[brianl]

Designing the Till

As my hand-tool usage has grown, I have gradually expanded my collection of saws. I started with three (rip, crosscut, and back) and over time I've added other restored specialty saws until I have no place to put them all. At that point I realized I had to build a saw till.

My workshop is in a shared basement of a multi-apartment building. While normally the other residents of my building are quite nice and respectfully don't mess with my stuff (I don't mess with theirs), I wanted a till that would deter easily-tempted eyes from my tools. Ideally I'd also be able to lock it.

To accomplish this, I began surveying the saw tills that others have done. There are several designs out there that use rubber balls (like Timberframe Tool's example) to hold the saws in place. I have never cared for this design as it just seemed hokey to me. I don't want to rely on plastic children's toys to support and protect my antique saws.

I really like Dan's version but unfortunately, it's not enclosed. I loved Phil's design but that's waaaay too big for my tiny little shop. Finally, Old Wolf's was closer to what I was looking for. Again, it wasn't enclosed, but at least the basic shape worked.

So, I came up with my own design. I made the design mirror the toolbox I made previously. I wanted it to sit on top of the toolchest, but I was worried about the depth of till necessary to keep the saws vertical. I ran some quick numbers and I thought I could get everything within 12" of depth, but I needed to test. So I got some blue tape, laid down various designs on my dining room floor and tested them out. After doing so, I figured that I could build the till with a 10" depth and a 30" height.

I chose to mount the saws teeth-out for identification purposes. A couple of my saws have almost identical handles and it's just easier to me to look at teeth rather than try to memorize handles.

While most other designs call for a drawer of some kind, I decided against it mainly due to height restrictions. The till was slready going to be pretty high and I didn't want to have the strain to pull down a saw. Besides, since my design has doors, I can mount sharpening-related items there.

Now that I had my design in hand it was time to get started!

 

[RGtools]

Designing the Till

As my hand-tool usage has grown, I have gradually expanded my collection of saws. I started with three (rip, crosscut, and back) and over time I've added other restored specialty saws until I have no place to put them all. At that point I realized I had to build a saw till.

My workshop is in a shared basement of a multi-apartment building. While normally the other residents of my building are quite nice and respectfully don't mess with my stuff (I don't mess with theirs), I wanted a till that would deter easily-tempted eyes from my tools. Ideally I'd also be able to lock it.

To accomplish this, I began surveying the saw tills that others have done. There are several designs out there that use rubber balls (like Timberframe Tool's example) to hold the saws in place. I have never cared for this design as it just seemed hokey to me. I don't want to rely on plastic children's toys to support and protect my antique saws.

I really like Dan's version but unfortunately, it's not enclosed. I loved Phil's design but that's waaaay too big for my tiny little shop. Finally, Old Wolf's was closer to what I was looking for. Again, it wasn't enclosed, but at least the basic shape worked.

So, I came up with my own design. I made the design mirror the toolbox I made previously. I wanted it to sit on top of the toolchest, but I was worried about the depth of till necessary to keep the saws vertical. I ran some quick numbers and I thought I could get everything within 12" of depth, but I needed to test. So I got some blue tape, laid down various designs on my dining room floor and tested them out. After doing so, I figured that I could build the till with a 10" depth and a 30" height.

I chose to mount the saws teeth-out for identification purposes. A couple of my saws have almost identical handles and it's just easier to me to look at teeth rather than try to memorize handles.

While most other designs call for a drawer of some kind, I decided against it mainly due to height restrictions. The till was slready going to be pretty high and I didn't want to have the strain to pull down a saw. Besides, since my design has doors, I can mount sharpening-related items there.

Now that I had my design in hand it was time to get started!

I am excited to see this develop. I am currently figuring out how my till is going to work out (it will be a section of my tool chest). I have one 28" bow saw that really is messing up my design.

Nice looking Disston, how does it sound when you cut?

 

[Shannan]

Designing the Till

As my hand-tool usage has grown, I have gradually expanded my collection of saws. I started with three (rip, crosscut, and back) and over time I've added other restored specialty saws until I have no place to put them all. At that point I realized I had to build a saw till.

My workshop is in a shared basement of a multi-apartment building. While normally the other residents of my building are quite nice and respectfully don't mess with my stuff (I don't mess with theirs), I wanted a till that would deter easily-tempted eyes from my tools. Ideally I'd also be able to lock it.

To accomplish this, I began surveying the saw tills that others have done. There are several designs out there that use rubber balls (like Timberframe Tool's example) to hold the saws in place. I have never cared for this design as it just seemed hokey to me. I don't want to rely on plastic children's toys to support and protect my antique saws.

I really like Dan's version but unfortunately, it's not enclosed. I loved Phil's design but that's waaaay too big for my tiny little shop. Finally, Old Wolf's was closer to what I was looking for. Again, it wasn't enclosed, but at least the basic shape worked.

So, I came up with my own design. I made the design mirror the toolbox I made previously. I wanted it to sit on top of the toolchest, but I was worried about the depth of till necessary to keep the saws vertical. I ran some quick numbers and I thought I could get everything within 12" of depth, but I needed to test. So I got some blue tape, laid down various designs on my dining room floor and tested them out. After doing so, I figured that I could build the till with a 10" depth and a 30" height.

I chose to mount the saws teeth-out for identification purposes. A couple of my saws have almost identical handles and it's just easier to me to look at teeth rather than try to memorize handles.

While most other designs call for a drawer of some kind, I decided against it mainly due to height restrictions. The till was slready going to be pretty high and I didn't want to have the strain to pull down a saw. Besides, since my design has doors, I can mount sharpening-related items there.

Now that I had my design in hand it was time to get started!

I particularly love the step of laying it all down it all down with tape to figure out if the dimensions will work. That's awesome.

 

[brianl]

Starting the build

The basic frame for my saw till couldn't be simpler: four pieces of 10" wide poplar. The bottom is simply screwed into the sides and the top is attached with recessed figure 8s.

To support the saws, I created two levels of slotted crossbars. They are mortised into the sides of the carcase. I cut repetitive slots across them to allow me to insert a saw into them. Through trial and error I decided that having a slot every two inches gave me just enough room to store the saws and still get my hand in there to pull one out. I then built a 2 1/2" high support along the bottom of the case to force the saws to sit at a tilt. As explained previously, I keep my saws with the teeth pointed outwards. During the planning stage I noticed that doing so allowed me to position the saws at a higher angle than I would have been able to do had the teeth been pointed inwards.

Once I got the basic case together I used my trusty Stanley 48 plane to put together a series of tongue and groove back panels.

Trust me, by the end of it I was a sweaty mess.

I then mounted the panels and screwed them into the carcase, allowing a little room for expansion and contraction. My shop is in a basement, so it stays somewhat stable year-round, but there is still more variability than I would have liked.

I then put everything in for a test-fit….

Now I just need to get up off my butt and go buy some more poplar to fashion the doors then time to fashion mounts for my saw vise, files, and sets!

 

[RGtools]

Starting the build

The basic frame for my saw till couldn't be simpler: four pieces of 10" wide poplar. The bottom is simply screwed into the sides and the top is attached with recessed figure 8s.

To support the saws, I created two levels of slotted crossbars. They are mortised into the sides of the carcase. I cut repetitive slots across them to allow me to insert a saw into them. Through trial and error I decided that having a slot every two inches gave me just enough room to store the saws and still get my hand in there to pull one out. I then built a 2 1/2" high support along the bottom of the case to force the saws to sit at a tilt. As explained previously, I keep my saws with the teeth pointed outwards. During the planning stage I noticed that doing so allowed me to position the saws at a higher angle than I would have been able to do had the teeth been pointed inwards.

Once I got the basic case together I used my trusty Stanley 48 plane to put together a series of tongue and groove back panels.

Trust me, by the end of it I was a sweaty mess.

I then mounted the panels and screwed them into the carcase, allowing a little room for expansion and contraction. My shop is in a basement, so it stays somewhat stable year-round, but there is still more variability than I would have liked.

I then put everything in for a test-fit….

Now I just need to get up off my butt and go buy some more poplar to fashion the doors then time to fashion mounts for my saw vise, files, and sets!

Loving this build man. Poplar is a such a treat to work by hand, especially when you can find wide boards.

Keep up the good work. And make sure to drink lots of water you big sweaty mess.

 

[kenn]

Starting the build

The basic frame for my saw till couldn't be simpler: four pieces of 10" wide poplar. The bottom is simply screwed into the sides and the top is attached with recessed figure 8s.

To support the saws, I created two levels of slotted crossbars. They are mortised into the sides of the carcase. I cut repetitive slots across them to allow me to insert a saw into them. Through trial and error I decided that having a slot every two inches gave me just enough room to store the saws and still get my hand in there to pull one out. I then built a 2 1/2" high support along the bottom of the case to force the saws to sit at a tilt. As explained previously, I keep my saws with the teeth pointed outwards. During the planning stage I noticed that doing so allowed me to position the saws at a higher angle than I would have been able to do had the teeth been pointed inwards.

Once I got the basic case together I used my trusty Stanley 48 plane to put together a series of tongue and groove back panels.

Trust me, by the end of it I was a sweaty mess.

I then mounted the panels and screwed them into the carcase, allowing a little room for expansion and contraction. My shop is in a basement, so it stays somewhat stable year-round, but there is still more variability than I would have liked.

I then put everything in for a test-fit….

Now I just need to get up off my butt and go buy some more poplar to fashion the doors then time to fashion mounts for my saw vise, files, and sets!

I hadn't thought of facing the teeth outward, I am following along for any lessons I can learn from your build since I've got to get my saws organized soon. Thanks.

 

[WayneC]

Starting the build

The basic frame for my saw till couldn't be simpler: four pieces of 10" wide poplar. The bottom is simply screwed into the sides and the top is attached with recessed figure 8s.

To support the saws, I created two levels of slotted crossbars. They are mortised into the sides of the carcase. I cut repetitive slots across them to allow me to insert a saw into them. Through trial and error I decided that having a slot every two inches gave me just enough room to store the saws and still get my hand in there to pull one out. I then built a 2 1/2" high support along the bottom of the case to force the saws to sit at a tilt. As explained previously, I keep my saws with the teeth pointed outwards. During the planning stage I noticed that doing so allowed me to position the saws at a higher angle than I would have been able to do had the teeth been pointed inwards.

Once I got the basic case together I used my trusty Stanley 48 plane to put together a series of tongue and groove back panels.

Trust me, by the end of it I was a sweaty mess.

I then mounted the panels and screwed them into the carcase, allowing a little room for expansion and contraction. My shop is in a basement, so it stays somewhat stable year-round, but there is still more variability than I would have liked.

I then put everything in for a test-fit….

Now I just need to get up off my butt and go buy some more poplar to fashion the doors then time to fashion mounts for my saw vise, files, and sets!

Very nice.

 

[ryno101]

Starting the build

The basic frame for my saw till couldn't be simpler: four pieces of 10" wide poplar. The bottom is simply screwed into the sides and the top is attached with recessed figure 8s.

To support the saws, I created two levels of slotted crossbars. They are mortised into the sides of the carcase. I cut repetitive slots across them to allow me to insert a saw into them. Through trial and error I decided that having a slot every two inches gave me just enough room to store the saws and still get my hand in there to pull one out. I then built a 2 1/2" high support along the bottom of the case to force the saws to sit at a tilt. As explained previously, I keep my saws with the teeth pointed outwards. During the planning stage I noticed that doing so allowed me to position the saws at a higher angle than I would have been able to do had the teeth been pointed inwards.

Once I got the basic case together I used my trusty Stanley 48 plane to put together a series of tongue and groove back panels.

Trust me, by the end of it I was a sweaty mess.

I then mounted the panels and screwed them into the carcase, allowing a little room for expansion and contraction. My shop is in a basement, so it stays somewhat stable year-round, but there is still more variability than I would have liked.

I then put everything in for a test-fit….

Now I just need to get up off my butt and go buy some more poplar to fashion the doors then time to fashion mounts for my saw vise, files, and sets!

That's excellent… you just helped me figure out how I was going to store my saws in that shop cabinet I just built!

Nicely done… thanks!