Lathe tool rack

I had a wall rack for my chisels a couple shops ago… not sure what happened to it during that move – but about that time I acquired an old piece of furniture from my grandparents basement workshop, and I’ve been using that for my lathe tools. Nice and sentimental (and dust free!), but not ideal for quick access. Typically, they’d just lay anywhere within reach, or underneath the ways (and hopefully not fall).

Some people make do with whatever they can get by with for shop furniture, preferring to spend their time and energy on “real” projects. This year, despite this thing a week challenge, I’ve been focusing on shop infrastructure, trying to make the space more functional, and pleasant to be in. Taking the time to make projects (even shop projects) as good as I care to.

My goal was a nice rack that my chisels couldn’t fall out of, or bump into and damage anything (or each other). I opted for maple – to match the tool racks over the bench, and the inner dividers in the bench drawer, (those were made with salvaged maple from my grandparents home & workshop.)

I started off fleshing out a duplicate of my old chisel rack, but wasn’t happy with it. It seems I didn’t quite have the right size forstner bit, for some recent additions (a hair snug, or way too big), so I hit the internet for inspiration, and quickly realized some details that others had figured out would fit the bill perfectly.

Angled bottom to keep it clean, and minimize depth, and going with semi-circles, rather than two rows of holes.

All in all, this was just a little milling, drilling and glue-ups a couple mornings before work to get the parts ready, then assembly this weekend.

This project is all maple, appx 11” x 25” x 3” deep. 1.5 holes, bisected, appx 30 degree bevel on the bottom. Gravity holds the chisels in securely, but they lift out very easily.

This is up on the wall behind the lathe – off to the right to keep it out of the way of chips and shavings (which shouldn’t build up on the angled bottom), as well as keep me from reaching over the lathe while it’s running.

The shelf to the left of it is the beginnings of a storage space for all the centers and other things I’ll need while the lathe isn’t running, which will double as dust collection box/port as well. A recent inspiration, but also long overdue!

I’m very happy with how it turned out, as well as freeing up a shelf that I can use for blanks, or projects in progress, rather than a hodgepodge of tools that just never got put away. My old shop theory was to have tools behind doors and draws to keep em clean. Now I want them accessible, easy to find, and easy to put back… I’ll just improve the dust collection.