Enlarged Plane Rack

GB Shaw

Primary Category

The Way Things Happen

This is another one of those projects that sat in my "Drafts" folder for some time...since March of 2022 to be exact!  But I have endeavored to clear that folder out and I've been semi-successful in the past few weeks.  This one is about, you guessed it - when I made a larger rack for my planes.  Let's get into it!


The Original

On March 4, 2020 I posted about the original plane rack here at 173.  Looking back wasn't This the biggest understatement of all time?:

This is one of those times when we're living history, and it's also one of those times we know we're living it. Corona virus has hit our shores and there's a huge outbreak down in New Rochelle.  I presume my colleagues and I will be deployed there soon.

The very next day we were deployed and our lives were drastically changed for the next nearly two years!  Anyway, back then I had a couple planes lying about, then I saw this picture and realized I needed a plane rack:


All of which led me to build a rack big enough to hold my two Stanley #4s and two block planes.


A Small Collection

It's interesting how you really don't notice something until you start noticing them. Until the day I drove off the lot with my Jeep Patriot nearly 10 years ago, I hadn't really noticed them.  But from that very moment I started seeing them everywhere!  Well, same thing with hand planes.  


There I was, happily living my life with my Dad's Stanley #4 and a cheap (but surprisingly effective) Stanley #4 off Amazon.  Then I build a plane rack and next thing you know I have a small collection of planes.  It's amazing how quickly it can happen!  Here's an incomplete list of my small hand plane collection...


Time For A Bigger Rack 

Obviously it was time to make a bigger storage rack, so back to the drawing board.  I found the space on the workshop shelf that was the perfect size so it was back to the drawing board!


I started by dry fitting a new piece of plywood..


Then I laid out and cut the felt backing from the roll I still have from the Gerstner Tool Chest restoration back in February of 2020.  


When I made the original rack, I painted and saved any lengths of the dividers I had remaining, which worked out well I'd say!  I did need to cut and paint a couple additional lengths, but I still had some of the wood, which was just some scraps from ripping boards for some long forgotten project.


Then it was time to add the dividers.  Interestingly, I have no idea what I was doing with the clamps in this next shot, or why I took a picture of it!...


The grid I originally laid out didn't come to fruition, although I don't recall why.  However, it turned out to be a stroke of luck as the upper portion turned out to be the perfect size for my 1918 Stanley Bailey #5 which I didn't have when I built this version.


When I built this rack I salvaged the sides from the old one, so all-in-all I think this rack took about an hour and a half to build.  After all, there really isn't much to it!  But it really worked out well.  I suppose if I end up with another plane or two I'd just build another to use in addition to this one.  

Its Natural Habitat

And just like - the rack was in its natural habitat.  This next picture shows the rack before I picked up that 1918 Stanley Bailey #5.  I like the way it turned out, much like the original, only bigger!


Hey look - thanks for stopping by and - see ya' next time!
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