New chisel rack for my Lie-Nielsen chisels.

I put together this quick and dirty prototype chisel box yesterday. It is adapted from one that John Wilson included in his final book. This is part of my long-term shop infrastructure/storage upgrade plan, including getting rid of a large flip-top tool chest with external drawers for which I do not have a place (it currently sits on the floor and I hate it). I don't use these chisels often because they are typically buried in one of those drawers, but I predict this rack will change that.

I made a few tweaks to John's design, including permanently attached buttons to hold the box open (instead of the loose stick John had). The buttons also serve as a safety catch to prevent the box from opening up and the chisels falling out. I also added the second stretcher below the top handle because John's dimensions left too much room over top of my Lie-Nielsen chisels and they could come out without opening (obviously a safety hazard).

Now that I'm happy with the prototype form, I am currently thinking of making a few box/racks like this, in the same overall dimensions, to house other tools. Eventually this may be a modular way to store chisels, gouges, files, rasps, etc. basically anything of that same basic shape. More developments to come on this.

I don't know if I will be doing more demos or teaching any time soon but this will be a handy little thing both on road trips and for bench work.