Tool storage

Well, its been a busy month for me and I've been away from the shop.  I finally got some time out there over the weekend and I managed to fill my recently-completed tool chest.  I took some pics.

The chest itself is an old one that I purchased in Allen, MI.  It doesn't look like much on the outside...


I left the outside alone, preferring the well-used look the chest has earned over the years.  The inside, however, I modified to suit my own needs, inspired by the toolchest Roy Underhill features in The Woodwright's Workbook: Further Explorations in Traditional Woodcraft


The front till is fixed in place and provides adequate storage for my user rip, panel, tenon and dovetail saws.  The rear till holds my spokeshaves and drawknives.  The middle drawer holds my auger bits, while the two flanking drawers hold miscellaneous small tools, such as my saw set and pencils. The rear till slides and provides access to my user molding planes.  The chest is a valued addition to my shop and protects my valued users. 


You may remember my post about my Gerstner and Jennings machinist tool boxes.  I grappled with how best to utilize them.  A while back, I purchased an old walnut dresser that was in really poor shape.  I paid all of $5 for it and figured that I'd use the drawer pulls on another project. Well, I had another idea...


I simply lifted the dresser up onto an old moving dolly, removed the top two drawer partitions (the drawers were busted anyway) and put a bottom in the newly-opened top bay.  I put the Jennings box in this bay and am now storing my chisels, screwdrivers, rasps and gouges there.  I put the Gerstner box on top and use it to store my collection of Starrett marking tools and other small tools.  I couldn't be happier with the utility of the now-mobile box. It isn't as pretty as some of the chests featured in Jim Tolpin's book, The Toolbox Book: A Craftsman's Guide to Tool Chests, Cabinets, and Storage Systems, but it'll do.

Thanks for reading.  Here's hoping you enjoy some shop time and more time to shop for your latest treasures.

Zach