Martha was at it again this past week and turned her attention to the mess beneath my lathe.
I'm fascinated with old tool chests that have sliding trays so I decided to build a simple plywood and pine version of one.
The two trays are sized so that they completely bypass one another which allows me to reach for a tool in either one at the same time. They are also removable and can sit on top
of the box while the lathe is in use. Beneath these trays are three open bins.I used spacer blocks in positioning the runners that support the trays to ensure that they ran parallel to one another.
Two handles were added to the top so the lid would slide without racking.
The handles themselves are a simple design made with a moulding plane and block plane. I first plowed a groove to create a track in which the moulding plane could more easily be navigated.
A rat tail file was used to produce the concave recess on the ends of the hand
les and a sandpaper-wrapped dowel was used to clean up the profile.It's a super simple storage box, or if you think like my partner, a 19th c. coffin. That's what she says it looks like. meh.
On another note: sorry to have to use word verification with the comment application for a while. I've been getting a plethora of comments from an asian spammer that links back to asian porn sites. And that doesn't make the cut for my PG rating.
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14 comments:
I'm a bit confused ... is that a modern electric lathe in your workshop? I figured you had a foot treadle one.
Nice coff. . . . uh, box!
I take it you like your Veritas plow plane, then? You seem to be getting some good use out of it, anyway!
Hey, if you ever want to send Martha over to my place for a while, I could put her to work with some drywall!
Alternately, if she wants to start on some tool storage while I drywall, that would be acceptable, as well.
Bill, a treadle lathe requires more coordination and stamina than I possess.
Thanks Bob! heh heh
Ethan, I suspect that Martha has left the building.
But yes, I love my veritas plough plane. It's been getting a workout lately.
How is the lower tray removable? Is it a bit smaller than the upper one?
Anon, yes, that's exactly right--the lower tray is a little smaller in width than the top one.
Kari - nice...far too organised though. All my turning tools are held on the wall on a magnetic strip. Happy Easter by the way...hope you've had plenty of choc! - Rob
Nice job on the storage box Martha, erm, Kari.
Martha is welcome here too, to do the organization chores so I can have more time in the shop.
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You're next project is to lobby Blogger to get serious about spam blocking and relieve their customers of dependence on the very non-accessible CAPTCHA (word verification) devices. In my alter-life as an Accessibility Consultant, I can assert that CAPTCHAs are one of the toughest barricades for people with disabilities, and fail at rates of up to 20% for people with no disabilities. CAPTCHAs are a crutch for firms who can't do spam control correctly and are propagating faster than Kudzu.
Rob, I've seen some of your wall of tools and it's very well organized. ; )
Bpb, Blogger—maybe since it's a free service—doesn't address known problems very quickly. Blogger profile view counts have been stuck for a month, for instance. I guess I can't complain, since I'm not paying anything to have this blog. Ah well....
Hi Kari,
could you explain me who is Martha?
Paolooumb
Paolo, I apologize for the confusion. I'm referring to Martha Stewart, who has a TV show and magazine that focus on ways to become more organized and make your home more attractive and livable.
I just googled for "under lathe storage" (I've got a "mustard monster" - a Powermatic, and there's a huge amount of space down by my knees and toes going to waste.
This entry is one of the top hits... and I can see why!
I've read about old tool chests with sliding tills, but have been uncertain how much I'd like one.
How do you find that it performs?
I think I intend to keep all of my turning tools on a rack to the left of the lathe that I made (I use small rare earth magnets cyano-acrylated into the wood to keep things secure), but I want to store other lathe related goodies down below (bowl coring jigs, etc.).
Have you been using the storage long enough to say if it works well for you?
TJIC, I have used this box enough to know that I like it. One thing though--you don't want the box so tall that it's hard to see what's inside once the lid is removed. Also, because of their length, the sliding tills on mine make it difficult to get to the things in the middle of the three bins underneath them. If I had to do it again, I would have only two bins beneath the sliding tills.
I recently added another box that sits beneath the lathe storage box. There was about 7" clearance from the bottom of the lathe storage to the floor, so plenty of room for more storage.
That lathe storage looks fantastic! You really did spend your time on making that one. I love how it looks, neat and simple. Good work!
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