Advice for wall storage behind workbench?
#11
I finally put a simple wooden framed wall behind my workbench, where there was previously a cement basement wall. So now I want to put a proper hand tool storage behind my bench. Any advice or tips or useful examples that may be helpful. I'm having a bit of paralysis by analysis by where to start, since I have a lot of tools and I want the tools to be somewhat well laid out if possible. Of course anything is better than the mess I have now. I do want to keep it somewhat simple. No fancy tool cabinets for me at this time unfortunately.

Jonas
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#12
For simple, you could do metal pegboard. They actually come as a 2-pack 16"x32" panels. IIRC, I actually bought them as a 4-pack, but I am not finding that one at the moment.
"the most important safety feature on any tool is the one between your ears." - Ken Vick

A wish for you all:  May you keep buying green bananas.
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#13
How was the framing attached to the concrete? Is the framing sheeted over?
Thanks,  Curt
-----------------
"Life can only be understood backwards; but it must be lived forwards."
      -- Soren Kierkegaard
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#14
Two strips of wood about 3/8" apart works great for files, screwdrivers, awls, etc.
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#15
Jonas,

I had peg board behind my bench for years. I caught a lot of flack about it, but i would do it again in a heartbeat. I hung a lot of tools on it and rearranged the layout many tims. Each time I acquired a new tool, I wanted to hang it up, so I had to rearrange things to make room for it. Peg board is perfect for this; but it's ugly, hence the flack.

In recent years, my tool acquisition slowed down considerably. I have pretty much every tool I could ever need and most of the tools I want. Consequently, the need to hang new stuff on the wall slowed way down and my hanging tool arrangement was fairly static for a while. This afforded me the opportunity to replace my pegboard with something more attractive. I had some walnut I had purchased at a good price and had made into tongue and groove paneling. It went up on the wall behind my bench in place of the peg board. I spent a lot of time studying my hanging tools and came up with a set I actually use, and some that I just like to look at. I hung those and eliminated everything else. I bought nice, stainless steel hangar hooks from Lee Valley to replace the old peg board hooks. That was two years ago and I'v only rearranged the layout once to hang a new carving axe I bought. Before, I was rearranging very couple of weeks.

Peg board was the perfect paneling for me for many years. Ugly as it is, and as annoying as those little hooks are, nothing is easier to organize and reorganize. I wouldn't advise putting up expensive paneling until your tool kit reaches some kind of equilibrium. Until then peg board is the answer.

Here's my old peg board wall:



Here's the new wood paneled wall:

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#16
In a recent book (Can't remember which one) The author mounted two strips of wood about 7/8" apart to the wall and started putting tools he was working with there instead of their original spot. It didn't take long to get all his frequently used tools in easy reach. Sounds like a great approach to me.
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#17
I'm not a purist in the handtool realm, but here's what I did behind my bench...









Smaller clamps are always within easy reach...


Planes, scrapers, spokeshaves, and chisels are all in a separate cabinet.

Dave
"One should respect public opinion insofar as is necessary to avoid starvation and keep out of prison, but anything that goes beyond this is voluntary submission to an unnecessary tyrany, and is likely to interfere with happiness in all kinds of ways."
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#18
Dave,

Every time i see pics of your shop I want to stick a match to mine! It's fantastic!

Hank
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#19
I also mounted 2x4’s to the cinderblock walls of my basement shop. Pegboard and paneling have both been mentioned so far. A good intermediate is #2 pine. If you take your time, you can find really nice 1x12 pine boards that can’t be classified as clear because they have a few small knot holes here and there. I stockpiled these boards until I had enough to mount to the studs.

Here’s what it looks like today. The pine boards don’t go very far below the surface of the workbench.



As far as an organizational scheme, I put the tools close to the part of the workbench that I thought I would be using them. Since I use Japanese planes and saws, most of the planing and sawing happen at the right end of the bench. If I was using western planes, I’d put them on the left side. I figured I’d be using chisels a lot, so they went in the middle. I use hammers with chisels and to adjust my planes, so they went in between the two. Measuring and marking tools I clustered at the left end.

When I first hung the tools on the wall, I didn’t know if this method would work or not. Several years later, and I haven’t really moved any of the tool mounts, even though I could easily unscrew them from the pine boards and move them around.
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#20
I am not a fan of peg board so I just put up 1/2 plywood and put nails in where i want to hang stuff. It is easy to rearrange though not as pretty as some of the examples. Brackets are easily attached as well.
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www.schoolofwood.com
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