Leatherworking Tool Caddy

[Harry Marinakis]

Ever find yourself searching all over your workbench for needles? Scissors?

Ever find your work space is cluttered, with tools and parts scattered all over?

I decided to take action. I made a leatherworking tool caddy, specifically for small tools and small parts, to keep my workbench organized. It's not for all of my leatherworking tools, just the ones that I am using for that particular project.

it's made from 4/4 curly red maple, and 1/4-inch oak dowels.

 - There is a 1/2-inch deep well for storing small parts in a handy location

 - Three magnets for needle storage (2 x 3-1/2 adhesive business card magnets, cut to shape)

 - Multiple drilled holes for storing stamps, pens, awls, etc. (largest is 3/4-inch in diameter)

 - There is wave-like groove to store my swivel knife (without damaging the tip)

 - Two 1/4-inch dowels for storing spools of thread

This tool caddy was made strictly for small tools and small parts. The larger tools still get scattered around the workbench, but c'est la vie.

Edited November 15, 2016 by Harry Marinakis

[Rohn]

Very nice.  I may have to make something like that for myself.  Love the looks of the curly maple.  Nice job!

[bikermutt07]

Love it. It looks like a wooden waterfall.

[Brown64]

Very nice!

[snubbyfan]

Nicely done and finished. Like those tiger stripes.

Now I can see how the shape can cut with a bandsaw and the holes drilled in a drill press but how was that depression milled?

[Harry Marinakis]

On ‎11‎/‎18‎/‎2016 at 0:02 PM, snubbyfan said:

Now I can see how the shape can cut with a bandsaw and the holes drilled in a drill press but how was that depression milled?

The layers were cut out with a jig saw and final curves were achieved by hand with a half-round wood rasp.

The depression for the swivel knife was hand-filed with a round wood rasp.

The small parts well was hand-carved using a wood gouge.

Edited November 21, 2016 by Harry Marinakis

[Pauls Leather]

Ok.  FIne. I'll buy one.............seriously though that's very nice for keeping things organized. 

[bdpeters]

very nice work. Looks like you put alot of thought into how you wanted it designed and made practical for the needed tools. 

[KYCat]

Very nice-- I especially like the use of the magnets for the needles/small stuff! Might try to incorporate that in an organizer I'm working on.

Thanks for sharing!

 

[VTleather09]

That is so awesome...WAAAAAYYY better than my 2x4 pine board with drill holes. 

[CraftyNick]

That looks really nice!  More than a good fix to the problem.

[Sheilajeanne]

On 12/5/2016 at 10:17 AM, VTleather09 said:

That is so awesome...WAAAAAYYY better than my 2x4 pine board with drill holes. 

Yeah, I have one of those, too! Piece of 2x4...hey, but it keeps things organized. Only problem is I keep buying news stamps, so I have to drill more holes, and redo the labels every couple of months. Luckily, I left room for expanstion... :D

[Handmadewhips]

So Nice!  Way Cool!

[OLDNSLOW]

Well, tell me about ---- the round knife sitting on the table, which one of the vendors made that and how do you like it?

Thanks

[bikermutt07]

If I remember correctly, he made that knife himself. 

[OLDNSLOW]

ok I don't recall if I read that or not.

Thanks

[Harry Marinakis]

On ‎1‎/‎8‎/‎2017 at 7:33 PM, OLDNSLOW said:

Well, tell me about ---- the round knife sitting on the table, which one of the vendors made that and how do you like it?

Thanks

I made that round knife myself.

I made a wood model, and played around with sizes and styles until I found something that I liked, and fit in my hand. It started out looking like a normal round knife, but I didn't see a need for one side so I cut it off - hence the lop-sided look.

I used an angle grinder to cut the knife out of an old circular saw blade. You have to work very slowly to avoid heating up the metal - otherwise you ruin the temper.

Then I just just drilled a couple of holes in the tang, glued on some wood and stuck in a couple of handle pins through.

The hardest part was grinding the edge bevel. Eventually I found it was easiest to do it all by hand on a coarse oil stone.

I use this round knife for cutting long straight lines, a job at which it excels.

Edited February 28, 2017 by Harry Marinakis

[Hillbilly tim]

On 12/2/2016 at 0:23 PM, Pauls Leather said:

Ok.  FIne. I'll buy one.............seriously though that's very nice for keeping things organized. 

Buy one..... I'll buy that one!!! I thought he was gonna be making leather working tools not furniture! 

 

Great Job

[Bodean]

On 2/28/2017 at 0:48 AM, Harry Marinakis said:

I made that round knife myself.

 

That is a cool knife. I have old circular saw blades. I am a carpenter by trade. I have thrown so many away. I never thought about making a knife out of one. Sigh, another iron to add to the fire. I have to do this.

 

Edited March 5, 2017 by Bodean
too many words

[DJole]

On 2/27/2017 at 9:48 PM, Harry Marinakis said:

I made that round knife myself.

I made a wood model, and played around with sizes and styles until I found something that I liked, and fit in my hand. It started out looking like a normal round knife, but I didn't see a need for one side so I cut it off - hence the lop-sided look.

I used an angle grinder to cut the knife out of an old circular saw blade. You have to work very slowly to avoid heating up the metal - otherwise you ruin the temper.

Then I just just drilled a couple of holes in the tang, glued on some wood and stuck in a couple of handle pins through.

The hardest part was grinding the edge bevel. Eventually I found it was easiest to do it all by hand on a coarse oil stone.

I use this round knife for cutting long straight lines, a job at which it excels.

You were channeling these historic knives, apparently: <http://www.knifenetwork.com/forum/showthread.php?t=33543>