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Using Magnets to Store Chisels |
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For years, I made do with an inherited set of mismatched and
battered chisels that had seen better days. They were stored
loosely in a tool chest, where their cutting edges were dulled
through frequent contact with drawer sides. Moreover, that heavy
tool chest had to be hauled out from beneath a workbench whenever
I needed to access its contents.
Needless to say, those chisels were not pressed into service
very often. When I needed to do some trimming, I tended to reach
for a utility knife. Last year, after I upgraded my chisel collection,
I resolved to devise a better way of storing them, so they'd
be well protected and easily accessed.
The design criteria were straightforward:
- I needed a compact storage cabinet that would enclose
the chisels to protect their cutting edges while warding
off dust and other workshop debris.
- The tools had to be easy to remove and replace without
posing a threat to my fingers.
- The storage unit had to be within easy reach of
my workbench.
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A
plastic window enables an instant inventory to ensure
that no chisels have been left lying about where they
could snag a wayward hand. |
Considering
space and layout factors, I opted for a shallow cabinet that
would hold the chisels in a vertical position and that would
occupy a corner at the end of my workbench without intruding
excessively upon the work surface.
One design issue that I puzzled over was how to store the chisels
in a vertical position. Initially, I envisaged a rack arrangement
for suspending them with their handles upward. This approach
did not appeal to me because I was concerned about the possibility
of dropping a chisel during retrieval or replacement, which
would send it plunging downward onto its sharp end.
One day while examining the chisel display in my local Lee Valley
showroom, I came upon the solution: instead of suspending the
chisels with their handles up, why not just park their butts
in a row of blind holes in the cabinet base? One-third of the
way up the cabinet, add a crossbar with semi-circular notches
to align the chisels vertically so they stay clear of each other.
Two-thirds of the way up, add another crossbar fitted with a
row of rare-earth magnets to secure each chisel in its proper
position. |
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Other Articles from this Issue |
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