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Thread: Am I crazy?

  1. #16
    Join Date
    Dec 2016
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    South West Ontario
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    1,502
    I have a book with those cabinets in somewhere. They are truly at the most extreme end of tool collecting and storage. Shaker thinking was every tool had a place. I wondered how many drawers they had to open to remember where a particular tool was because I know I would not!
    One other consideration, the less movable a bench the more likely it is to acquire a cabinet. If you regard your bench as movable you resist adding a cabinet to retain that feature.
    ​You can do a lot with very little! You can do a little more with a lot!

  2. #17
    Join Date
    Jun 2010
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    twomiles from the "peak of Ohio
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    Drawers don't need to be so deep...to allow for handles sticking up..

  3. #18
    Join Date
    Feb 2005
    Location
    Texas Hill Country
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    Quote Originally Posted by steven c newman View Post
    Drawers don't need to be so deep...to allow for handles sticking up..
    I'm assuming this was in response to my question. Depending on how many hand planes you have it seems to me to be a question of preference. Six of one, half a dozen of another. I've never measured it out but I'd almost guess you maximize the space by putting them in the normal position. Then again, that likely depends on the size of the planes.

  4. #19
    Join Date
    Sep 2007
    Location
    Longview WA
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    27,347
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    Quote Originally Posted by Matthew Brawley View Post
    I had been planning on building a traditional wall cabinet for my hand tools, but have thought since space is at a premium in my shop, would it be bad to build a cabinet under my workbench. Thinking of building it with drawers and storing planes on their sides along with other tools (chisels, layout tools, etc.) in other drawers.

    Am I crazy to do this or missing something I should consider?
    Often times a variation in design elements is necessary due to limitations on one's available space. Many good comments have been made in the previous responses.

    Quote Originally Posted by Mike Manning View Post
    Always love reading the discussions on tool and shop organization. What's the story with storing hand planes on their sides? Am I missing something?
    Hopefully "discussions on tool and shop organization" will one day inspire me to take on the concept and better organize my shop.

    The idea of "storing planes on their side" is underlined and in bold in the quote above.

    Keeping a plane on its side was often recommended by high school shop teachers in the 1950s and '60s. Whether it protected the blade or not is debatable. If you have ever set a plane down on a bench and then put a nick in the bench when retrieving it, you know a good reason to be careful in how a plane is set on a bench.

    jtk
    "A pessimist sees the difficulty in every opportunity; an optimist sees the opportunity in every difficulty."
    - Sir Winston Churchill (1874-1965)

  5. #20
    Join Date
    Dec 2010
    Location
    Paducah, Kentucky
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    48
    I guess one thing that would also help is that even though the depth is standard for a modern bench, it is fairly long. I have 49" between the legs. It just seemed like a lot of room that was currently wasted and in a small space that I am using it seemed like a perfect space. I also thought putting in two sets of drawers, and putting less used tools on the left side next to my vise. I have been obsessed lately about storage and organization.

  6. #21
    Semi-related question. I'm planning on adding a hanging cabinet to my outdoor work area. The cabinet will be about 24 x 48 x 10" and will hold most of my hand tools (about 6 planes, 5 saws, 8 chisels, squares, etc). I'm planning to hang it directly on the side of the house on two French cleats.

    This is where it gets interesting. I live in Hawai'i, where many of the houses are single panel construction. In other words, a series of 1 x 12s joined side by side, with studs at irregular intervals where there are windows or doors, but not necessarily anywhere along a solid wall.

    If my cleats are 1" nominal thickness and I'm going into a 1 x 12, then I guess I only have 1-1/2" of depth to work with. I don't want to go through into the bathroom that's on the other side of the exterior wall (I already did once, and had to repair the tile). Will 1" #10 wood screws in these cleats be enough to hold up this cabinet? I could probably use 1-1/2" screws if I don't countersink them. Thoughts? Thanks!

  7. #22
    Join Date
    Jul 2007
    Location
    NE OH
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    2,615
    You want to keep the screws holding the cleat loaded mostly in shear (straight down in this case) and minimize the withdrawal forces. Best way to do that is to minimize the depth of the cabinet and keep the heavier stuff toward the back.
    But there is nothing to stop you from using lots of screws with a wider (taller) French cleat. And you could consider using adhesive, although that may be more permanent than you want.

    Doesn't sound like the tools will add up to that much weight, so I think it's workable.

    On one occasion, faced with a similar need to attach something or other to thin stock, I ground off the tapered tip of some screws so there were full-depth threads over the whole (short) length. I used an unmodified screw to form starter threads, and then installed the modified screws.

  8. #23
    Join Date
    Feb 2013
    Location
    Madison, MS
    Posts
    33
    Another option may be to make removable tool chests with drawers that fit the space under the bench. If needed the tool chests can be temporarily removed. I also work in a small workshop (no matter how big, any workshop is small ), mine is 12 x 16 with a band saw, lathe, drill press, planer and table saw. Everything is on wheels so I can re-arrange as needed.

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