Woodsmith Magazine Chisel Case Plans

There’s no question that this chisel case is a great looking project. It’s made of quartersawn white oak. And we used mahogany for the dovetail “keys” in the corners and the small accent pieces. But what really intrigues me about this case isn’t how it looks. It’s how it works. The chisels are held securely in place by a tilting rack. The unique thing is the rack locks in two different positions. This way, it provides easy access to your chisels whether the case is mounted on the wall or sitting on a bench. To “unlock” the case when it’s hanging on a wall, you simply rotate a small wood turn button, see photo below right. Then flip up the cover, reach inside the case, and pull the rack forward. The cover drops neatly behind the rack. And when you tip the rack back up, the turn buttons lock it in place. Whether you hang this case on a wall or set it on a bench, a tilting rack keeps your chisels right at hand. But just because the chisel case is mounted on the wall doesn’t mean it’s a permanent fixture. We’ve incorporated a hidden hanging system that lets you quickly remove the case and take it to your workbench. With the chisel case lying flat on the benchtop, the rack needs to be propped up so you can slide the chisels in and out. Here again, just tilt the rack up out of the case and lowering the cover behind it, see Benchtop detail. But here, the cover fits in a special wood catch that’s attached to the back of the rack. This holds the rack at a convenient angle and locks it in place.

We offer the Woodsmith Chisel Case plan as a downloadable PDF or a printed format that we ship to you.