How Do You Store Your Turning Tools?

[Bodrighy]

There are 17 on this one Peter, I have a few others that I use less often but can easily put the ones I need into it and keep the rest out of the way. I am in a 10' x 6' shed with a full size lathe down one side, the opposite size is shelved and full of dried blanks and the end wall has a bench with various things on it such as pillar drill, grinding station, scroll saw etc. Space isn't something I am well endowed with either. Behind my lathe is a wall of windows so no real option to put the tools there

Pete

 

[antonello]

Here the Sardinian Way.

Early stage:

These were a gift from a Friend of mine, I think they are for plumbing, originally:

All the tools, with spare places just in case of further purchases; the most often used tools are on the right:

Everything was made with materials that were at hand in the workshop: cost of the whole: nihil.

The job is a rather crude one, but I didn’t want to spend long hours working on it: I employed about two hours to think how to do and one to complet it from start to end.

The distance between the pegs is alternatively of 5 and 6 cm, but I was wrong, 5 cm is the best for an angle of 45°.

Cheers

Antonello

 

[Bodrighy]

I haven't seen it done like that before Antonello, very clever and the price is good as well :lol:

Pete

 

[Harlequin]

This could work well

 

[dickm]

Nice idea, Antonello, but I always shudder at seeing tools stored with sharp ends uppermost. So..o..o..o easy to drive the point of one into your hand when reaching for its neighbour.
After two sessions of hand surgery, I ought to know to be really careful, but we all still have our senior moments.

 

[dannykaye]

2inch x 3ft piece of wood suspended under a bookshelf behind my lathe. its at 45degrees so sawdust etc falls off with holes in it for tools

 

[antonello]

Nice idea, Antonello, but I always shudder at seeing tools stored with sharp ends uppermost..............

Yes, I certainly do agree with you, but up to a point: the height at wich the sharpened edges of those turning tools are situated cannot be reached at all when the hand is searching for a tool with your eyesight looking elsewehere: the height has been designed so that the hand could go directly at the middle of the handle.

Certainly, our hobby is dangerous and the maximum care must always but taken: but, to my opinion, the best way to avoid this and other nasty situations is to work "calm and collected as a journeyman joiner engaged for the year." (Herman Melville, Moby Dick, Chap.27).

 

[TobyB]

Why is sharp end uppermost a "shudder" issue - that way you pick up a tool as you will use it, not needing to reverse it, etc. I am blessed with a bit of wall space - I have a rack of plastic tube mounts like Harlequin pictured, to drop the handles into ... easy to see the tool tips at eye level to select. Minor change - to prevent dust/shavings/etc collecting in them, they are open below so nothing accumulates inside ....

 

[Jonzjob]

I find it much safer. Also far more convenient in a small workshop. I f you have loads of space to move around in I suppose it doesn't matter but this way I can have it where I need it or right out of the way of necessary.

One question, how would you accomodate 25 different gouges, scrapers etc. on such a small footprint?

I can understand the methodology and think it is brilliant, but just trying to fit it into my own shop without falling over it appears to be a no-go for me! Perhaps I'm just plain awkward!

Regards, Peter.

Sorry Peter, but why would anyone would need 25 different gouges to hand? On a busy day I will use a roughing, spindle, scew maybe 2, bowl or 2, parting and maybe 2 scrapers. 9 different gouge/scrapers at the most.

I too keep mine in a cheap engineers tool chest/draws and put the ones that I'm using on the bench behind me where I can just turn and select what I want.

If I am cutting captive rings then there will be my home made cutter for that too..

 

[jpt]

My most used tools are kept in this at the end of the lathe

Bowl gouges etc on the wall

Other tools that are little used in the cupboard.

john

 

[wasbit]

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Tool Rack by wasbit, on Flickr
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This is my version made with a cheap Blackspur 12" turntable bought from a £1 shop.
The base, one of my first attempts at turning, was made from pieces of 4"x2" glued together & hollowed to accept the turntable to about 3/4 of its depth.
The centre stem is a piece of 20mm elecrical conduit (flocoat) with two circular blocks attached by drilling all the way through & inserting a metal rod, one to keep the pipe upright & the other to support the table.

 

[Bluefoxy]

Oh dear! Mine just lie around on the bench but at least I now have some ideas! What is spare space in a workshop?