How do you store your rasps and files?

[Frank D.]

Hi everyone,
As I accumulate more and more rasps and files (no, no Aurious just yet... :wink: ), I'm starting to feel the need for a storage solution. I've tried various tool rolls but they are all unsatisfactory because they allow contact between the tools. So I was wondering what you people do to keep them safe yet handy in the shop (I don't really need to carry them elsewhere, and I can always wrap one or two in a rag and slip them in my saw case if I do...). Thanks for any input.
Frank

 

[Philly]

Not very exciting Frank, but here's my "low-tech" solution....

Cheers
Phillly

 

[Alf]

I've tried various tool rolls but they are all unsatisfactory because they allow contact between the tools.

I use rolls, but I sew my own so the full length of the file/rasp is in a pocket. The legs from old jeans or such make a good starting place. There are a couple of ideas from The Porch here, here and here.

Cheers, Alf

 

[ydb1md]

I made a simple wooden "thing" with vertical dividers to keep the files and such seperated.

In this picture, it's to the far left of my saw till . . . .

 

[Frank D.]

Thanks for your suggestions everyone,
I'm sure I'll come up with something very nice! I'll eventually have to make a real tool cabinet. Wall space is so limited in my shop that I don't even have any room for more planes!!!
Thanks again,
Frank

 

[engineer one]

frank i knew i would come in useful one day!!!! :lol:

files should really be stored like chisels in the box sets are.
but a cheap and cheerful way to do it is to get some of that
router mat type stuff, and lay them in a drawer next to each
other. make cheap, and simple little trays for each size, and set
them one above the other. Ikea do a nice couple of ply
draw shelf units or stationary storage items which will take
lots of files if they have some kind of mat between the
files.

just make sure they have decent handles,
paul :wink:

 

[Anonymous]

I use a couple of simple tool racks to hold the odds and ends tools like files, some spokesaves and drawknives, some measuring tools, large chisels, and so forth. They are the racks one sees in Toshio Odate's shop. Vertical pine pieces attached to 2 horizontals. There are rows of tightly spaced dowels. They are his chisel racks. I have these, as with all my racks, attached to french cleats that allow me to hang them anywere in my shop. I'd love to post, but I don't have a host.

 

[Midnight]

Frank.... I've been mulling over that one myself.... my current tool chest canna facilitate this.....but, best solution I've seen to date was fitted drawers.... Andy Ray's Hand Tools book.... loadsa good storage ideas there.....

 

[mudman]

I'm sure that I recall a reference that said in the old days that files were kept clean and sharp by storing them in a bucket of urine at the back of the workshop.

Cheap and easy solution anyway.

 

[Frank D.]

Thanks mudman, I'll remember that one!
Thanks everyone for your additional suggestions. The problem for me with drawers is that I have very little floor space, so I have to store things up high. I do have some drawer storage but I've dropped their contents on my head more than a few times... One key I think to my solution is fitting handles on everything. I tend to use them with no handles, which is not only uncomfortable but makes storage a lot more difficult (nothing to hang them by). I'll probably make a little rack that I can keep on a shelf and grab when I need to shape something. I'll consider everything proposed here to work out the design. Smaller and more compact is better for me...(reminds me of Studley...oh well maybe one day).

 

[engineer one]

frank, very bad to use files without handles, too many people have holes
sometimes not repaired where the file has slipped. worse than a slipping
plane or chisel, because it is always in the middle.

i understand the floor space problem, what about drop down drawers,
or lipped shelves with dividers.

none of use every have any space, but taking the p**s is a bit of a problem. i don't have any problems with my files getting rusty as
long as i use them often enough.
paul :lol:

 

[Anonymous]

///

 

[Midnight]

The problem for me with drawers is that I have very little floor space, so I have to store things up high.

I'm in exactly the same boat.. I gotta allow enough clearence under my tool cabinet to store sheet goods on edge; the cabinet's 3 ft tall....

Compromise for me is to hang them inside one of the doors; far from ideal but it'll have to do for now....

 

[Jarviser]

I have mostly used unhandled files, and never hurt myself, though E1 is spot on about this safety advice.

The most common place for a file tang to go in is on the underside of the wrist. It happened to me, the file unexpectedly hit the vice, but I only took off a piece of skin . You can lose a tendon, or tear the artery that you use to take your pulse. If you like to use a file in the hand for shaping wood, at least saw or grind off the tang.

 

[cowtown_eric]

file drawer!

 

[Adam W.]

WOAH!

That's a quantum leap, right there ...☝︎....

 

[Droogs]

I'm trying to work my way up to something like this





Just for @Adam W. to drool over lol

 

[IWW]

This is my solution. I need to store tools in drawers or cupboards to avoid rust in my moist sub-tropical climate:



The containers are slide-in boxes faced with 3mm ply. Inside I've laid lengths of scrap plastic electrical conduit side-by side to keep the blades separated. You can't see what's what, but I know where the one I need is by habit, helped by the different woods I've used for handles.

If you are happy to have your rasps & files "on display", a member of the Ubeaut forum in Oz came up with a nifty design for a rack (you may have to sign in to see the pics).

Cheers,

 

[Bristol_Rob]

I built a tool panel on a French cleat for mine.

 

[Jacob]

I keep mine in a heap in a drawer, along with a lot of other rammel.