Project Information
Jan 4, 2013 -- (Updated June 3, 2018)-SCROLL DOWN TO SEE MORE PICTURES
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SPECIAL OFFER (as of June 3, 2018)
With over 92,500 views and over 500 FAVORITES, this has been my most popular posting. If anyone is planning on building a tool cabinet like this, Iʻm offering to send you a sketchup file to help you get started. All you have to do is leave a COMMENT and FAVORITE this project. Then PM me with your email address and Iʻll send you the sketchup file. This offer will stand as long as I donʻt get too overwhelmed with requests. ( As of June, 3, 2018 over 150 LJs have taken advantage of this offer so the offer still stands. )
NOTE:
If you have previously left a COMMENT and made this a FAVORITE of yours and would like the plans, please let me know what page your COMMENT and FAVORITE appear in the project posting. Don't forget to send me your email address in your PM to me.
=================================================
After completing my workbench, the next logical upgrade to my shop is consolidating my tool storage to have access to my tools at my fingertips instead of on various walls of my shop. If you read further I will describe each section with more photos.
Tool Cabinet Statistics:
![]()
Main Cabinet:
3 feet high, 4 feet wide, 9 inches deep with 2 doors
Cabinet Doors (2):
3 feet high, 2 feet wide, 6 inches deep with 2 doors
Cabinet utilizes box joints at the corners of case and for drawer joints.
Hung on wall with a pair of french cleats
Doors held open with cam sash locks.
<<< See update near end of project description >>>
Time to build cabinet about 1 month.
Time to build custom tool holders about 1 month.
Secret of Increasing Storage:
What I did to increasing storage on wall space mesauring 3 feet high and 8 feet wide was to create doors within doors to provide more surface space on which to hang tools.
Placement of tools was based on usage. Most used tools are placed on surfaces readily accessible.
I doubt it very much that Iʻll ever close the doors on this tool cabinet.
After building the cabinet, I cut sheets of paper to represent the surfaces that I had to store the tools. Then I layed out the tools on the sheets of paper … measuring tools on one … wrenches and pliers on another … and so on. It helped my visualize how much I could fit where. Then I set about to make the custom tool holders.
You'll notice that when it came to my saws, hammers and squares … instead of storing them flat I arranged them in such a way to conserve space.
Now for a close up tour of the Tool Cabinet:
Main Cabinet:
![]()
This is the main cabinet in which a plane till, squares till, saw till and small cabinet with doors is located. Also in the main cabinet are 3 drawers which catch all the other miscellaneous stuff.
![]()
This is the plane till. Imbedded from the bottom in the upper half of each plane slot is a 3/4 inch magnet which gives enough pull to hold the planes in place.
![]()
To the right of the Plane Till is the Squares Till. All my various squares are within easy reach.
![]()
This Saw Till is one that Iʻve posted previously and is mounted on the top right side of the back of the Main Cabinet.
![]()
Above the Plane Till and Squares Till is a small cabinet with doors. On the doors of the small cabinet are fastening and drilling tools. Such things as pilot bits, center punches, plug cutters and screw driver bits. In this picture the bit holders are in the CLOSED position in case I want to close the doors of the tool cabinet.
![]()
This shows the bit holders in the OPEN position making selecting bits easy.
![]()
The arm that allows the bit holders to open in unison is shown here.
![]()
When the doors of the small cabinet is opened, storage for chisels and little used braces and auger bits is revealed. Also stored here are miscellaneous screwdrivers and an egg-beater hand drill. These doors are held close with magnet catches.
![]()
This is a better view of the inside of the left door of the small cabinet. You can also see some ratcheting offset screwdrivers, a forester bit extension, and a glass cuter stored on this door. To the left of the braces stored on the side of the cabinet are some countersink bits and a screwdriver bit used with the brace. Also stored there is an expandable brace bit which you canʻt find in the big box stores today.
![]()
On the inside of the right door of the small cabinet is where my chisels are stored. As you can see, there are still small spaces beneath the chisels and around the braces where future tools can be stored
Left Cabinet Door:
![]()
To the left of the main section of the Tool Cabinet is the Left Cabinet door. What you are looking at are the doors on the left cabinet door. On these doors is where I store all my measuring tools since these doors are located on the end of my workbench where I do most of my work. These measuring tools are used a lot so they were place to be readily accessible.
![]()
When these doors are open all my shaping tools such as sure form files, micro files, and various spokeshaves are stored. Also stored here are my mallets on the right side and large framing squares on the back wall. The doors are held closed with magnet catches.
![]()
On the back of the left door are some of my carving chisels.
![]()
Also stored on this door below the chisels are a chisel that I use mainly for scraping glue, a scissors, some diamond sharpeners, paint can openers and some offset screwdrivers.
![]()
On the back of the right door beneath more carving chisels are my scrapers and burnishing tool along with some hemostats.
![]()
More storage can also be found if I closed this LEFT TOOL CABINET DOOR. Here you see on the wall a lot of the tools that I use when doing home improvement projects. On the back of the LEFT TOOL CABINET DOOR are more tools that I donʻt use often such as those used for electrical work or sheet metal work.
Right Cabinet Door:
![]()
On the face of the doors on the RIGHT CABINET DOOR is where I store my hammers, mallets and screwdrivers.
![]()
When these doors are opened I find my files, wrenches, vise-grip pliers, and other miscellaneous tools.
![]()
On the left side of this cabinet I hang my adjustable end wrenches.
![]()
On the lower half of the back of the right door is where I store some of my electrical testers, my allen wrench sets and my dental picks. Also seen in this photo is the WIZZARD III stored on the right side of this cabinet.
(
![]()
When the RIGHT CABINET DOOR is closed, I store on the wall behind it some of my automotive torque wrenches, pipe wrenches, pop rivet guns, and other miscellaneous tools. As you can see, I still have space on the back of the RIGHT CABINET DOOR to store more tools. Once that is filled I guess Iʻm going to have to stop buying tools. LOL…..
========= (( UPDATE: Feb 2, 2014 )) =========
Over time, since posting this project, Iʻve noticed that the doors were starting to sag under the weight of the tools. One solution would have been to replace the piano hinges with 3-1/2 inch interior door hinges. However, I really didnʻt want to do that.
![]()
The solution that I chose was to make these corbels that were screwed into my plywood walls that would support the outer most edges of each door. Each corbel consists of 2 laminated pieces of 3/4 inch cabinet grade plywood cut to shape. Each corbel was then attached to another 3/4 inch plywood base which was then attached to the wall.
![]()
Each corbel was positioned in such a way that the ends of the doors would be raised 1/16 to 3/32 of an inch higher.
![]()
Because of the friction resulting from the corbel lifting the end of the door, cam sash locks are no longer needed or used to keep the doors opened. It has actually made it easier to access tools behind the opened doors since I no longer need to unlatch the cam sash locks..
Since I donʻt ever intend to closing the doors on my tool cabinet, this modification has worked well.
======== (( End of Update )) =========
I hope you enjoyed seeing how Iʻve increased the storage space on the wall behind my workbench. Maybe this will give you ideas that you can use in your shop.
COMMENTS and FAVORITES are appreciated. Questions always welcomed.
( If you really liked what you saw … don't forget the special offer. )
Thanks for looking.
=================================================
SPECIAL OFFER (as of June 3, 2018)
With over 92,500 views and over 500 FAVORITES, this has been my most popular posting. If anyone is planning on building a tool cabinet like this, Iʻm offering to send you a sketchup file to help you get started. All you have to do is leave a COMMENT and FAVORITE this project. Then PM me with your email address and Iʻll send you the sketchup file. This offer will stand as long as I donʻt get too overwhelmed with requests. ( As of June, 3, 2018 over 150 LJs have taken advantage of this offer so the offer still stands. )
NOTE:
If you have previously left a COMMENT and made this a FAVORITE of yours and would like the plans, please let me know what page your COMMENT and FAVORITE appear in the project posting. Don't forget to send me your email address in your PM to me.
=================================================
After completing my workbench, the next logical upgrade to my shop is consolidating my tool storage to have access to my tools at my fingertips instead of on various walls of my shop. If you read further I will describe each section with more photos.
Tool Cabinet Statistics:
Main Cabinet:
3 feet high, 4 feet wide, 9 inches deep with 2 doors
Cabinet Doors (2):
3 feet high, 2 feet wide, 6 inches deep with 2 doors
Cabinet utilizes box joints at the corners of case and for drawer joints.
Hung on wall with a pair of french cleats
Doors held open with cam sash locks.
<<< See update near end of project description >>>
Time to build cabinet about 1 month.
Time to build custom tool holders about 1 month.
Secret of Increasing Storage:
What I did to increasing storage on wall space mesauring 3 feet high and 8 feet wide was to create doors within doors to provide more surface space on which to hang tools.
Placement of tools was based on usage. Most used tools are placed on surfaces readily accessible.
I doubt it very much that Iʻll ever close the doors on this tool cabinet.
After building the cabinet, I cut sheets of paper to represent the surfaces that I had to store the tools. Then I layed out the tools on the sheets of paper … measuring tools on one … wrenches and pliers on another … and so on. It helped my visualize how much I could fit where. Then I set about to make the custom tool holders.
You'll notice that when it came to my saws, hammers and squares … instead of storing them flat I arranged them in such a way to conserve space.
Now for a close up tour of the Tool Cabinet:
Main Cabinet:
This is the main cabinet in which a plane till, squares till, saw till and small cabinet with doors is located. Also in the main cabinet are 3 drawers which catch all the other miscellaneous stuff.
This is the plane till. Imbedded from the bottom in the upper half of each plane slot is a 3/4 inch magnet which gives enough pull to hold the planes in place.
To the right of the Plane Till is the Squares Till. All my various squares are within easy reach.
This Saw Till is one that Iʻve posted previously and is mounted on the top right side of the back of the Main Cabinet.
Above the Plane Till and Squares Till is a small cabinet with doors. On the doors of the small cabinet are fastening and drilling tools. Such things as pilot bits, center punches, plug cutters and screw driver bits. In this picture the bit holders are in the CLOSED position in case I want to close the doors of the tool cabinet.
This shows the bit holders in the OPEN position making selecting bits easy.
The arm that allows the bit holders to open in unison is shown here.
When the doors of the small cabinet is opened, storage for chisels and little used braces and auger bits is revealed. Also stored here are miscellaneous screwdrivers and an egg-beater hand drill. These doors are held close with magnet catches.
This is a better view of the inside of the left door of the small cabinet. You can also see some ratcheting offset screwdrivers, a forester bit extension, and a glass cuter stored on this door. To the left of the braces stored on the side of the cabinet are some countersink bits and a screwdriver bit used with the brace. Also stored there is an expandable brace bit which you canʻt find in the big box stores today.
On the inside of the right door of the small cabinet is where my chisels are stored. As you can see, there are still small spaces beneath the chisels and around the braces where future tools can be stored
Left Cabinet Door:
To the left of the main section of the Tool Cabinet is the Left Cabinet door. What you are looking at are the doors on the left cabinet door. On these doors is where I store all my measuring tools since these doors are located on the end of my workbench where I do most of my work. These measuring tools are used a lot so they were place to be readily accessible.
When these doors are open all my shaping tools such as sure form files, micro files, and various spokeshaves are stored. Also stored here are my mallets on the right side and large framing squares on the back wall. The doors are held closed with magnet catches.
On the back of the left door are some of my carving chisels.
Also stored on this door below the chisels are a chisel that I use mainly for scraping glue, a scissors, some diamond sharpeners, paint can openers and some offset screwdrivers.
On the back of the right door beneath more carving chisels are my scrapers and burnishing tool along with some hemostats.
More storage can also be found if I closed this LEFT TOOL CABINET DOOR. Here you see on the wall a lot of the tools that I use when doing home improvement projects. On the back of the LEFT TOOL CABINET DOOR are more tools that I donʻt use often such as those used for electrical work or sheet metal work.
Right Cabinet Door:
On the face of the doors on the RIGHT CABINET DOOR is where I store my hammers, mallets and screwdrivers.
When these doors are opened I find my files, wrenches, vise-grip pliers, and other miscellaneous tools.
On the left side of this cabinet I hang my adjustable end wrenches.
On the lower half of the back of the right door is where I store some of my electrical testers, my allen wrench sets and my dental picks. Also seen in this photo is the WIZZARD III stored on the right side of this cabinet.
(
When the RIGHT CABINET DOOR is closed, I store on the wall behind it some of my automotive torque wrenches, pipe wrenches, pop rivet guns, and other miscellaneous tools. As you can see, I still have space on the back of the RIGHT CABINET DOOR to store more tools. Once that is filled I guess Iʻm going to have to stop buying tools. LOL…..
========= (( UPDATE: Feb 2, 2014 )) =========
Over time, since posting this project, Iʻve noticed that the doors were starting to sag under the weight of the tools. One solution would have been to replace the piano hinges with 3-1/2 inch interior door hinges. However, I really didnʻt want to do that.
The solution that I chose was to make these corbels that were screwed into my plywood walls that would support the outer most edges of each door. Each corbel consists of 2 laminated pieces of 3/4 inch cabinet grade plywood cut to shape. Each corbel was then attached to another 3/4 inch plywood base which was then attached to the wall.
Each corbel was positioned in such a way that the ends of the doors would be raised 1/16 to 3/32 of an inch higher.
Because of the friction resulting from the corbel lifting the end of the door, cam sash locks are no longer needed or used to keep the doors opened. It has actually made it easier to access tools behind the opened doors since I no longer need to unlatch the cam sash locks..
Since I donʻt ever intend to closing the doors on my tool cabinet, this modification has worked well.
======== (( End of Update )) =========
I hope you enjoyed seeing how Iʻve increased the storage space on the wall behind my workbench. Maybe this will give you ideas that you can use in your shop.
COMMENTS and FAVORITES are appreciated. Questions always welcomed.
( If you really liked what you saw … don't forget the special offer. )
Thanks for looking.
