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Tool Storage - McNaughton blades

Kirk Amidon

Kirk Amidon

Joined
Jan 8, 2021
Messages
368
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478
Location
Wrentham, MA
Looking for some ideas on how to store hand held hollowing tools (think Kelton or swan neck handled tools) and the McNaughton coring blades. My existing storage for lathe tools is a wooden rack where the tools go point down. Never mind that the rack is full, but the hollowing tools won't fit due to the curvature either. I'm thinking that I may build a box for the McNaughton set, but am open to other ideas.

Ideally I'd like the blades to be protected and not get banged into one another etc.
 
Another option, if you have wall space, would be to hold them horizontally “gun rack” style - a pickup truck rear window gun rack. If you use a drawer, get a piece of foam ~1” thick and cut out 1/2” deep for each tool. I store my hollowing bars this way, so they dont roll and bang around.
 
I store all of my gouges in racks on the wall near the lathe, tips up. Makes them easy to see and grab the ones I want. I got this rack design from one of the mags many years ago, don’t recall which one to give them credit but I now have 5 of them holding from 6 to 18 gouges. The McNaughton rack is much simpler, a dowel to hold the handle and holes for the extra blades.

A7666F82-EC33-4E58-AA2A-7E0920B43578.jpeg
 
Coring tools don't get used very often in my shop. Generally, it's those rare occasions when just the right large wood finds it's way to the ground. So my coring tools don't need to be at the ready. I like Ron's wall rack, but for me, that space would be better off blank and not collecting shavings.

I made a box each for my McNaughton set and my unexpected additional Oneway set. When the opportunity arises, they're easy to get out and put to use, then they get stored away for however many months it will be until the next opportunity. I'll take a picture of the boxes later this morning when the shop has warmed up and add to this post.

BTW, I just cored 4 ash bowl sets with the Oneway and was quite disappointed in the speed of cutting, the non-hemispherical, shallower than expected cuts, and the repeated putting things on and taking them off required. The McNaughton is definitely harder to learn and get what you want, but now I understand why it's often preferred by pros who use coring tools regularly. If I had to use the Oneway regularly, the Hunter cutting tip and a wrenchless way of turning the bolts would be absolute necessities. The tracking issue can be managed by adjusting the setup, I assume.​
 
Don Wattenhofer said:
This is a view of a box that I made for my set but if you wanted to store them in a drawer the storage tray could easily be adapted.
Click to expand...
As we advance with woodturning, so do the number of tools and their storage requirements. At some point during my journey, I realized the tool rack and wall space were full. In general, Tools can fit in draws but many tools with handles can not.
Don's solution was my solution as well. I stopped buying tools with handles. I limited the number of handles by size and they all accept a common 3/4" adapter sleeve which I drill to tool size. Most of my tools do not exceed 3/4". Dons picture shows 15 tools neatly stored away. Where would he put them if they all had their own wooden handles? I think separate tools and separate handles in draws are a more efficient use of space. Wish I would have known this in my early years.
 
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One of these days, when I get organized, I will have a drawer for my McNaughton coring and hollow form tools. The Oneway blades take up a lot of vertical space, so a deeper drawer for them. The Woodcut will also need a separate drawer that is fairly deep. I guess one advantage to the McNaughton is that storage requirements will be minimal....

robo hippy
 
Kirk Amidon said:
Looking for some ideas on how to store hand held hollowing tools (think Kelton or swan neck handled tools) and the McNaughton coring blades. My existing storage for lathe tools is a wooden rack where the tools go point down. Never mind that the rack is full, but the hollowing tools won't fit due to the curvature either. I'm thinking that I may build a box for the McNaughton set, but am open to other ideas.

Ideally I'd like the blades to be protected and not get banged into one another etc.
Click to expand...
I ordered a few sets of these brackets yesterday for my larger hollowing tools. I'll wall mount them horizontally under my Bosch hollowing rig. This will free up some drawer space.


I also ordered a few of these wall chuck mounts. Not shown in this picture, he has changed the design to include a central screw through the post for strength.
 

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Doug Freeman said:
My Woodcut hangs from the ceiling, along with a hollowing rig, steady rest and several band and table saw sleds. Make use of all space!
Click to expand...
I have a few things hung from the ceiling - a kayak, light fixtures, long thin strips of wood and an air cleaner, but nothing that would pierce my skull if it fell. Crush it, perhaps, but pierce, I don’t think so. Probably a useless distinction.
 
I have quite a collection and they are held on a long magnetic strip, with curves and tips up.
 
All my turning tools be they hollowers, gouges or scrapers are on the wall standing vertical working point uppermost. Pros, I can see what I have instantly and where it is, cons I have to walk behind the lathe to get to them. But I have just got used to this, and it works for me
 
Full Circle. Had an old plywood box I inherited from my father, which happened to be a Goldilocks size for the McNaughton, so I created a top, and added some inserts to hold the tools. As I look up, it is remarkably similar to Dean's version.
IMG_5921[1].JPG


The set now sits under the lathe, out of the way, but easily accessible. Thanks to all.

IMG_5920[1].JPG
 
Kirk Amidon said:
Full Circle. Had an old plywood box I inherited from my father, which happened to be a Goldilocks size for the McNaughton, so I created a top, and added some inserts to hold the tools. As I look up, it is remarkably similar to Dean's version.
View attachment 49782
Click to expand...
That's really funny, they are remarkably alike. Except you don't have the wood cylinder to set the turret height, or the fancy PVC gadget for aligning the knives from above. (Highly recommend both of them, incidentally. The screw hose clamp height setter slides, and getting the rig aligned is a real challenge, made much easier with the turret extension)
 
Easier to show.

It takes some trial and error to determine the height of the turret in the banjo. Once you figure it out, it will always stay the same. The traditional way to set this is with a hose clamp, but I found it slipped over time. Rather than having to figure out the height again and again, I made a spacer out of hard, exotic wood:
IMG_1226.JPG

When starting a coring set up, you need to determine where to place the banjo so the knife will track from the entry point to the bottom. In order to do so, it helps to look at the path of the knife from above, but holding the knife above the blank while guessing how it would fit in the turret while standing on tiptoes looking down while positioning the banjo and then while sighting along the shaft of the knife was just too complicated. Dale can do it but I'm not coordinated enough. So I figured out a simple way to have the knife in the turret swing securely above the blank making it easy to adjust and then lock the banjo (note that the banjo/turret is not positioned correctly to core this blank, though it's close. Also, the next smaller sized knife might be better):
IMG_1227.JPGIMG_1228.JPG
Now all I have to do is remove the PVC riser and drop the turret with wood riser back into the banjo, still in exactly the right position.

If I'm coring a blank, it's always BIG, so I set the height of the PVC to clear an 18" blank, the largest I was ever going to mount and core. It works fine if the blank is smaller, say 15". Total cost of the two jigs, made from scrap wood and scrap pipe, less than $5.
 
I did pretty much the same thing, made an end grain collar to go around the post so it stays at the exact same height. I do have it set so the cutter is about 1/4 inch or so above the center line. If you have ever tried to remove the stub left in the middle of the bowl after the core pops out, you will see how much 'deflection' there is once the cutter contacts the wood. You do not want scrapers below center inside the bowl. I figure this is a problem that causes so many catches. I can now 'feel' when my cutter is below center, and some times raise the tool rest a bit, or if I have the long handles on, I can drop the handle a little. Note on this part, long handles only, and professional level skill only. Probably safer for the average turner to raise the tool rest.

robo hippy
 
robo hippy said:
I did pretty much the same thing, made an end grain collar to go around the post so it stays at the exact same height. I do have it set so the cutter is about 1/4 inch or so above the center line. If you have ever tried to remove the stub left in the middle of the bowl after the core pops out, you will see how much 'deflection' there is once the cutter contacts the wood. You do not want scrapers below center inside the bowl. I figure this is a problem that causes so many catches. I can now 'feel' when my cutter is below center, and some times raise the tool rest a bit, or if I have the long handles on, I can drop the handle a little. Note on this part, long handles only, and professional level skill only. Probably safer for the average turner to raise the tool rest.

robo hippy
Click to expand...
I'm not nearly as accomplished as Reed, but I would agree. The average user needs to keep things simple and focus on as few things as possible--chief among them, continuously keeping the user end of handle lifted/shoved UP towards the ceiling, in contact with the T or box in the turret.
 
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