Wall Mounted Chisel Rack With Built in Stand

In this project I am going to show you how I designed and built a chisel rack that stores on the wall, but can also be removed and supported by its own internal stand that folds out of the back. To create this we will be using Easel software from Inventables to create parts that can be cut out using the X-Carve CNC.

The chisel rack will open up using hinges to hold the parts together and will utilize magnets to keep it in the open position.

SOFTWARE

• Easel Pro Software by Inventables - https://www.inventables.com/technologies/easel?ref=MakingAtHome

The tools I used on the project were as follows:

TOOLS

• X-Carve 1000mm CNC Machine by Inventables - https://www.inventables.com/technologies/x-carve?ref=MakingAtHome
• Router Bit - 1/4" Downcut Bit
• Router Bit - 1/4" Roundover Bit
• Random orbit sander
• Shop vac
• Drill
• Drill Press
• Amana Countersink Bit with Depth Stop #55227 - https://amzn.to/3jG58Ju
• 9/64" drill bit
• Tape Measures (my favorite two):
• Fastcap PMS-16 Auto Lock ProCarpenter Tape Measure - https://amzn.to/333fTMN
• or FastCap PSSR16 16 ft Standard Reverse Measuring Tape - https://amzn.to/35eQe6k
• Propane torch (to pop epoxy bubbles)
• Small hand plane (optional) to cut chamfer in step 6 for adding hinges

Chisels in the Holder

Narex 4 piece set - 8 mm, 10 mm, 16 mm, 32 mm Woodworking Chisels 863110

Narex 4 piece set - 6mm, 12mm, 20mm, 26mm Woodworking Chisels 863010

MATERIALS

• 1/2" Baltic Birch plywood
• 3/4" Baltic Birch plywood
• Various sand paper
• General Finishes Water Based Topcoat (Satin) - https://amzn.to/3Ep8lVG
• Total Boat Thick Set Epoxy 1.3 Quart Kit - https://amzn.to/3jK8DON
• or Total Boat High Performance Epoxy 1 Quart Kit (medium set speed) - https://amzn.to/3aITVD0
• 1-1/4" and 1-5/8" long #8 construction screws
• 1/2" diamter by 1/8" thick Multi-Use Fridge Magnets - https://amzn.to/3Hu2a4h
• Miniature Hinges - https://amzn.to/3FOvnqc

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NOTE: If you plan on using any tool for a project please make sure you are familiar with the tool and all of the dangers associated with it. If you are not familiar with a tool then you should ask someone who is to show you the proper way to use it. A lot of communities have classes at local colleges on the proper use of tools and machinery. There are also local woodworking clubs that offer classes at very reasonable rates for beginners. I highly recommend using these resources for your safety and for the most efficient use of the tool.

SAFETY FIRST

Always wear eye and hearing protection. Always work safe with the proper safety equipment and guards on your tools.

There were just a few design parameters I wanted to have in the chisel rack. I wanted it to be no wider than 15 inches so there would be minimal space between the individual chisels. I also wanted to minimize the height of the rack, which based on the largest chisel, that would be a little over 12 inches tall. I worked on the layout of the pieces with some sketches using full dimensions to get the piece sizes correct before I entered them in the Easel software.

Chisel holder

The chisel holder is created by using the Replicator app within Easel to copy portions and save you a lot of time trying to place elements in the correct position.

Start out with a 3" by 15' rectangle at 1,1

Add a 0.925 x 0.925 circle at 1.98, 2.537

Make an array with one row of this at 1.73 in x direction with 8 items

Add a 1.155 x 1.155 circle at 1.00, 1.00

Make an array with one row of this at 1.73 in x direction with 9 items.

Now we are going to slide these circles up to a point where they match the radius of the smaller circles where the chisels will rest. Just keep moving these in the Y direction until there is a smooth transition between the circles. This should be at a Y position of approximately 1.84.

Make a rectangle at zero distance from the center of the first smaller circle to the bottom of the 3" piece. Rectangle is 0.05" wide X 2" tall.

Make an array with one row of this at 1.73 in x direction with 8 items.

Make one large rectangle at zero cut depth to cover the bottom of the original rectangle created in step 1.

Vertical Boards

The main support board and the two top pieces of the assembly are cut out of 1/2" thick baltic birch plywood.

The main piece is 15" wide by 11-7/8" tall.

The handle opening is made by combining shapes of circles for the ends and rectangles for the middle to create the 6.5" wide by 1.5" tall opening.

The other two pieces with the same handle openings are the same size and are 15" wide by 3" tall.

The piece that goes in the back also has recesses for hinges that match the depth of the hinge itself so the hinge does not conflict with the wall it is resting against. The hinge recesses are set one inch in from the sides of the board on all of the pieces and there is also one hinge located in the center. The hinge recesses are set at 0.19" deep.

Note: Five screws holes will need to be drilled into the bottom edge of this board that match the magnets in the bottom (horizontal) board. These screws are only necessary if you install the magnets.

Angled Board

The angled board is just a piece of 1/2" baltic birch plywood with hinge recesses at opposite ends and on opposite sides.

This board is 15" wide and 8-15/16" tall.

The hinge recesses are just copied from the top piece in the previous step to the top of this piece. The hinge recesses are set at 0.19" deep at the top of the board.

The hinge recesses for the bottom of the board are a different depth and they are located on the opposite side of the board. Because of this we will need to flip the board over and cut those recesses in a separate operation. Don't let this intimidate you as it is fairly easy to get the board registered to cut the hinge recesses.

The hinge recesses are set at 0.091" deep at the bottom of the board. The is half the depth of the hinge when it is in the folded up position.

Horizontal Board (The Base)

The base piece with magnets is 15" wide by 6.87" deep.

The space between the back edge (where the hinges are located) and the slot where the vertical piece fits is 2.355".

The space between the front of the board and the slot where the vertical piece fits is 3.985".

The 1/8" deep slot for the vertical piece fits was actually cut at 0.53" to make room for some finish in the slot. This does not need to be a tight fit as I am going to install 1/2" diameter by 1/8" thick rare earth magnets in the slot to help hold the vertical piece in the slot. The magnets will hold the bottom piece of wood up when you pick up the entire chisel rack by the handle.

The magnets are installed at 1", 4-1/4" and 7-1/2" from the sides of the piece to the center of the magnets.

The hinge recesses are set at 0.091" deep at the bottom of the board. The is half the depth of the hinge when it is in the folded up position.

Overall you should have four separate carve setups on your X-Carve CNC if you use large enough pieces of wood.

I designed all of the pieces so 1/4" bit could be used to cut everything out. I used a downcutting bit so there would be less tear out on the top side of the piece.

Start the CNC carving by cutting the chisel holder out of 3/4" plywood. This is a fairly straightforward carve.

Note that since this piece has been made by duplicating smaller parts, the carving paths may be smaller sections than expected.

Next we will switch to 1/2" thick baltic birch plywood for the rest of the pieces.

First we will cut the main vertical piece and the other two pieces with handle openings. These three pieces will be glued together so you can do this and let the glue cure while you are cutting out the other pieces. Just align the three pieces with the handle hole and edges. If you are having trouble keeping the pieces lined up for gluing, you can always sprinkle a little salt on the glue surfaces to help hold things in alignment. I did use a 1/4" round over bit on both sides of the openings so they would not have such a sharp 90 degree edge.

Next cut out the other two pieces - the bottom horizontal piece and the angled piece.

The bottom horizontal piece will have a groove for the vertical piece to fit into, hinge mortises, and recesses for the magnets to fit into if you choose that option.

The angled piece will have hinge mortises cut on one side. It will then need to be flipped over so hinge mortises can be cut on the other side at the opposite end. After you make the first cut you can remove the piece and flip it over from front to back. The mortises that were carved in the first step should now be on the underside of the board at the top edge (away from you). I used double sided tape to secure the board down. In order to align the board you just need to set the horizontal line of the X-Carve. I set a strip of plywood down on the waste board and then align the lower left corner of the board with the CNC bit. Then I tram the router to the right edge of the board and verify that it is still in alignment. If so, I place a piece of blue painters tape along the bottom edge of the board. If not, I hold down on the left end of the board and move the right end up or down to align the lower right corner of the board to the CNC bit. I just keep working the CNC bit to the left and right lower corners of the board to set the horizontal alignment. Once I have it set I can add the piece of tape along the bottom edge.

With the horizontal tape set, you can stick the piece of wood for the angled piece down with the bottom edge aligned to the tape. Watch the video and look at the Easel cut file to see more details on how I did this.

The mortises are cut a little larger than the hinges I specified to use, so a little misalignment and things should still work for you. The nice thing about using a CNC for this project is that you can recut a piece if you don't get it cut or aligned properly the first time.

Adding the hinges is a simple process. The first thing I did was to install the hinges between the angled piece and the horizontal piece. I did set the pieces a short distance apart just in case the hinges were off a little. If the two pieces of wood do not site completely against each other after you install the hinges and fold them together you can loosen the screws just slightly to allow for a little play.

I did pre-drill the screw holes for the hinges. These screws are fairly small and I did not want to strip out the phillips screwdriver slots.

Now that these two pieces are connected you can lay them down on the back of the vertical piece and add the remaining 3 hinges. One thing you will need to do to get this last hinge joint to work well is to chamfer the two edges where the hinges come together. You will see why this is needed and how to do this in the video, but basically, the hinges need to rest at or below the surface of the back of the chisel holder or it will interfere with the wall . You can do this with a hand plane like I show in the video. You can also just simply use a sanding block and sand away at the edges until you have the line down to the center point of the hinge pins.

If you are going to add magnets to the bottom (horizontal piece) you should cut that out next as you will need to set those magnets in place with something like epoxy. I used Total Boat Thick Set Epoxy since I had it on hand and I knew it would be cured enough the next night that I could keep working on the pieces.

Try to not use too much epoxy when setting the magnets. This will make it easier to clean up the excess. Put a little epoxy into the magnet hole and then press the magnet into the hole. It helps to press the magnet into the hole with a small scrap piece of 1/2" thick plywood to set the top of the magnet flush with the bottom of the dado (groove). Once you press the magnet in you should remove any excess epoxy that squeezes out from around the magnet.

Give the epoxy plenty of time to cure based on the variety you use.

Next add the matching screws in the bottom edge of the vertical piece so they line up with the magnets. I did this by marking the location on the bottom of the vertical piece for each of the screws. Then I drill a pilot hole into the edge at each screw location with a 1/8" brad point drill bit. You want to make sure you drill the holes in the center of the board so you don't risk the countersink drill bit coming through the edges of the vertical board. Next use the 3/8" diameter countersink and drill into the bottom edge of the board. You can now add the 1-1/4" #8 construction screws to each of the holes. Drive the screws to the point where they are flush with the edge of the board. You want them to all come in contact with the magnets at the same time for the best holding power.

To attach the chisel support to the main vertical piece of the holder I just set it in place with the longest chisel and marked the best location using a piece of blue painters tape. Then I marked a line across the vertical piece that would be the centerline for the chisel support. I marked locations for the screws along this centerline where they would go into the deepest part of the . The screws I used here were 1-5/8" long #8 general construction screws. I marked the outside edges and two more locations going towards the center of the support.

First I drilled through the main vertical piece of wood with a 1/8" bit. Then I drilled through the board from the back side using the countersink bit so the screw heads would be recessed in the back of the vertical board.

Next I clamped the chisel support to the vertical piece. Then I drilled through the back of the vertical piece into the two center screw locations. Once these two inner screws were tightened in place I removed the two clamps that were obstructing the outside drilling locations and drilled and installed those screws.

I did not glue this piece in place in case I ever wanted to modify it. That way you can just remove the four screws and replace that piece. It also makes it easier to finish the pieces.

The screws for attaching the cleats were 1-1/4" long #8 general construction screws. I pre-drilled two holes into each of the two cleat pieces 3/4" from each side. The cleat pieces I used were 3-1/2" long.

It helps to use a piece of matching wall cleat longer than the chisel rack to make sure the two individual pieces are aligned properly before you attach them. I only used the two screws in each piece and did not glue mine in place.

Now the chisel rack should be fully functional and just need some finish. I opted for two coats of General Finishes satin water based topcoat. I did take everything apart that I could before applying the finish. I also did a light sanding between coats.

I am extremely happy with how this chisel rack turned out. Going from idea to reality needed a few adjustments along the way, but the results are going to be useful for a long time.

I would love to see pictures of yours if you decide to build one.

This is not as complicated of a build as I thought it was going to be so if you are considering building one then I highly recommend it.

You can download this project file at the Inventables site here:

https://www.inventables.com/projects/wall-mounted-chisel-rack-with-built-in-stand?ref=MakingAtHome

Or use this direct link to the Easel file:

https://easel.inventables.com/projects/_N89PtbT12JYUHb1WLmViQ?ref=MakingAtHome