My latest little shop reorganization project was to make a wall rack for all my AXA QCTP holders. The rack is a fairly simple design, but to longer to make than I expected. Drilling and counter-boring 68 holes was the big time consumer, but required to mount the holders they way I wanted. I wanted the holders orientated just like they would be be on the tool post, so that i could easily recognize what one was what. As with my last several storage projects, it made from Baltic birch plywood, and birch hardwood.
I made this file rack the other day, to free up space in my tool chest. The slots keep the files oriented so they don’t bang into each other. The round recesses capture the ferrule, ensuring the files can’t be accidentally knocked out of the rack when reaching for one.
I ordered some decent spotting drills the other day, but to my disappointment they arrived on my door step in plastic bags. Since I had some free time last night, I decided to make a little storage box for them. The box is made from scrap 8/4 Hard maple. The decorative black lines were made using the wire burning technique.
When I got my rotary table, it came in a crate, that barely made it to my door in one piece. Since I probably won’t be using it all that often, it’s going to spend a lot of its life in storage, so I made it its own personal crate. Jillian has dubbed it the bedazzled crate, and while she me right, it was all done for function not fashion. It’s made from 5/8″ Baltic birch plywood, and solid birch hardwood. The solid wood is the skeleton of the crate, and the plywood is the skin. While it’s not overly pretty, it was really quick to assemble, and rock solid.
I purchased a 18″ x 24″ surface plate before Christmas, to replace the little 12″ x 18″ one a friend gave me several years back. It’s a Grizzly so it wasn’t super expensive, but I still want to protect it from the hazards in my shop. It’s been sitting on the bench covered with the ugly and flimsy shipping crate it came in. Last week, I finally got around to making a much strong and prettier cover for it.
The sides are Birch, mitered at the corners, and reinforced with Black Walnut keys. The top is 3/8″ Baltic birch plywood, that sets flush with the top of the sides in a rabbit. To make it a little more pleasant to handle, I gave the corners a 1/2″ round-over, and all the other edges a 1/4″ round-over. It’s probably a futile gesture, but to try and protect it from the inevitable cutting oil, lubricating oil, and other random things that might get spilled on it, I gave it several coats of a home brew whipping spar varnish.
mock-up
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