Pics of your handle material organization system?

David Mary

David Mary

pass the mustard - after you cut it
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Knifemaker / Craftsman / Service Provider
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Looking for inspiration as mine could really use an upgrade. Just using resin shelves and cardboard boxes at the moment.
 
Oh, to have enough handle material to warrant an actual organization system ... maybe someday I can convince myself its necessary to have that much handle material.
 
Organization system...:rolleyes:
I'm extremely new to this and already know the pile I've been collecting will probably remain, but grow. I see this like I see my reloading tools and supplies, somewhere on the shelf, or the bench, or not.
 
Yeah when I don’t have orders or I have creative license on one I sometimes just shuffle contents from box to box looking for what will go together. At least I’ve gotten it to the point where each box basically has its own type of material though.
 
I have it in 6 wide by 14" long stackable inventory trays and in 12X12X3" covered storage bins. It makes it fast and easy to find the right block of curly maple, ebony, or persimmon. I'll take photos of the display at Harrisonburg this weekend. The trays all stack on each other as well as the bins. I keep the woods and ivories separated in bins/trays of only one type. One of the biggest advantages of the covered bins is ease of transporting them. I can stack 20 or more of the flat containers in the back of the van.
Micarta scales are in bins and trays as well, and large sheets are stored in milk crates.
Uncut boards are stored flat on shelves by species. 2X2" turning sticks are stored upright in drywall buckets.
 
I laughed out loud in joy as soon as I read “milk crates”! Gotta find me some of those!
 
You can buy them at many hardware stores and restaurant supplies ... as well as Amazon.
They come in square and rectangle, and all sizes can be stacked.
 
GRapp said:
Organization system...:rolleyes:
I'm extremely new to this and already know the pile I've been collecting will probably remain, but grow. I see this like I see my reloading tools and supplies, somewhere on the shelf, or the bench, or not.
Click to expand...
Yeah, same
There's some in a drawer, some in a storage rack, a pile of halved logs in the cat run (doubles as cat enrichment), and some in the kitchen

Yes I live alone :P
 
Before I retired I snagged this very well made set of drawers for Engineering drawings from my former employer.
It has six drawers in all, but only one devoted to wood. The others have profiled blades, some steel, and the top drawer some of my finer tools. And most of the drawers don't have a lot in them. So I have plenty of room to hold more wood in a reasonably coherent way.
While I like it, and it works well for most handle material, one of my finest pieces of wood is too big to fit in the drawer.

I also have some cutoffs in a a Candy tin.

Engineering drawer no 2.jpgEngineering drawer.jpg
 
Since my business primarily is restoration, I have a dizzying array of materials.
Jigged bone, stag, horn of all kinds, Micartas and other phenolics, all kinds of exotic woods , pearl, ivo-nevermind, laminiates, acrylics.
Since most of the pieces are relatively small, most of it is in the Steri Lite 3 drawer plastic bins. I also have plastic shoeboxes full of stuff, and larger pieces sitting on shelves. Antlers under the benches and cow horns sealed in plastic garbage bags to keep the dermestids (bugs) from eating it.
 
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In a deep drawer lista caninet


dym2pLE.jpg
 
I use an old chest of drawers, which was reclaimed from the bedroom after and impulsive re-design by the better half.
Pins and brass in the bottom drawer, acrylics and micartas in the next, wood in the next, mammoth, pearl, antler and bone in the small "sock" drawers at the top.
I find it helpful when looking for a handle material to see the whole selection layed out and then let that inner force guide to the choice for that knife I am thinking about.
 
I have some stuff in tubs, other stuff on a metal shelving rack for the larger pieces/squares of synthetics and kydex/holstex sheath materials. It was organized for a day or two until I started working in the shop and now it's all scattered! LOL. Time for a Spring Cleaning in my shop; it needs it really badly!
 
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