[JimSawyer]

I have a mixture of Swiss Made and Flexcut Interchangeables. When I start a project I lay my tools out, (depending what I'll be doing in a particular day), in a pattern on my bench, low sweeps by size And then succesively higher sweeps by size. I'll have up to 14 tools on my bench at a time, plus knives, a pencil and a cheap china bristle for brushing chips away. I just put them back in their place as I go. Oh yea, I also keep them on a cloth on my bench for protection.

[Ron Davidson]

I guess it's just a few of us but then I have to be a bit more organized than some others. I prefer to mark then and lay them in an orderly fashon or I 'll get cut. To each his own.

[susieq]

I always marked my tools with my stylized initials reversed. I am slightly dislexic and so made my signature to reflect that. The m s resembles a snake heading off to the right. It is engraved into the handles of all of my gouges....not to tell me which one I want, but to mark them as mine when I took my tools with me to class. No unfortunate mix ups that way.

I never had any trouble just eye balling the business end of the gouge sticking out of the pocket in the roll pack, to decide which tool I was looking for.

[mdallensr]

I mark my palm tools on the handle ends, since they're in a holder when I carve at home and it's easy to see the ID. I mark the sweep and width of gouges; #5 x 1/2", and V-tools as V-1/4 60 degrees and Veiners as "U" 1/16". Wood burning works well on light colored handles. The ID is not so important to me now, since I keep them in the same spots in the holder; #3's together, #5's ditto, etc. When my palm tools are put in the holder, I know what they are and where they are without looking. The ID still helps when I'm away from home, or I've laid out several while carving or sharpening. As others have said, the key is to keep them in the same spot while you're carving, and soon you won't even have to look to find them.

I haven't marked all of my full-size tools but lay them out on my bench, grouped by sweeps, in the same order as my palm tools. I've seen demonstrations by professional cavers about the way they lay out their full-size tools, and some point the handle toward them and some point it away. The argument for keeping the cutting end toward you is that it's easier to see what the tool is and if you pick it up with your left hand (assuming you're right handed), it's in the proper position to carve. I know from more than 10 years of carving that 90+% of my cuts occurred when handling my tools, not while using them, so I've tried to organize my tool storage and lay-out to eliminate that risk. Mike

[mark yundt]

I basically use the system Mike describes. I do have trays with the chisels organized by numbers but try as I might I cannot carve by removing each chisel and replacing it as I work,,,for me,,,ain't gonna happen. Too slow.

I arrange them basically in groups on my bench starting left to right from the flattest to the deeper gouges, facing me.At a glance I can grab a chisel that is in the ballpark of the shape I think I need,I don't care about what number it is,,it's only the general shape I want.

In time,,as Mike points out,,you can just grab a tool from the general area and have a tool in your hand that'll work without even really looking at it or deciphering a number. It's more a matter of "this one is too flat,,I need a deeper cut,or wider one,,whatever" and so you just grab a tool that doesn't look like the one you have in your hand.It's simple ,fast and fluid. Without looking I can pretty much name each chisel just by holding it.Besides,,one chisel can make more cuts than you might imagine so a specific one isn't that important to me.

[slivers&dust]

I burned the handles, with a signature tip on a woodburner, those that weren't marked already anyway.
I kind of layout my tools like Mark when working. When I get to many out or I'm not using a tool anymore I do like to put them back in the rack acCording to profile and size, so having the numbers in the same spot on each tool is handy.
I joined a local carving club, but have yet to carve with them, I'm thinking about marking my tools in some way as to identify them as mine though before I hall them outside my shop. maybe red on the ends like Jeff Phares does

[Mitchell]

I use the same system as Thomp.... that way I can see them when stored in the rack. I do keep them organized and can readily tell when one is out of place.

I sanded the ends of the handles with paint so that I could get a good contrast.

[Thomp]

i wanted to print out lables and use something like poly or decopage them on the handles but guess im too lazy.

maybe one of them address tape printers lablers would work for someone with good eyesight?

maybe one day i wont be so lazy and figer out a better method we can print and coat over so it wont wear off

[Callynne]

Since I only carve at home, I don't have to worry about getting my tools mixed up with anyone elses. But, I did have a big problem with the Dockyard Micro tools, constantly grabbing the wrong one....again and again. My simple solution, I just used a pointed tip permanent magic marker to draw the tool shape, i.e. V, U, etc, and the size, i.e. 1.5, 2.0, etc. on the handle, a couple places around the handle. That way the size and profile of the tool is easily noticed no matter how the tool is positioned.

I also now use the revolving tool holder that comes in the bucket, that X-sailer had shown some time ago on another posting. I love it, all my tools and knives are seen, both the handles and blades, I set it up so all my chisel gouges, No. 3 sweep gouges, etc., etc., are grouped together, from smallest size to largest. It is a perfect tool holder both for organization and for being able to see in a glance what is where. Just what I needed! Deborah
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[Eddy Smiles]

Callynne... great suggestion for the Dockyards.... and not to highjack the thread but what's your take on the Dockyards? Are they worth the money? I use the Flexcut interchangeable tools but have been looking for something smaller and longer for getting into tight places. The Dockyards look like they'd fill the billet. Do they come ready to carve with or do they need honing? Do they maintain an edge? Do they chip easily? Would you recommend them?