens).

[Ron Brese]

All my tools are behind doors or in drawers. That way when clean up day comes around I don't have to touch every tool I own to clean up.

Ron

[Joe Petersen]

My shop is 19' x 8' x 12' high of usable space. I have been relegated to the slot next to the car. I too do many different types of work and like hand tools in a toolbox. I have found I like wood working tools where I can see them and get my hands to easy. I have built 2 workbenches and shelving above (which has been filled up of course) . I have filled most of the upper wall and I would like to utilize the space under the shelves - about 2 foot high. I have lots of black pegboard salvaged from Advance auto that would look nice I think but I don't like the normal metal inserts (from falling out).

I think the tool shaped forms are nice but am afraid of using up all my space ineffectively.

[Dave Anderson NH]

Feel free to steal any ideas you see. I stole most of mine.:D

Being a slob and having this problem of not putting things away when I'm through with them, I figured that an open tool wall where all I had to do was reach behind me while working at the bench was the way to go. I stand between the bench and the tool wall when working and everything is either within reach or only a maximum of 6 steps away. This means that replacing a tool is easy when I'm through with it and it is much more likely to happen. Before the tool wall, things piled up on the bench and on any flat surface within 10 feet-- things fell on the floor, edges got nicked, and it was sometimes difficult to remember where I put something. Now that is larges, though not completely, in the past.

[Wiley Horne]

Joe,

Here is something that has worked for me. Flat drawer space. You can make a lot of long skinny things disappear in shallow drawers--spare chisels and gouges; wrenches & pliers & hammers & screwdrivers; files and rasps and shaves; marking and drawing equipment; spare plane blades; knives; socket sets, etc etc.

After I built my bench with drawers underneath, I realized I was still seriously short of flat storage. I was working in a long narrow space, similar to yours. But I also needed a sharpening station (Dave Anderson's sharpening station reminded of that!). For the sharpening station, you need a flat place about waist high or so, maybe 1-1/2' to 2' deep and 2' to 3' wide plus or minus, and a coupla shallow drawers underneath. But then you have a whole bunch more room left underneath in that footprint for a half dozen more flat drawers--2" to 3-1/2" deep. So visualize a waist high cabinet with a working top, and a whole bunch of shallow drawers underneath, one on top of the other, and side by side if it's wide enough.

If this fits in your space, it would organize a lot of stuff.

Wiley

[Don Bullock]

Feel free to steal any ideas you see. I stole most of mine.:D

...

Dave, that's not a workshop. It's a hand tool museum.:eek: Wow, what a collection. Very nice and well organized.

[Roy Griggs]

My tool wall is a work in progress; as I aquire more tools and skills it is evolving...

If you want to see more, my shop tour is on my web page; under workshop...
roy

[Jerry Palmer]

Don't have a tool wall, as such, as my tools are spread across a couple walls. Here's a shot at the bench where I am almost able to keep most of the stuff I use regularly at hand.




http://xs54.xs.to/pics/05456/Bench002.jpg

An updated more frontal view:

http://xs208.xs.to/xs208/06420/Shop07.jpg

Chisels are stored at the other bench so I have to walk a half dozen steps to pick out what I need.

Most of the saws are on another wall near my saw bench.

http://xs49.xs.to/pics/05401/SawTill01.jpg

Here's the best pic I've got of the peg board wall (hey, it IS the classy white stuff) where other planes share space with a wild assortment of other stuff. It is to the right in the pic above and behind the lathe.

http://xs208.xs.to/xs208/06420/Shop04.jpg

[Joe Petersen]

I appreciate all the pictures and am formulating ideas.

Jerry: How is your lumber storage angle iron anchored to the ceiling? My ceiling is a huge space alotment of unused space. Also how difficult do you find it is to stretch for placement and retreival? This could store my iron and lumber without moving both all the time. Right now it goes under the car parking spot.

I think I am going with the black pegboard for the look and will mount wooden holders for small bits and pieces. (Drill bits files chisles)

Once all is up and parked I will post pics too.

[Derek Cohen]

Joe,

Here's a link:

http://www.traditionaltools.us/cms/modules/coppermine/albums/userpics/10007/Bench%2BApron.jpg

Wiley

Wiley

Your shop has long been one of my favourites. I enjoy its clean, uncluttered lines. Very different to mine - but there are plans in the future for a revision. At present it takes up most of a double garage.

An older file picture.
http://i13.photobucket.com/albums/a262/Derek50/Workbench%20and%20Workshop/WorkshoptoolsWC1.jpg

Some changes:

http://i13.photobucket.com/albums/a262/Derek50/Workbench%20and%20Workshop/Sawtree1.jpg

Regards from Perth

Derek

[Robert Trotter]

Wiley, I like the looks of your bench and your tool set up. I am in the "thinking about which design for a bench and storage" stage now. I don't have a zillion tools so I think your very clean and simple wall layout would be very effective. I could use the spaces between studs more effectively.

It seems that you are working in a tight space, is that right? I will be also. Would you mind giving some dimensions of your bench and work area? Do you live in Japan? The back wall looks very llike a Japanese construction.

Also do you have a copy of your drawings for your bench that you wouldn't mind sharing. I'd be interested in how you made it. Is it keyaki or something or maple?

Top thickness? Is your skirt an integral rear jaw for the twin screw vice?
Foot space at the bottom.

How do you find working on the corner?
How do you find working with the cabinets their rather than an open structure?

How about no overhang at the end? I suppose the idea of overhangs is that you have area over the leg for chopping, and the leg taking the shock. Do your have 4 legs or just the two with the others supports for the drawers etc?

I was originally thinking of having an open structured bench so that I could use the area under for timber storage. But after looking into my workspace and thinking about how to get the pieces under the bench, I found that I can't really get long stock in there. So I am now thinking of tools storage etc. with cabinets and lots of shallow drawers as you suggested in another post. Then put stock storage high on the wall and tools like you have around your walls at a lower level.

Robert

[Jerry Palmer]

I appreciate all the pictures and am formulating ideas.

Jerry: How is your lumber storage angle iron anchored to the ceiling? My ceiling is a huge space alotment of unused space. Also how difficult do you find it is to stretch for placement and retreival? This could store my iron and lumber without moving both all the time. Right now it goes under the car parking spot.

I think I am going with the black pegboard for the look and will mount wooden holders for small bits and pieces. (Drill bits files chisles)

Once all is up and parked I will post pics too.

My roof is built with trusses instead of plane rafters which limits the storage capacity in the attic. But the trusses also lend a deal of support to the ceiling joists making them rock solid. I cut through the sheetrock in the ceiling and used 3/16" lag bolts to bolt the angle iron to the sides of the ceiling joists. I've got a little folding step stool I use to access to the lumber up there. I've also got some racks on one wall to store additional lumber as well as a box for cut-offs.

Although my setup works for me, mine might be better suited as an example of how not to set up shop. Not having had all of these great examples of tool storage early on, I've sort of piece-mealed the space and storage as I moved from a machine head to using more and more handtools. Not having a master plan early on, I basically added shop furniture as needed to fill the need of the time, and not being one to go back in and tear stuff out, in each case I fit things in with what was already there.

[James Owen]

I would like to see how you folks store your implements. I checked out a book a while back that I can't seem to find again. A book of shops. Anyway had some nice placement ideas. Can I see pictures of your tool walls be it peg-board or shelves or drawers for my own expansion.

Joe Pete

Here's mine:

Cabinet under the peg board is still under construction and, upon completion, will be the new home for most of the planes on the shelves, and some of the other tools hanging on the peg board.

A wall-hanging cabinet that will eventually replace the peg board is still a bunch of conflicting ideas waiting to be distilled out into a design.....

And, last-but-not-least, a cabinet will eventually inhabit the space under the bench....

Also eventually plan to build a clamp rack and a saw till.

At the moment, chisels, carving tools, other planes, drawknives, measuring & layout tools, files & rasps, etc., are stored in the two red tool chests.

[Bill Wyko]

Here's some of my tool storage. I need to clean up the rest before I take any pictures though.:D

[Wiley Horne]

Derek, Ken, and Mark,

You're very kind. Thank you, and I'll speak to Ken's lead-in below in answering Robt. Trotter's questions. Also, I think Derek's setup is truly superb for efficient use of space--it's ingenious and most usable. I see a number of the tools he has written about over the years.

Robert, yes, this is a tight space. In Southern California, though, not Japan. I have to be where I can hear my wife call at all times, so it worked out that my tools all need to be quiet hand tools, and this long narrow porch was the only place with the right location. The total width of the porch is 9-1/2 feet, and I have commandeered a length of 10 feet, until I start running into the washing machine/dryer, etc. I made the bench as long as possible, 75" including skirt, and still leave myself 3' feet behind the end vise. I stand back there to do dovetailing for example, because the natural light is coming in from that side. The bench is 32" deep (gross), because it has to do double duty as a glue-up station. There's just enough depth to accommodate a line of 31" Bessey clamps for panel glue-up. The benchtop, skirt, and drawers are all maple, mostly hard maple.

The Skirt: The skirt is 8" deep and 2-3/4" thick, wrapping the open sides of the bench. It serves as rear jaw for the two twin-screw vises, and acts as a spacer allowing holddowns to be used in the benchtop, above the drawers. The skirt overhangs the drawers, so I can clamp to the benchtop from underneath the skirt, like this:

http://www.traditionaltools.us/cms/modules/coppermine/albums/userpics/10007/Larger%20crosscuts.jpg

If I had it to do over again, I would locate the drawers an inch lower than they are now, so that I could open all drawers, when clamping using the overhang. Right now, the top drawers can't open if I'm clamping--it hasn't been a practical problem, but still it's a dumb mistake that I point out so others won't make it.

The overhang avoided the need to include a toe-kick at the bottom of the bench, which would have been essential otherwise (and which would have complicated the framing).

I use the skirt with holddowns for edge-jointing, like this:

http://www.traditionaltools.us/cms/modules/coppermine/albums/userpics/10007/Edge%20jointing.jpg

The key is to rest the off-end of the board on the shanks of the holddowns; clamping pressure alone will not hold a board steady under the plane--need positive support under the board.

The Top. The top is store-bought from HIghland Hdwe in Atlanta. 2-1/4" thick finger-jointed maple. It was flat when it arrived, and required little jointing.

Support for Top. The top is supported by 2x6 ledgers bolted to wall studs, along with 4 sets of 4x4 posts (front & back) at 18" centers; 2x6 joists at 18" centers; and a 2x6 ribbon wrapping the whole thing. [Robt, all these framing members are let into each other in a way hard to describe, but if you're interested, I can email sketches.] The top sits on top of this framing and then is wrapped by the skirt which is lagged into it using 3/8" x 6" bolts--the counterbores are filled by those ebony plugs you see. The net effect is a very deep front edge for pounding.

Drawer Bays. The 4 sets of posts define 3 bays for drawers, with 3 drawers per bay, 9 drawers in all. I fit the drawer dividers/runners into the posts. If I had it to do over, I would sheath the posts with plywood, and let the drawer dividers/runners into the ply. Would've been much simpler.

Other Answers. Robert, the skirt is thick enough and stoutly enough joined to the benchtop, and the benchtop itself stoutly underlain--that the skirt top becomes part of the benchtop, and I can pound anywhere with no rebound. It's just dead to the hammer. You asked about the corner--that is actually the best thing on the bench. It's true in three planes. I do all joinery at that corner. There is 7-1/2" of clamping capacity outside the vise screws, and that capacity is useful for sawing M&T's, ganging the drawer sides for sawing dovetails, and clamping the pins board (drawer front) vertically when transferring marks from the drawer sides to the drawer front.

You asked about open structure vs. drawers underneath. In a perfect world, open underneath would be the most flexible, and best. However, I have to use that footprint. To overcome the main problems, I let the skirt overhang, which provides a clamping ledge. Also, it provides the equivalent of a toe kick. I think on balance if I had to do it again, I might build in a toe kick anyway, but it's OK as is. You also have to deal with shavings falling through dog holes in the top into drawers. This hasn't been a problem so far, because I only put holes in the top when I need to , but if I had it to do over, I would set the drawers an inch lower below the skirt, and use that space to fit in sliding dust pans (1/4" ply, for example).

More generally on storage....having a whole flock of shallow drawers is essential, I find. I put a dozen of them underneath the sharpening station (photo somewhere, I'll find). The most difficult stuff to store IME are braces and molding planes. Molding planes are particularly murder, because they have babies and multiply--they take up lots of space and after a while they're coming out of everywhere. Make a specific plan for them if you intend to use them.

Be glad to talk more, on or off line.

Wiley

[Robert Trotter]

Thanks for the run down Wiley. Much appreciated.

I don7t want to fix my bench to the wall as you have done as my space is more limited than yours so I need to be able to shift things (even very heavy things:eek: ) at sometime in the future as my woodworking evolves.

The corner... I think you are talking about the corner where the end vice is, is that right? I was asking about being worked into the wall corner actually but your info is very informative anyway. Thanks.

Robert

[Wiley Horne]

Robert,

What I lose by being up against a side wall is about 18" when edge jointing. I use a 30" jointer for long boards, so there has to be enough tail room to get the jointer started. Long boards can extend beyond the other end, but still there has to be enough room for the jointer to complete its stroke. Bottom line, I can edge joint a 6-ft board on that bench, which has been enough to date. If at some point I need to joint a longer board, or stick a long molding, then that will require a planing/sticking board, held by one end in the end vise, the other end extending up the long axis of the room. Such is life in a small space.

Wiley

[Charlie Mastro]

Here's mine.. :cool:

[Bill Wyko]

Here's mine:

Cabinet under the peg board is still under construction and, upon completion, will be the new home for most of the planes on the shelves, and some of the other tools hanging on the peg board.

A wall-hanging cabinet that will eventually replace the peg board is still a bunch of conflicting ideas waiting to be distilled out into a design.....

And, last-but-not-least, a cabinet will eventually inhabit the space under the bench....

Also eventually plan to build a clamp rack and a saw till.

At the moment, chisels, carving tools, other planes, drawknives, measuring & layout tools, files & rasps, etc., are stored in the two red tool chests.Now thats an inspiration to revamp my shop at home. I've got way too much stuff and way too little space. I hope you don't mind me stealing some ideas from you.:D

[David Marcus Brown]

Here are some pics of my shop http://picasaweb.google.com/ydb1md/Shop

[Chris M Pyle]

bumping my favorite thread up to see if anyone else would like to contribute!

[Russ Hauser]

Here's mine:

I have a two car garage with a storage space behind the rear wall, the full width of the garage, or a working space of 16 1/2 x 6 1/2 feet. At the right end of this space is a walk-in closet sized space that is air conditioned. If I leave the connecting door open and close the double doors, I have a workspace that has AC. Very nice here in central Florida.
I also have half the garage space for my "stationary" tools, all of which are mounted on mobile bases, either store bought or shop built. My wife still works, and when her car is not in the garage, I have the entire space. Consequently, I get most of my work done during the week. When I get the rest of the garage straightened up, I'll post photos of the "stationary" tools and the rest of the tool walls.

Russ

[Tony Bilello]

I live on my boat and rent this mini-storage space. It is 12 x 36 and approx 14ft high.
The room in the back is where we keep personal stuff so it wont get TOO dusty.

Toward the rear in Pic 1A is a vertical Hardwood Rack approx 2 Ft. wide
Toward the rear in Pic 3A is a vertical Plywood Rack approx. 8 Ft. wide.

Topward the fron of Pic 1A I have a small generator under plastic protection. The electric supply in the storage bin is not adequate. I wanted a shop to play in and I will have to make do with what I got.

Tony B

[Tony Bilello]

To attach a JPG format photo is shows 108KB maximum.
Is that per photo or total of all photos?

Tony B

[Paul O'Halloran]

I have two cabinets. one on wheels and one wall mounted plus a bunch of drawers,, pics are here
http://pohallor.fp.execulink.com/tool_cabinet.htm

paul

[Robert Rozaieski]

My boards are on French cleats so I don't have to find studs or use drywall anchors for the tools.

http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2045/2407896962_0dffea050e.jpg?v=0

http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2368/2407896922_0a7eedcef9.jpg?v=0

http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2330/2407896908_74d0836126.jpg?v=0

Plus some storage on a shelf under the bench.
http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3209/2407899976_9fb22b9d64.jpg?v=0

Bob

[mike holden]

Tony, the 108kb limit is PER photo. There is a max of, I believe, 5 photos per post, but of course, you can make multiple posts.
I like Irfanview for resizing, its free and works very well.
Try resizing to 640X480 to start and then finetune from there.
Mike

[John Viola]

Dave Anderson-

LOVE your plane center. I've been looking for ideas on how to store mine; think I found a good one!