My solution is in the picture. Starts with 12” long PVC 4x4 post covers… I have a dozen that fit perfectly in a fabricated 1/2” plywood 11-1/2” tall x 13” x 17” plywood box… That box fits perfectly on the smaller/cheaper Harbor Freight furniture dolly (everything in my shop has to be on wheels). A 1/2” plywood 3-3/4” x 3-3/4” plywood bottom is fit inside each post cover with a 3/4” drywall screw counter sunk through each of the 4 walls of the PVC post cover. On top of the plywood base I inserted a 1/2” thick x 3-3/4” square piece of neoprene… but any sturdy foam to protect the end of a lathe chisel will work. Each 4” post cover has 5 each 1-1/4” ID (1-1/2” OD) x 11” tubing inserted to hold the large chisels. Each 4x4 post cover is labeled for the generic labels of the tools it holds (I.e., skew, bowl gouge, scraper (round), scraper (square), carbide, hollowing, etc. and the outside of the wood box is also labeled to ensure the PVC covers get replaced in their correct spot.
It just so happens that all but one of my 55 chisels fit the 1-1/4” ID tubing. That one sits in a slightly larger tube I had laying around. It also just works out that all but 3 of the handles of my chisels do NOT fit inside the 1-1/4” ID tubing so the sharp chisel ends do not touch the protective rubber neoprene. However, I have the neoprene at the bottom of each 4” post … just in case like if I get a specialty chisel, or insert a steel or 3 without handles, etc.
Two holes on one side of each 4” PVC cover allows easy removal from the box and in all but one case easy carry. The one exception has exceptionally heavy & tall chisels and will tip over. As you can see I have extra PVC covers with empty tubes in which I place chisels that need sharpening before I return them to their designated place. If you make your plywood box big enough or have fewer chisels then you could designate a couple PVC covers in your box for chisels that need sharpening.
The tubes… 10-1/2” long x 1-1/4” ID (1-1/2” OD) and were cut from cast-offs when Verizon was installing in-ground fiber optic cable in my neighborhood. Anything less than 6’-10’ and they would throw it away or gladly let me take it. You can buy cheap, thin-walled 1-1/4” ID plastic tubes from Amazon. You can also find them as shipping tubes in heavy cardboard. Most of mine started with a substantial bend since they were stored in rolls… but a 1-1/8” dowel and heat-gun quickly straightened them out.
My requirements:
1. Mobile in the shop (wheeled dolly)
2. Minimum floor space (13” x 17” for up to 60 chisels met the bill)
3. Able to break down into smaller groupings to transport or to organize by type (5-chisel PVC covers allowed for that and by labeling provided much needed organization)
4. Able to identify chisels needing sharpening (my 3 extra 4” post covers allow for holding 15 chisels in need of sharpening… I may pare down my active chisel holdings by 3 4” post covers to let me have the in-need-of-sharpening storage right in the cart… simply remove the 3 post covers holding carbide chisels (that don’t need “sharpening”).
5. Organization: I used a permanent marker to mark the butt end of each chisel (I.e., 1-1/4” SK (screw); 3/4” BG (bowl gouge), 3/16 PT (parting tool), etc.). All PT were collected into a single 4” PVC cover, the bowl gouge took up 2 PVC covers, rounded scrapers took up one, straight scrapers another, etc. I also have one 5-chisel PVC Cover with just my favorite of favorites… grab one & go (1/16” PT, 1-1-4” skew, one unhandled steel with a detail bowl gouge on one end and a detail spindle gouge on the other, 3/8” asymmetric spindle gouge, 1/2” fingernail bowl gouge, and a 1” “refiner” (from Tomasic!)… yes, 6 and sometimes 7 chisels fit in a 5-compartment PVC cover).
I’m sure there are better ideas but this is mobile, scalable, capable of revision, and inexpensive if you can score the free tubing.
