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I Forge Iron

Drift/Chisel Storage


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OK, so I've got to the point where I'm having trouble finding chisels in my pile. I need something more efficient and would like some ideas. 

At present my idea is to make a 24" wide cart with shelves every 3" or so with the top shelf being intended for "active use" and lower shelves for storage with the business end facing out. 

Everything needs to be mobile as everything has to get packed up at night. 

Thank you. 

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I welded some 1" square tube to a section of 3" wide flat stock as the base.  It's great for holding my little chisels and scales up without any problem.  You don't have to hold more than a couple inches of chisel to keep it secure.

The cylinder was a happy afterthought and started life as the drive shaft from an old Chevy.  It's great as a catch-all for files and chisels I'm using at the moment but don't need often.

IMG_2810.JPG

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If you blow this up alittle the chisel holders are folded over a rod and the tie to tie the tool role up holds the role on the wall rod.  When I go to demos they come off and hammers go on the side you can't see now on one and tongs on the other.  Fold in half and roll and tie.  Tools packed for what ever.  Then done the hammers get put back on rack, anvil and the tongs hanging on the forge.  The roles then get put back onto the rod.  Ready for shop work.  All tool rolls made out of tent canvas.image.jpeg.10f40b1bc2e59764a552563dfd019

Panday  I can get some closer pics of the rolls if you want.  They are maybe 2'x3' with eyelets in the center and a tie string.

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When I was mechanicing I organized my end wrenches in the underside of my tool box by riveting heater hose parallel about 3" apart, oriented hinge to latch. Then I just cut slots in the hose so I could push my wrenches into the slots and the hose held them firmly accessible and visible.

I have a wood block drilled for struck tools but it's less handy than I'd hoped but that could just be me. Currently I have been collecting cake pans at yard, garage, etc. sales for cheap and use them for keeping tools I'm using at the time. They're also good for catching hot thingies.

Frosty The Lucky.

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  • 8 months later...

A couple lengths of 4-6" PVC pipe with an end cap. You can cut it with ease to adjust to the height you need. Granted, it might melt if your tools are still hot, but its relatively cheap, if not free. Go to a local golf course and ask the turf department if they have any pieces just lying around, they most likely will. I do almost all of the irrigation work at the course I work at, and we always have useless lengths kicking around. 

Side note*

Golf course turf/maintenance departments are also great places to go for high quality scrap, I frequently raid our scrap bin, everything from coil springs and axles, to rotary mower blades and bed knives, which are the bottom blades on a reel mower, they are generally a high carbon steel, and if they are name brand (Toro, John Deere, Jacobson), there should be specs available. If your local courses are anything like us, they'd rather spend the money on the greens rather than a scrap man. Just another potential source of material to keep in mind. 

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I used to pick up "arrays" of short pipe sections where an ornamental iron company would tack weld them together for cutting a stack of them at the same time.  Mount them on a piece of angle iron and drill a couple of holes for bolts or screws and you have non-melting chisel/drift holders.

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8 hours ago, ThomasPowers said:

Around my shop there is way too much "metallic dust" floating around and any magnet becomes furry fast.  Also any tool that gets magnetized gets furry and is a bother to keep clean.

I have them at shoulder height and higher and I have not seen any fur on them. Also the fact that they are 6' away from any grinding operation may help. Screw drivers get furry, however, but I think the driver's ability to hold a screw outweights the nuisance.

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Sewing isn't very hard. Planning a pouch or roll can be surprisingly difficult though. I recently made a roll for a set of wrenches and with a few eyelets tacked on the ends it'd make a handy punch/chisel holder thatthatbcould be easily brought back inside or tucked away.

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  • 6 months later...
On August 17, 2016 at 10:32 AM, Scrambler82 said:

As a Novice and being interested in new ideas… if I had to vote on one or two of these ideas my choices would be:

1) VaughnT

in fact all three could be done with scrapes.

 

Holy Mackerel!  I actually beat Jim Coke at something?  That's got to be one for the record books!  Can we make that post a sticky so it doesn't get lost?

Honored that you think so highly of my design, and you're right that it can be made with scraps.  Mine was actually made with scraps as a way of using up some of the scrap in the scrap pile.  Of course, now I'm in a position where I need more room for the files and chisels, so I'll be adding at least one more row of square tubing.

As that holder is on the bench to hold all my little chisels and sundry, I thought I might make something a little different for larger pieces used at the anvil.

I found a picture online and kind of fell in love with the idea, so it'll be built just as soon as I get a round to it....

I have some 8" pipe that would make a dandy "basket" and plenty of scrap expanded metal to make the grate inside.  I like the simplicity of the design -- almost thought about dressing it up with some decorative forging, but then I got the notion that the reason the think is so attractive is because of its rugged industrial-ness.  Everything about it looks "right" and I'm sure if you had a few of these hanging around at a demo that people would remark positively on them.

Can you imagine her all filled up with a nice selection of hot-work tools like Jim's block of wood?  Maybe even do a wooden insert like Jim's to keep the tools from tilting one way or another as the expanded metal will allow?!?

58c6792a923af_CoolToolTote!.thumb.jpg.f2d06804ed5d1e407742d23c6e91a789.jpg

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