Homebrewed hard case for recip saw

[dwasifar]

I've mentioned before that I prefer each tool to have its own case. I have a shelf of power tools all lined up nice and neat, each in its own case with its accessories. I know there's a word for this, and it starts with "a", but I prefer the term "organized."

Anyway. Recently I received one of the new Skilsaw "Buzzkill" reciprocating saws as a "free gift" when buying a Skilsaw table saw. No case! (No blades, either.) Aaagh! What to do?

Why, make one, naturally.

This turned out pretty well. I might do it for a few other loose power tools I have knocking around.

 

[The Cobbler]

nice

 

[fourjeepin]

And I always throw out the cases. ��

 

[dwasifar]

And I always throw out the cases. ��

Yeah, you're not alone.

 

[jimreed2160]

Great idea and great execution. Those blow plastic cases are irritating because they take up so much room and don't stack well. When you make your own you can standardize the sizes and make them play better when they are together.

 

[WoodsTruck]

Nice case.

I keep a pack or two of foam earplugs in mine. Sometimes I forget to grab my muffs and I like to quiet down the saw.

 

[seber]

Very nicely done. I also toss the blowmolded cases but often repurpose older steel cases. They will never look as nice as that.

 

[guspech750]

Your case looks fantastic!


Sent from the White House on the tax payers dime.

 

[up a creek]

Your case looks fantastic!


Sent from the White House on the tax payers dime.

^^^^^^^THIS^^^^^^^^
My only question for the op is are you planning on staining or clear coating that case? Looks sharp as is, but staining may look sweeter!

 

[dwasifar]

^^^^^^^THIS^^^^^^^^
My only question for the op is are you planning on staining or clear coating that case? Looks sharp as is, but staining may look sweeter!

Never a big fan of stain on pine; it always looks blotchy. I might put some poly on it though, just for protection.

 

[southalabama]

Looks good.

Adam Savages Tested on YouTube has an episode where be builds a case for a microscope then weathers it to make it look vintage.

 

[KnurledNut]

Nice job!
Polycrylic would finish that pine nicely.

 

[Snakebyt]

that looks awesome, so jealous of people that have the shill to make such cool stuff

 

[Musicinabottle]

Dang! Nice job. I toss my plastic cases right off, but keep the steel cases on a case by case basis.

You going to router the edges and stain that beauty?

 

[Hilltopmasonry]

Great idea and great execution. Those blow plastic cases are irritating because they take up so much room and don't stack well. When you make your own you can standardize the sizes and make them play better when they are together.

That why I buy the modular ridgid cases. They are the same size and stackable, they lock together and they are a hell of a lot better than any free case that the tools come in.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

 

[driftpin]

It looks functional and sturdy. I agree some polyurethane would help longevity. If you had a way to carve some design into the large flat surface, wouldn't that look cool? Or you could have someone do a thin metal-cutout plasma design, and bolt it to the wood. Maybe a shop logo, unique to your place?

I always liked the cases that had a scrollsaw piece slightly-smaller than the handle 'loop,' screwed in-place, to help hold the saw in position.

You might try to figure out what type of slot you could put into your blade storage area, for those long, toothy tree pruning blades.

I often store the OEM cases above my garage doors, in a wide (20 ft.), four ft. deep but not very-tall (not quite 3 ft in the middle, tapering to the sides; gabled roof) area. The tools & blades go into drawers under the workbench, some blades are stored in Gladiator wall cabinets (30" x 30" x 12") tapconed to the garage end wall, so the car/truck can pull-into the garage, up-to the wall, though we normally don't use the 2-car garage for storing them, it's tools & workspace area.

If you don't have much of a return dimension on the sides of your garage, from the edge of the OH doors, you could hang those cases flat to the wall, and they wouldn't take up much room. If you had plasma-cut designs on them, what a great way to show-off/locate your stuff.

 

[dwasifar]

You might try to figure out what type of slot you could put into your blade storage area, for those long, toothy tree pruning blades.

Actually my plan was to glue some kind of slim vinyl sleeve to the inside of the lid to hold oversize blades. When I find a suitable piece of material I'll add that.

I will be giving it a coat or two of polyurethane as you and others have suggested.

 

[shanny19]

Nice craftsmanship! I don't have the space for cases, they all go in the trash. If I DID have space, all my tools would be on french cleats like the one April Wilkerson video.

 

[lakeroadster]

Very nicely done.

 

[dwasifar]

If you had a way to carve some design into the large flat surface, wouldn't that look cool? Or you could have someone do a thin metal-cutout plasma design, and bolt it to the wood. Maybe a shop logo, unique to your place? ... you could hang those cases flat to the wall, and they wouldn't take up much room. If you had plasma-cut designs on them, what a great way to show-off/locate your stuff.

I didn't mean to blow off this suggestion earlier, I was just answering from my phone and didn't have a lot of time to address everything.

Carving into the flat panel would weaken it; it's thin plywood, for weight reasons. But a metal cutout is a cool idea. I don't have a shop logo but I suppose there's no reason I couldn't design one. Do you have a place you would go for that?

Right now all the power tool cases live in the garage. But I'm building out a workshop space in the basement right now, 22x24 feet, and there'll be as much purpose-built storage as I care to design. My loose plan is to put the tool cases over the sliding saw station bench, but that could change.