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John Keeton
08-23-2008, 7:25 AM
I recently acquired some carving tools, and eventually want to expand my woodworking into some carving. I want to store my carving tools and chisels in a couple of shallow drawers. Does anyone have pics on how they store their tools? They are in rolls now and I am not too excited about having to unroll them everytime I want to use one or have a project in progress.

Mike Henderson
08-23-2008, 11:28 AM
I keep mine in rolls because I often need to transport my tools. I do not find it a problem to unroll my tools on the bench. In fact, since I know how I store my tools, it makes it very quick and easy to reach for the tool I want.

Mike

John Keeton
08-23-2008, 11:33 AM
Mike, as you know, I am really new at this. I have a concrete floor and have almost dropped a couple of these while unrolling them already. Finesse is a short suit for me! Makes you wonder about whether I should be carving?? The drawer unit I have is on rollers and I thought if I could have them in the drawer, I could roll the unit to where I am carving and pick one tool at a time. Looking for some type of system in the drawer I guess.

randall rosenthal
08-23-2008, 8:42 PM
i built a shallow box and divided it into about 20 long skinny compartments. i can put two tools in each compartment facing each other. at any given time about half (the least used half)of my carving tools can actually be found there....the rest never get put away.

John Keeton
08-23-2008, 9:21 PM
Thanks Randall, with the work you do, I can imagine the number of tools in use at any given moment!

In thinking more about this, what about this idea. Take a piece of 3/4 stock, say 3" wide, and as long as the drawer is wide. Drill a series of holes alternating between a larger hole, maybe 1 - 1 1/4" hole, followed by a smaller hole.

Rip the board, flip one of the pieces, and set them in the drawer a few inches apart. That way I could put the tools in facing each other as you stated, having them cradled in the semi circle. The handle in the larger cradle, with the shaft in the smaller. What about that plan? Don't know if they would get knocked around too much, but at least the blades wouldn't be striking each other.

Mike Henderson
08-23-2008, 9:41 PM
Mike, as you know, I am really new at this. I have a concrete floor and have almost dropped a couple of these while unrolling them already. Finesse is a short suit for me! Makes you wonder about whether I should be carving?? The drawer unit I have is on rollers and I thought if I could have them in the drawer, I could roll the unit to where I am carving and pick one tool at a time. Looking for some type of system in the drawer I guess.
I don't want to try to change your mind about where to store the tools, but your tools should not fall out of your tool roll when you unroll it. Are you using a regular commercial tool roll? And are you putting the tools into the pockets handle first (with the cutting edge exposed)?

I went and looked at Randall's web site - WOW! That's some amazing carving.

Mike

John Keeton
08-24-2008, 7:03 AM
Mike, part of the problem at this point is that I unroll them whereever I happen to be, and the couple of times I did nearly drop them, I unrolled them carelessly at the end of my TS and the roll overhung the edge. I have the rolls in a metal tool cabinet (top) right now, and it just doesn't seem convenient for me. I won't be transporting my tools. I know a lot of guys are in carving clubs, but I can't see me participating in that. Skill levels aren't high enough, and carving will be a "now and then" activity spread among the other projects.

By the way, these are all the Pfeil tools I talked with you about. Very nice! Now I just need to work on a sharpening/honing system.

Robert Rozaieski
08-24-2008, 8:42 AM
I store mine on the wall like my chisels. Very convenient to grab one or put it back and always visible.

http://www.sawmillcreek.org/attachment.php?attachmentid=93676&d=1217506572

randall rosenthal
08-24-2008, 4:47 PM
thanks mike

john...truth is i remove more than half the waste stock with a straight edge, a mat knife, and a 3/4 inch fish tail gouge with a shallow sweep. but im inspired now...im gonna go out there and shoot some shots of my work area.....after i clean up the debris from the small bomb that must have gone off there.

Stan Smith
08-31-2008, 11:50 AM
I've never had any trouble with the rolls. I bought a cheap plastic tool box from sears that has a large bottom area and 2 trays. I keep the real small carving tools in there. I'll post a couple of pics later today of some.

Stan Smith
08-31-2008, 9:53 PM
Here's how I store some of my carving chisels. I have others in rolls

95935 These are my lathe tools but I going to do the same for my larger carving tools as well


95939 My shop, non-carving, chisels.


last is my most frequently used stuff including a couple of flexcut sets

Ray Mighells
09-21-2008, 11:34 AM
I keep most of my tools in rolls, but also have a fishing gear box that has many compartments plus the large bottom storage. All tools with a cutting edge are protected by an appropriate sized clear plastic tube section over the business end. I use the trays to hold micro tools, palm tools and knives. You can cut the dividers out of the ones you need for longer tools. These tackle boxes hold a lot of stuff and are very portable. For what it's worth, no aspiring woodcarver should hesitate to go to a carving club for lack of skill. All clubs I've ever been associated with welcome beginners with open arms. You'll generally find carvers of all skill levels and they are all very generous in sharing their knowledge and expertise. They can inspire you and encourage you from the get-go.

randall rosenthal
09-22-2008, 9:29 PM
this might be sacrilegious but i dont worry much about the blades touching....once i get them really sharp....i resharpen them before use and maybe every ten minutes of use. thats why i just leave my most useful tools laying around the shop.

Harry Goodwin
09-26-2008, 7:58 PM
I took a thick piece of styrofoam glued to a piece of thin plywood. I simply nstick to smaller tools in it and they neither end up on floor or hard to find. Harry