I have looked through most of the posts in this forum, seen the importance of keeping the knives, chisels and gouges sharp. But, I'm wondering what is your preference for storing your tools.
The tools that I got were in a bag, some in a roll, some just dropped in. The roll is sewn in to the bottom of the bag and has enough room for about 2 dozen. And I have a larger assortment than room allows. Without the bag in front of me, I guessing about 10 gouges, 15 bench knives(some custom made from kitchen knives), about 4-5 chip knives and a dozen palm gouges. Plus, there is 5-6 gouges with ferrels, a small diamond stone, a small ceramic stone, and other misc. items.
I know that dropping them in the bag is not a good idea. I spent half the day yesterday, trying to reform the edge on a badly damaged veining chisel, and found another palm chisel past the point of repair. It was split half way up the shank.
TIA
Mike

I've seen some super studios with drawers and racks for storing tools. Â*But for the most part all mine are kept in two large tackle boxes. Â*At first I had that blue styrofoam insulation cut into squares and pushed onto the ends of the blades. Â*Worked pretty well, too, but took up a lof space.

Then I discovered vinyl tubing in the hardware store. Â*There are enough different sizes to have just the right size to fit snugly ove the ends of all my knives and gouges, and now the space saved in the tool boxes is double what I had before. The stuff is round, so all you have to do is get a piece of tube slightly smaller than you blade , squeeze it and it goes oval and will vit over the blade and stay snug until you want to remove it. Â*If it wears out, it's cheap to replace.

Al

I also use the canvas rolls but more often than not when I am doing a carving the tools end up in my tool box by the dozens. Not good for the tools just one rub on another tool and it can really dull your tools. I like the sound of the plastic tubing but then again when I get carving I dont always put one tool back before using another. Are you guys the same you get so wrapped up in the carving all of a sudden you have a dozen tools strewn all over the place. I am not convinced the canvas rolls are the best I seem to cut myself every time trying to put the tools back into the rolls. Mind you I guess I could wear a carving glove ???
Colin

[Ric]

I use a series of tool rolls for my knives and gouges, and keep them in a canvus bag. I have another bag with all my sharpening stuff in it. My large tools are in my shop hung up, but they don't get the use my smaller ones do. I got to quit buying tools....running out of room.
Ric

[jamesfa]

i have my tools stored in a couple of small tool boxes,i protect the business end with insulation foam,or clear plastic tubing.
have started lately to carve small wooden figures out of scrap pieces to replace blue foam.it doesn't save any space but its more interesting.
i did see on some website a design by len Diel made out of 1x2 wood and 1'' plastic tubing which looked interesting for workbench storage

[Captain_Bandaid]

I made a couple of wooden racks for my large mallet tools. However, I too, bought a large tackle box for my goodies that I normally use for storage and transport. I bought one that had 4 removable plastic cards that sit vertically on one side of the bottom compartment and are made to hold large lures. I drilled 1/2' holes along the top of each card, then heated the plastic with a heat gun and folded them over 90 degrees. This gives me a place for all my palm tools and prevents them from touching each other. I use the other side of the bottom compartment for stones, gloves, other tools, etc. The top compartment has a series of long sections that are perfect for storing knives, files, pencils, etc. It is made by Plano (The Guide Series) and I paid about $25 for this at Walmart.

[Texas_Jim]

I found a homemade tool box at a garage sale and the sides are about 8 inches wide. I dirlled holes on one of the sides and then I just turn the box on its side and slip my tools down through the holes.

Works pretty good and sure was cheap.

These posts sure answered some questions for in shop and out. But I think my favorite answer so far has got to be the tubing. I think I may be able to double the capacity of the roll with the tubing, and not have to worry about cutting myself.
It looks like I may have to put those toys away for a day or 2.
(I did get to spend 3 days carving a dog, and sharpening some blades.) It's amazing how much better they cut.
Someone wants me to burn a name on a roofing hatchet.
That may mean another tool for the shop, cause I don't think a $6 Wal-Mart woodburner will handle it.
Thanks for the responses everyone.
Mike

I use a wooden box that a friend made for me. The top has a series of drilled holes (about 1' diameter) that allow the tools to hang without tool tips touching the bottom. I have made some of the holes larger so some of my large handled knives sit farther down in the holes. I use this for most of my tools - knives, palm gouges and intermediate gouges. It has plexiglass on the face so that I can see the tool ends and is built so that there is some extra storage. Maybe I can get a picture posted soon.

A friend of mine uses a canvas tool bag with a similar box inserted. This allows him to close the tools up when not in use and also makes it easier for carrying the tools around. He does not have the ability to see his tools from the side, but he has marked his tools so that he knows which tool he is selecting when looking at the handle end.

[Kenny_S]

Clear plastic tubing from the hardware store, Cheap and affective.