Revisiting the Boring till

 For the last little while been sorting, de-rusting and taking inventory of drilling tools and implements.

I have been working out of that till for a few years now, time to address some shortcoming.

How my Boring till looks like today.

Some of the tools boards I am making shown

at the bottom

Don't get me wrong, it works fine as is, but I have a multitude of small accessories required and lots of wasted spaces at the bottom, which keep accumulating stuff.  Time for some holders.

As usual when I go about designing something, I first round up the usual suspects.  Drill bits and assorted implements used, in this case.

Then I sorta separated them in what I thought would be best ??  In other words it had to fit what ever piece of wood I'm using :-)

I have this plastic drill index box on the right hand side , which I find very useful to quickly find out the size of some errant bits,  easier than trying to decipher small markings.  So it has to stay.

On the other side I want to relocate my awls holder off the current shop wall, that left me with a given dimension for a board.

Starting to populate board with various bits and accessories

in some logical manner.

 Then I decided that maybe I can get away with squeezing another narrow strip up front :-)

I was going to make it to fit the length of the two other, 

but decided not to cut short and filled it up.

This is what my final layout looks like.

The empty spaces are for two missing sizes of Yankee adapters 

and two sizes of VIX bits, on order from LV :-)

In hindsight not sure what I was thinking about when putting in the circle cutter.  

Solely used on Drill press.

While I am at it, may as well organized the same variety of bits.

Got all the Jennings and Irwins I could find together.

Now to assemble sets.

Complete sets of Irwins from No 4 (1/4 in) to No 18 (1-1/8 in)

The whole set fit within 14 inches.

So maybe two rows of 7 inches?

 

Made boards with the spacings figured around earlier for the stem.

Then attempted to make spacers sizes for the bits themselves.

It quickly revealed which ones are in dire need of sharpening.

It also shows how two rows behind each other would look.

It is a bit thicker than needed but I was going to cut four half strips from it.

That bit shown in progress of being unwrap for the first time

was a disappointing surprise.  Factory sharpened, undamaged, 

choked up, did not cut through.

I was not surprised to find some bits in need of sharpening, some of these came out of Evaporust before becoming shiny objects again.  But the New Old Stock one got me surprised.

Nice factory edge but the only thing that is obviously different from the old ones is that the grind on top of the routers is much more vertical.  Guessing the ease at which angle the grinder used fit within?

The resulting cutting edge act more like a scraper than a incline edge lifting up the wood chips. It does not go far before choking.

Apparently more recent Irwin auger bits were not individually hand sharpened and tested as they used to?? Probably automated grinding operation. All good or all bad, pick one... machines can be so consistent :-)

Also made a smaller screwdriver holder with a piece of scrap from the above holders

Assortment of Stubby screwdrivers

R-L

Vaco reversible common/Phillips, Stanley Phillips No 2, Fuller Robertson No 1, 

Benchmark Robertson No 0, Yankee ratchet common screwdriver

Th reversible besides the Yankee for size comparison.

And there was my recent marking gauges board, so if you were wondering were are they all going to fit in??  That space under the window.

Lots of wasted space and not easy to add remove holders on the wall.

Brace bits holder is wasteful.  I like the idea but the supports need 

relocating to be more efficient

My latest bright plan for that space is to lined it with about 4 or five rows of French cleats.  Then I can add/remove to my heart content various holders.

So I will recycle some currently set up with hooks for peg boards by attaching the other French cleats in the back. Since the holders would be spaced out away from the wall the thickness of the French cleats are, I also gain some clearances for my fingers behind the tools mounted.

One examples of many holders set up for pegboards mounting.

 

So in the end, the Boring till is getting an upgrade, the wall under the window is getting re organized and my various drilling bits are getting organized and sharpen.  Should keep me occupied for a little while.

The area in question, including under the boring till.

 

This exercise also highlighted some limitations of my current set up.  I long lamented the lack of spaces for my banging objects AKA mallets, need another holder.  I obviously need some chisels up front of bench.  I rarely used my Rockler bench cookies at that bench, should also make some provision for holding the pair of cordless drills/driver.  They are cordless so fit within a tail less shop :-) 

They do get used a lot and need a home, which mean, will need to add an outlet nearby.

 Also seriously thinking about removing the built in bench on the other wall.  Right now it is overflowing with wood which need to go somewhere else.  That would give me space for a shaving horse and a pole lathe, if I ever get the time for it??

Meanwhile, finally got the door out of my garage and installed.  

I can finally now proceed with the deck and carpet replacement in dining room/living room

After Christmas.

The door to the basement is also installed, big improvement.  NO draft, more light and noticeably warmer in the corner.

My windows I previously fixed are now clad in aluminum.  Will never have to touch them again. 

Remains to put back the shutters after they are cleaned, painted etc... In the Spring.

The Dove? I am an old Cold War warrior

Peace on earth Brothers and Sisters

And now that I can walk around the garage again, the sad shape of those poor neglected machines shows a lot of red rust. Not too alarming, but should be attended to soon...

Yes, it's overdue for some loving attention

That and I need to bring in 220 Volts service inside garage, service panel is at the other end of the house, of course.   As encouragement for me to resurrect my good old Unisaw, I treated her to a new miter gauge, my present from me for my birthday and Christmas. :-) 

Its a miter gauge with a built in box jig and flip stop.

But Honey it was on sale :-)

The review that got me convinced to try it :-)  Bought from banggood

Another review from Woodhaven

Being shipped, should be here before Christmas, but 220 wont happened before next year...

Bob, keeping busy, cause you know, now is not the time to end up on the naughty list :-)

Shop cleaning day...

With the Boring till now put back together and hanging in its spot on the wall (finally).

Last touch left is to secured it to its top and bottom cleats, 2 screws each.

Not necessary, just making it small earthquake proof, for the tools to remain safe in place without falling over. Being facetious here, where I am, if my underground basement walls move... I have a bigger problem...

I really like the contrast between the hardwoods (Yellow Birch, stained)

and the color of the till. I'm also glad I gave it a fresh coat of paint

prior to re-installing the holders 

But the sad shape of the shop is causing me to pause for a minute.
While I have a few projects  on the go, it is seriously hampering my efforts, and in response to Sylvain concerns about waiting too long before introducing the grand peanuts into the shop, I know that my first order of priority right now is getting this shop safe..er to walk around.
As it stands I can take my life into my hands everytime I walk in, but it is definitively not safe for the little ones.

The infamous spot, I started working on,

the space under the window, between both tills.

And NO the window is not centered above

Not only is it hazardous to walk around, it is also not safe for some tools...

Long overdue to own this place, lets roll up our sleeves!!

Concurrently, we are transforming the former  African Violets plant room (AKA Bedroom) into a crafts room for Jean and the little ones. Must finish a small projects I started for her to hang neck laces.

The big hardwood X in the old repurposed frame

has a lot of small dowels layed out for hanging neck laces, below it would be horizontal wire like the smaller frame shown besides, for earings. YES, that is my $8 mitersaw ( NOBEX :-) in use up there, along with a few planes from Veritas and Lie-Nielsen. Yeh, now got 3 shops :-) 

"The bench" is a solid core door on a set of folding table brackets

That room will also received a Murphy bed down the road, but that project is further on the horizon...
For now the two electric beds that were inside have been sold.  Much quieter at nite without the grand peanuts playing with the bed adjustments up/down, up/down :-)
They now have to sleep together in another spare bedroom, what was I saying about quieter...??

Times to suck it up Buttercup and clean up the shop!!

After a couple beers... getting there slowly.

Much safer for little (and big) feet and for the tools, to walk around

Obviously need more and better storage for clamps.

And my Snap-On tool chest needs some Ahem, cleaning to close the drawers :-)

Maybe on this wall space??

Here goes one more shop project...

As I am putting away my tools spread everywhere, err I meant better organizing their layout,  I am quickly reminded that I desperately need more planes till spaces. And Jean found another moving box full of woodies, so ...

1 - That explain why I was missing some, and
2 - I can see another plane till (No 3) on the near horizon...

While I add another plane till for my woodies on my To Do list and ponder some more on life's mysteries, I still need to deal with my current mess, so I am resisting opening that box for now.

Must resist... must....

The box was even labelled Rabot (plane in French)

That tells me that was from my last move from Bagot Qc

And talking of till, been playing around my new one.. :-)

Quite versatile, as you can see. 

I am happy with the results, it does what I wanted.

See all that room at the bottom?  OHHH I got plans for that :-)

Tried a few tools inside the Boring till to see how it is to reach in and put in / remove tools from it.
Works like a charm, but, mind you I am a six footer, maybe a tad high for others to be reaching comfortably.  Bottom line ALWAYS adapt your tools storage solutions for YOUR tools and YOUR physical dispositions. If I was wheelchair bound, I would of course put it lower and perhaps modify to better suit my needs.  Or still too high for a 10 year old girl :-)

Trying various tools convinced me that I hit the sweet spot for my anticipated storage.
This boring tool holder (the lower one) has a series of  twelves (12) one (1) inch holes spaced
two (2) inches apart CL
While the spacing at 2 inch may seems a bit large and wasteful, remember that these were drilled for holding Boring tools not chisels etc, hence the extra room required and the bigger hole size 1 in, versus 7/8 in )

Checking my other holders I was playing with, I realized they have a smaller hole, 7/8 versus 1 inch.
Their spacing's was 1-1/2 in and the other 1-3/4 inches CL. This is the size (7/8) I am going with for the majority of my chisels except for the three true socket chisels (paring), these would need dedicated holder shaped to hold the chisels by their sockets.  Which Ken mentioned in a previous comment, that these socket chisel can be finicky to make proper holder for them.  True, but I have a love hate relationship with them. Love the balance of these chisel in my hands, hate the fact that the handle separate too easily.  Which is both handy for packing and a curse when trying to hold them in a holder.  Lets see if I can come up with some simple solution...
All this means more time needed to trial or muck up some thing else for these chisels. Small price to pay.  All that time figuring out the details as I go along, means that in the end, I get what I need and want, bonus! Just like what happened with my other tills... Coincidences?? NOT!!! :-)

That 6X6 beam on the floor is taking lots of room, and it has spectacularly developed stress cracks and is somewhat twisted. That Pretzel beam had been laying outside in the snow covered ground when I brought it in the garage to acclimatized itself a bit before making it downstairs.  Oh what joy it was to man handle a 6X6 beam down the stairs... No sure anymore if I would be able to salvaged enough of it for my need, it is currently too long and need to be shorten.  Which is simply to put up a post inside my hand tool shop in order to hang my Post Drill on it.  But I do have another beam laying outside... May be better off buying a new one...!!!

The pretzel beam worse end, quite a twist and a large crack

The other end is straighter but also has a crack, albeit smaller

And in case you missed it, these two pics are taken at the same approx. angle,

notice the twist in it?

Said drill was awaiting warmer climates to be stripped and cleaned then repainted outside.
Its time should come soon, but it would be quite messy and involved, so I may just hang it up for now (it's perfectly working as is) and deal with that mess later.

For now priority is to make the shop safe for the kids. Rudy still like to chew on wood and metals so he is still banned for now. He will in time becomes my new official Shop's dog as he matured. He will be turning 3 in a few days (June 15).   For the time being he is quite busy chasing Chipmunks around.

I will continued on my current projects, but I need to make it safer for the kids as soon as possible so we can get started together in earnest.

Bob, now fully committed to own back his shop for the grand kids sake (OK and mine too :-)
Don't know what our first projects would be, but I know I will need some stands for around my benches and work stations :-)

The Boring till finale....

Well its about time, having started in May 16...
Lots has changes since, my life, the numbers of tools competing for space inside the till and me trying to own back my shop.

For whatever reasons, it took me 2 years to complete it, surely one of my most longer projects.
But, Heh, time to celebrate now, it's hanging on the wall loaded to bear 

This Saturday, I worked a shift at the Wood shop on the Wing, so I yet again dragged my Boring till and its tool holders.

Did some sanding, to erase my markings pencil notes
Did not take long to cut the slots on the bandsaw, then more sanding

I know, you are wondering what is that thing on the sanding bench???

I dunno, but guessing a presentation piece for 413 Sqn,

our Search & Rescue Sqn on the Wing

Slipped my tool holders in their designated places

to check for fit with some tools.

Once I was happy, I drilled and screwed Robertson wood screws.

You can tell by the screwdriver standing proud on the screw :-) 

Three (3) behind and two (2) on each sides, should be plenty strong.

No glue. want flexibility

Finally, this is what took so long to  get there

You know I had to try it...

The two (2) up front did not fit in these holders...yet

Also more work on finishing the pieces for a small hall table muck up (Tm of Brian)

Then I had both wood and time left over so I start mucking up the front of the boring till, 

Thinking of putting pegs to hold one brace horizontally (wooden braces)

Of, course, the way I have it now, it negate the uses of the slots on the holder bar, so that wont do, But I just want to get a feel for some ideas I am working on... Sigh, It is never finished is it... ? :-)

The till is back at home, but before it does gets screwed to the wall, I and going to removed both holders, gave them a coat of some finish, and gives the whole till another coat of paint, it has been around for a while and it shows...

And then, hold your breath.... I put it on and load it with tools... OK take a deep breath out now....

Next up on deck is figuring out what to do with the space under the window.
Need some space for drill bits and etc.
Chisels racks
Most used tools holder of some sort and whatever else tickle my fancy...Squirrels!

Bob, glad to finally see that project almost complete, yeah....
Oh, and I need another plane till, found a box of planes recently in my cleaning up :-)

Boring till layout set in Jello

In between errands and other comitments, I have been busy trying some layout inside my till box.

I like the spacing on this holder muck up.

Tried this way, with the tools hanging, to see how much spaces they needed.

That width, is just about right 

Now since I somehow cut my spacers for the wrong orientation, 

they had to be recut, centering my holder spaces

Quick work with a cross cut saw on my sawing horse

Both holder muck ups, recut and populated with tools

Lots of spacing to accomodate the Breast drill

Similarly for the braces

At the bottom, I am thinking of two rows.

The one in front holding the smaller tools like the gimlets.

Again, lots of depth to accomodate two rows.

I like the holes spacing.

Then, I thought, why not make provision for hanging 

one wooden brace in front also.

So that is about the layout and numbers of tools I am going to store inside:
- Four (4) Metal Braces, various chucks and sweeps
- Two (2) Hand Drills
- One (1) Breast Drill
- Five (5) or so Push Drills, various models, such as Yankees
- Four (4) or so, Drilling Awls, Pointers, Scratch Awls etc
- A set of Five (5) or seven (7) Gimlets
- One (1) Wooden Brace

For a total of about 24 tools.

Of course, to use most of these, we needs some bits. These would be in a separate till or storage arrangement.

Now time to find some suitable pieces of hardwood for the final holders. I may laminated a piece of plywood to them to reinforce the tab sticking out to hold the tools. Depends a lot on what I find around the shop...

The front lower part will be build up of a few parts and the wooden brace will be resting on two (2) dowels.

Bob, going thru the drill of designing his till