Blade Box Redux

Ten years ago, I was fretting over the state of my tablesaw blade storage, er, uh, there was none! I had them in a flat file drawer with sheets of cardboard to separate them. As I would swap one for a sharp one or one of a different use, I’d have to do a blade shuffle and be careful not to bang them into one another. ENOUGH!!!

I came up with this solution with three parameters in mind; it had to be portable so I could haul the blades to the sharpening service safely, it had to be made of scraps as in I couldn’t use it as an excuse to buy another 100 bd’ of cherry, and last but certainly not least—it had to be easy to make. I’m lazy like that.

So here’s what transpired using a 4 inch wide by 48 inch strip of leftover 3/4” Baltic Birch ply, about one half sheet of 1/8” tempered hardboard, two leftover drawer bails [‘cause it’s heavy when it’s full], an old 3” door hinge, two plastic bumpers, and the only thing I actually had to purchase was the hasp and I think it beat up a two dollar bill.

I cut four equal length pieces of the Birch ply then mitered the ends and grooved them to accept the hardboard. There are eight pieces of hardboard apx. 11 inches square. I used slow set West Systems epoxy in order to have enough open time to pull this puzzle together and get it all into a pair of Bessey band clamps. Obviously I only applied glue to three sides. After that, it was a matter of installing the hardware after a coat of poly. I knew I got it right when my sharpener said, “Wow, I like that.”

It would be an easy enough design to expand in order for it to hold more blades, but as it is, when it’s toting 7 blades it tips the bathroom scale at over twenty pounds. A more comfortable handle would be nice too, maybe a leather chest handle… and maybe some nice brass corners… naaaa. Anyway, I made the parts double so if I expand the blade collection much more I can slap one of these together in an hour and be using it by tomorrow.

To dispense a blade is simplicity in itself; you tilt the box forward on the knuckle of the hinge while holding your other hand across the open front, when the blades roll forward it is easy to see which one you’re after and putting a finger on it, relax the box back and the rest roll back into the box. Sweet.

Here’s a closer look at some of the details…

http://i252.photobucket.com/albums/hh20/jcees_photos/Blade%20Box/IMG_0014.jpg
http://i252.photobucket.com/albums/hh20/jcees_photos/Blade%20Box/IMG_0016.jpg
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http://i252.photobucket.com/albums/hh20/jcees_photos/Blade%20Box/IMG_0007.jpg
http://i252.photobucket.com/albums/hh20/jcees_photos/Blade%20Box/IMG_0006.jpg
http://i252.photobucket.com/albums/hh20/jcees_photos/Blade%20Box/IMG_0005.jpg
http://i252.photobucket.com/albums/hh20/jcees_photos/Blade%20Box/IMG_0003.jpg

-- "Imagination is more important than knowledge" -- Albert Einstein