Tool Cabinet time---Again

[Brian Rupnow]

When I started out in this machining business about 5 or 6 years ago, I put up a shelf in the corner to hold my milling cutters and other tools related to the mill..and up until now, it has worked fine. Trouble is, every year I buy a few more tools, and they are all now laying in disarray on the only flat surface I have in that corner. This is not good for me, as I have to now pick up 5 tools before I find the size I want, and its not good for the tools, because as the cutting edges bump up against other tools on the shelf, it dulls/damages them. today is a rainy, nasty fall day, and I don't feel like machining anything, so I have designated this as "Tooling Cabinet" day. The attached pictures show the state of things at present.

 

[Brian Rupnow]

I went on a tooling cabinet hunt this morning to my two favourite hunting grounds, Princess Auto and Busy Bee Tools, but they had nothing that looked like it would do the trick. The lady who manages BusyBee in Barrie suggested that I look in one of the new stores in town called "Storage Solutions". I found the store, and found something "close but not quite", so I decided to put on my "haggle hat" and haggle with the owner. With a minimum of haggling, he dropped the price of these units 10%, from $16.50 each to $15.00 each, and I bought four of them. They are perfect, except for one major flaw---the drawers have nothing to keep them from vibrating right out of the cabinet and dropping onto the floor, spreading tooling all over the place. I however, being a canny old dog, decided that if instead of mounting them on the vertical wall, I mounted them on an inclined board that tilted about 5 degrees towards the wall, they shouldn't vibrate out.--Jeez, I hope I'm right!!!

 

[Brian Rupnow]

Of course, every piece of fine woodwork has a good side (that people see) and a bad side that people don't. I'm not going to worry about the bad side--It will be against the wall. In fact, I'm not going to get real excited about the good side either. After all in my little shop, very few people will see it but me!!!--I did go so far as to countersink the nail heads with a nail-set and give a lick and a promise with my vibratory sander to the bits that will be exposed after the cabinets are hung on them.

 

[Brian Rupnow]

Now I ask you--Is that a Beautiful thing, or is that a Beautiful thing!!! All for the price of $60 plus a bit of plywood that was left over from some other project.--And yes, before you ask, there is lots of room for me to turn that crank at the base of the mill (inset into the cake tin in the drywall). I did get my air grinder out and knock the corner of the wooden stand-off down a bit. a bit. Tomorrow I'll sort all the tools out and put them away, maybe even buy some sticky backed paper up at Staples and make some labels so I know what goes in each of those little drawers.

[URL=http://s307.photobucket.com/user/BrianRupnow/media/BrianRupnow007/NEWCABINETSINPLACE002_zps352b152a.jpg.html] [/URL]

 

[thayer]

Brian,

A job well done indeed! Love the tilt back solution.

Thayer

 

[AussieJimG]

You are putting us all to shame Brian. But I do like the tilting solution which probably also allows you to see into the drawers without bending.

I like the idea of having drawers rather than the shadow board solution with leaves the tools exposed to dust and swarf.

Jim

 

[Brian Rupnow]

There we have it.--As done as its going to get!!! I still have room to grow--lots of empty drawers yet. My tackle box full of divider plates and gear cutters fits up top, along with my wooden box of precision parallels from Little Machine Shop. I went up to Staples this morning and luck was with me. They had sticky labels exactly the right size to fit on the end of all the little drawers. I'm down one light that was up there before (you can see it in the "before" shots) and I'm not sure right now whether I will put the light back up or not.