KR Wilson Tool Storage ~ Shop Tool board storage

BRENT in 10-uh-C

BRENT in 10-uh-C

Well-known member
I have decided to build a tool wall (8' tall by 8' long ~ two-sided) to hang all of the specialty tools we use in daily mechanical restoration. At the advice of Will Cronkrite, I bypassed the use of 'pegboard' and purchased four sheets of ¾" pine plywood for the sake of sturdiness. As we started laying out the tools on the floor in a 4'x8' taped-off area, I realized this ain't as easy as it once appeared due wanting to make sure that tools were grouped properly (engine tools in one section, trans tools in another, rear end tools in yet another, etc.) ....PLUS allowing room to be able to add additional tools should the need or availability happen at a later date. Does anyone have any diagrams or pictures showing tool storage of KRW or other specialty tools?

Maybe some suggestions too? For example, --on distributor rebuilding, there is the homemade bushing driver, the reamer, the specialty aluminum cap that we made to clip on the top to align the reamer, the gauge to check points, the screwdriver with the locking tip, the homemade tool to remove the oiler, ...and I'm sure I am leaving something out too. Keeping these all together has its obvious advantages as you can see. Then we move to the carburetor, --or the generator & starter, and other areas that require multiple tools to rebuild. What do you think is the most efficient way?

Thanks!!
 
Brent,

That sounds like quite the undertaking and I would love to see it once you have it finished! I do know what you mean about trying to keep the special tools grouped together. I use a seperate tool cart for the KR Wilson or Z5 tools, most of the time I can find them but your way sounds much better.
 
Brent, I was a high school metal shop teacher for 28 years and I built and reworked more tool boards than I care to remember. 28 teenagers can peel several tool boards clean and trash a shop in minutes. Two things I learned: 1st: Make sure there is a color silouette or shadow outline showing the position of every last item and label it with the proper tool name & size. You see what's missing in an instant, and any foole unfamiliar with the board sees where it goes. 2nd: However many of a particular tool you think you need, put more on the board. You don't want to be looking through the shop for the one pair of left hand snips in the middle of a job.
 
Well, thanks for the advice thus far. The Sharpie marker silhouette and the label maker are definitely in the works.


As you can see, the plywood sheeting has been primed and the wall has been framed, erected, and glued to the walls & floor, ....but that little issue regarding tool placement just ain't comin' along too fast.


I might add that each of the drawers in the black tool cabinet seen in the background are almost full of randomly stored tools. Taking 10-15 minutes to search for all of the tools needed for a project really sucks!!:eek:
 

Attachments

  • IMG_2981.jpg
    IMG_2981.jpg
    114.7 KB · Views: 76
  • IMG_2982.jpg
    IMG_2982.jpg
    171.9 KB · Views: 79
BRENT in Ten-uh-C ..................
That silouette idea is a good one, but make that the last thing that you do. You will probably change your mind, a hundred times before you settle on the final design.
MIKE :)
 
I have 2 tool cabinets in my garage. One for car tools and one for woodshop tools. Each one is four feet square when closed and eight feet wide when open. All the tools are hanging in order on the back and on the inside of the doors and are easily found and put back when not in use. This saves lots of time not having to look for tools in drawers or tool boxes.
 
I've always wanted enough room (never enough) to set up stations. One for distributor, carb, transmission, big one for a rear end, more of a work area for the engine etc., rather than a central tool storage area. e.g. a distributor rebuild station, with a small cart (rolling or not) that has a 'lid'. I'd arrange all the tools and parts I'd use including a small vise etc., in sequence on the cart. Open the cover, set the distributor in the fixture, pull up the chair/stool and go to work. If i get interrupted close the lid and walk away. when it's time to go back to it, open the lid and re-start. 0 time to re-setup, no searching for tools. Nobody walking off with parts/tools or messing up my area. I'd make the carts rolled and they just fit under a bench or shelf to prevent using the top of the cart lid as storage (which would make the lid impossible to open without moving all the junk that collected. Also benches attached to a wall turn into shelves. I prefer an island bench...fwiw,jm
 
yep. I would leave some space for storage of bulky items. Islands allow approaching a project from all sides, prevents using the top as storage. I small hoist overhead would be handy, or if on casters the ability to move it to where the hoist/parts washer/welding station/whatever is located...jm
 
I too am a shop teacher and what I like to do is mount mini boards with grouping of tools onto the bigger board so I can grab all tools for a particular task at once. Saves on trips back and forth to the board.
 
I am working on some dedicated workstations --set on wheels so I can arrange --or stash them as needed, they have storage underneath, and w central power outlet so just 1 cord needs to be plugged in.

The KRW tools are in a cabinet set "Jay cabinets", they came with the building I bought off of Jay, he made cheap furniture --for cheaper people, I stacked them and made a whole wall of cabinets.

If I had the time and money I would build a room out of concrete, about 9'X16', with a door like a vault for all the hand tools, sort of like a big inside out tool box ---I was offered a used bank vault --with the lock but it was just too massive.
 
Re:Dedicated Work Stations

A dedicated work station and or location has an additional advantage of not having to spend the time travelling to and from a central tool storage to acquire and replace tools and tooling. One idea would possibly be to locate the assorted groupings of tools and fixtures inside one large assembly / tool storage area to minimize the assorted travel time required to acquire and replace the tools and minimize the distance that the tools might actually be moved from the storage 'wall'. Three people spending three minutes each way to get and return tools twice a day is 36 minutes per day and ends up being (3) hours per week, and at 4.33 weeks per month, that ends up being (13) hours per month. At a $50 per hour shop rate you end up loosing $650 per month in productivity. Just a thought!
 
Re: Central Tool Storage

To further consider the central tool location theme, I would consider a heavy duty work bench inside this 'tool room' with the wall mounted tools nearby and the work table fitted with some 'sockets' around the perimeter for inserting common assembly fixtures. If you mounted these 'sockets' just below the working surface of the table they would not interfere with any job that required over-hanging the edges of the table when not in use. These assorted assembly fixture would also be located in this assembly area / room on nearby shelves. There is some investment in time, and depending on the number of times you would use this assembly area would have an impact on any decision to invest the time required. In a previous line of work it was common to color code the actual tools and tooling to further reduce time to decide what tool went where and to quickly recognize an incorrect location. Again, just a thought!
 
I went ahead and layed out a potential design and detailed it quite extensively, but I got timed out for some reason. I don't want to go thru it again, i'm going to bed.
 
KR Wilson Model A tool storage: 4 era photos

Brent,

To give you some ideas, here is a photo of the Plastman (Belgium) service bay. Note the tool cage to the back right of the Tudor on the lift:



Here is another photo of a different part of the Plastman (Belgium) service area. Note the wall/board of service tools to the left of the photo and the hanging jack stands. More tool cages are located on the back walls as well. Also note the overhead track system for moving heavy parts (like engines) around the shop/service area:
http:///IMG]


Or how about the layout on this mobile Fordson service Ford AA:
[IMG]http://


....and how about a photo of a KR Wilson dealership, though it is a bit difficult to see the tool layout:


Hope that gives you some ideas....at least how tools were displayed back in the Model A era.

Fordially,
Brad in Germany
 
Last edited:
The gentleman that owned the Fordson service Ford must have had a seventeen year old son, a wrench is missing.
 
WOW, very cool photos!!

Maybe I mislead some folks but I really had not planned on making a tool cage! The jettison wall that you see is the only wall I had planned to build.

Will, what we have/had decided to do is use that area (the bay) beside the lathes, mill, etc. as the sole mechanical rebuild area simply because of the location of the big tools and the closeness to the Metal Shop. All of the customer parts shelves (pallet racks) have been moved to the opposite end of the shop occupying that 15'x40' area just past the bathroom. My plans are to move the car lift occupying those bays to the bay just opposite of the lathes and mills and use it as a vehicle disassembly area, which allows me to put a curtain wall partition across the shop to keep the "dirtier tasks" in another 15'x40' area, thus giving us about 2000 sq. ft. for an assembly area that should be easier to keep clean.

Vince, heck yeah I would hire ya!! Since I won't have a true tool cage, I don't know if that changes things but there are many tasks you could do using those tools on the wall! You could even be the 'First Test Driver' after each restoration, ...which sometimes ain't all it is cracked up to be!:D (Sometimes walking is involved.:o)

Thanks all!!
.
 
BRENT in 10-uh-C said:
WOW, very cool photos!!

Maybe I mislead some folks but I really had not planned on making a tool cage! The jettison wall that you see is the only wall I had planned to build.

Will, what we have/had decided to do is use that area (the bay) beside the lathes, mill, etc. as the sole mechanical rebuild area simply because of the location of the big tools and the closeness to the Metal Shop. All of the customer parts shelves (pallet racks) have been moved to the opposite end of the shop occupying that 15'x40' area just past the bathroom. My plans are to move the car lift occupying those bays to the bay just opposite of the lathes and mills and use it as a vehicle disassembly area, which allows me to put a curtain wall partition across the shop to keep the "dirtier tasks" in another 15'x40' area, thus giving us about 2000 sq. ft. for an assembly area that should be easier to keep clean.

Vince, heck yeah I would hire ya!! Since I won't have a true tool cage, I don't know if that changes things but there are many tasks you could do using those tools on the wall! You could even be the 'First Test Driver' after each restoration, ...which sometimes ain't all it is cracked up to be!:D (Sometimes walking is involved.:o)

Thanks all!!
.
Click to expand...


AMEN! And sometimes lots of it.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top