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Guest
Guest
I am interested in how folks manage their everyday use hand tools in the shop.
I am a huge fan of pegboard vs drawers, provided the peg hangers are securely attached to the board, either with tight enough peg holes or, better, the little plastic peg retainer doohickies.
There is, I just measured, 200 linear inches of 48 inch tall pegboard above my principal bench space, surrounding it on three sides, including a short wing wall between the seated height bench and standing height bench.
At a rough count there are several hundred hand tools visibly arrayed on those walls, from a couple dozen each clamps, screwdrivers, squares, files and hammers to size assortments of mechanical stuff like wrenches, pliers and sockets.
The power tools and bigger stuff is stored in labeled cabinets, but for hand tools, if I could not just look up and see theres what I need, I would be lost.
Right there, just above the main workbench, is a lot handier than walking across the shop to open some cabinet. Daily use hand tool stuff tends to go back on the peg hanger where it belongs more reliably as well, helping eliminate the eventual stop work and clean up the mess of tools on the bench.
Part of the pegboard fun for me is locating, and sometimes relocating, the most commonly used stuff to be positioned most easily accessible, and putting the more rarely used stuff higher up or further away.
A friends shop in NC had a vast spread of peg board, and even had the hangers attached with the little plastic security ties. Beautifully done, I installed the peg board , but he hung to pegs and tools.
Randomly, with no forethought. To grab a screwdriver or pair of pliers you needed to stand up and walk around the bench, but there, right at arms reach, he had located a rusty come along, never used handleless files and his collection of dull Skil-saw blades.
I spent a long day, actually an alternatively fueled night, taking off every single tool and peg board hanger and rearranging them in more logical locations.
Or perhaps there was some method to his maddening madness. This is the same friend whose shop I habituate a few times a year, who before he died locked every electric drill and sander in his shop into the ON position as a post mortem trick for me to discover in months to come when I plugged them in.
How do you store your every day, week, month, or occasionally used handtools?
I am a huge fan of pegboard vs drawers, provided the peg hangers are securely attached to the board, either with tight enough peg holes or, better, the little plastic peg retainer doohickies.
There is, I just measured, 200 linear inches of 48 inch tall pegboard above my principal bench space, surrounding it on three sides, including a short wing wall between the seated height bench and standing height bench.
At a rough count there are several hundred hand tools visibly arrayed on those walls, from a couple dozen each clamps, screwdrivers, squares, files and hammers to size assortments of mechanical stuff like wrenches, pliers and sockets.
The power tools and bigger stuff is stored in labeled cabinets, but for hand tools, if I could not just look up and see theres what I need, I would be lost.
Right there, just above the main workbench, is a lot handier than walking across the shop to open some cabinet. Daily use hand tool stuff tends to go back on the peg hanger where it belongs more reliably as well, helping eliminate the eventual stop work and clean up the mess of tools on the bench.
Part of the pegboard fun for me is locating, and sometimes relocating, the most commonly used stuff to be positioned most easily accessible, and putting the more rarely used stuff higher up or further away.
A friends shop in NC had a vast spread of peg board, and even had the hangers attached with the little plastic security ties. Beautifully done, I installed the peg board , but he hung to pegs and tools.
Randomly, with no forethought. To grab a screwdriver or pair of pliers you needed to stand up and walk around the bench, but there, right at arms reach, he had located a rusty come along, never used handleless files and his collection of dull Skil-saw blades.
I spent a long day, actually an alternatively fueled night, taking off every single tool and peg board hanger and rearranging them in more logical locations.
Or perhaps there was some method to his maddening madness. This is the same friend whose shop I habituate a few times a year, who before he died locked every electric drill and sander in his shop into the ON position as a post mortem trick for me to discover in months to come when I plugged them in.
How do you store your every day, week, month, or occasionally used handtools?
