I dithered about making a custom tool rack for a long time, but it was a constantly-moving target. I'd get new tools, or change my patterns of work, and whatever design I had settled on was no longer appropriate. Also, wall space is very scarce in my shop (I have loads of shelves and lumber racks all the way around), so a freestanding rack made more sense. Rather than put a lot of effort into making something that would be perfect just until the next tool or work-pattern change came along, I quickly whomped together a couple of milk crates, a scrap of melamine and some old casters with zip ties and screws, and it has turned out to be a superb tool station. The tool tips slip down through the grating on the top which keeps the sharp stuff away from my fingers, and the smallest triangular holes in the grating hold tiny tools like scissors, tweezers and glue pipettes. I can group my tools by function, with the most-used tools at the front and left. Currently it's bowl gouges along the left side, small scrapers at the front, spindle tools along the right edge, hollowing tools and the walloping huge scrapers at the back, and miscellaneous in the middle. I've hung a few items on the outside as well (mallets and calipers and the like) since it's easy to attach wire loops to the crate grating. The grating also makes it easy for chips and dust to either fall through or get blown out.
I no longer keep chucks in the shelf below the tools, since that space is full of pointy tool ends and I need to get at my chucks all the time. That space is now occupied by leather and rubber pads for different kinds of chucking, plus odds and ends I don't need to get into very often, and the chucks are on the lumber rack shelf immediately behind me as I work at the lathe. The bottom shelf is for the drill I use for power sanding, some templates, my Beall Buffer kit box and a few other odds and ends.
This whole assembly can roll, so if I'm turning down at the far end of the bed I can just trundle the whole mess down there. Normally it lives tucked into a little space between my headstock and the wall.
I don't like storing my regular turning tools on magnetized surfaces since they get magnetized themselves and will stick unpleasantly to my tool rest.
My system was essentially free (My favorite! It helps that I had some old casters in the shop.), took about 20 minutes to put together, and has proved remarkably versatile and flexible.
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