How To Store My Tools And Kit?

[Helsing]

I do not have a permanent workspace (actually I do but it is unheated and I live close to the arctic circle) so I take out all my tools and kit, do some carving or other leatherwork and then put the stuff away in a closet. I have a granite slab, punches, awl, edge beveler - the basics.

I have yet to come up with a good idea of how to store my tools. I have tried the standard plastic toolboxes but everything rattles around and feels unprotected. I am thinking about sewing some type of canvas roll up type thing but there must be better ideas?

Does anyone have a tip about what to get/make?

Thanks

/Helsing

[mikesmith648]

You could try a rollaway cart with racks for the tools and drawers for the other items. Mainly get something that keeps it all in an organized fashion that works for you. I am a Travel Nurse and all my stuff goes in 3 plastic boxes till I get where I am going. Then the tools come out and the other stuff stays in boxes till I need it. I have one box for tools and dyes, another for books and patterns and a third for the leather. My sides stay in the shipping box until I need it also. Not a perfect situation but it works for now.

[deluze]

What I have done in the past is to get hold of some foam rubber, fit it to a box or suitcase, and then make separate holes for whatever it is that I want it to hold. That way everything is protected.

The downside is that you will lose a lot of the original volume of the box/suitcase since everything will be spaced further apart.

Clas Ohlson (Scandinavian store) usually has some aluminum suitcases that work well for about 35$ if your toolboxes won't do the trick.

-Deluze

[shtoink]

It might be worth locating some desiccant packets to keep away any moisture.

[St8LineGunsmith]

maybe something like this for tools

http://www.harborfreight.com/toolbox-organizer-with-4-drawers-68238.html

And something like this for hardware and fittings

http://www.harborfreight.com/multi-compartment-utility-box-40528.html

[TwinOaks]

A LOOONG while back, one of the members posted a tool caddy he made. He bored holes in a block of wood for all the tools, then mounted snap bases to the sides. Then he made a tooled cover that would snap onto the block of wood to cover all the tools and provide a handle.

[lwm803]

Several years ago, when my collection of leather working tools started getting hard to keep up with, I bought a medium sized plastic tool chest. It had two trays and and a larger storage area below. This held my tools as long as I was careful how I placed them. My leather was carried in a large duffel bag. This was back in the day when my job kept me living in a motel more than my own home. Eventually chain maile work won out over leather work due to the simple fact that it is easier to carry a bucket full of wire rings and a couple of pairs of pliers than the selection of tools necessary for working with leather. I also learned that making chain maile armour was an excellent way to make 20 cents an hour....LOL.

I have since retired and I recently ran across that box in my woodworking shop and have begun the quest to figure out a way to have a leather working shop share space with my woodworking shop in hopes of satisfying a renewed interest in leather work. That old plastic box is now empty (thankfully). I hope to never live out of a work truck or support a hobby out of a box again.

[immiketoo]

I just throw all my crap on a table. It's not pretty, but the organization sucks.

[Helsing]

Thanks for your ideas!

I will postpone my decision for the time being as I seem to "need" an exponentially increasing amount of tools...