# Horizontal mill cutter and tool organization-how would you do it!



## pelallito (Nov 21, 2011)

Hello,
Now that I have my Atlas benchtop horizontal finally working, I need some advice.
How do you guys organize/store the cutters and tooling for a machine like that?
I have built a workbench that is 48" X 26?". Not sure about that second dimension.
I plan on buying and putting this oil drip pan on it-http://www.walmart.com/ip/ATP-Extra-Large-Oil-Drip-Pan/16778234.
Then the mill on top of that. Hopefully that will leave me enough room for a BT vertical someday.
I have considered a peg board back,and/ or perhaps drawers underneath.
I also am going to hang a fluorescent fixture over the table.
Recommendations and advice happily accepted.
Regards,
Fred


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## pete (Nov 21, 2011)

Fred,
If it were me? I'd use some thin cardboard that has been soaked in a light oil and then let it drip the excess off. The blade type cutting tools are no different than any other cutting tool. You need to keep the cutting teeth seperated and protected from damage. So I'd use that oil soaked cardboard between each cutting tool if your stacking them up. Rust on the blades or internal bores along with chips in the teeth would quickly make an expensive pile of cutting tools useless. A decent amount of tooling for one of these mills could easily add up to far more over time than what you paid for the mill. I've seen a few examples of people hanging the cutting tools on a wall using wooden dowels at a slight upward angle. In my opinion you'd want those dowels well sealed with a finish so the bores on the tooling don't rust due to small amounts of moisture in the wood.

Pete


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## Blogwitch (Nov 21, 2011)

Fred,

I am just about to make a rack to hold horizontal cutters and shims.

It will be very similar to one used for storing grinding wheels.

A thick backboard that screws to the wall with large dowel pegs sticking out at a slight upwards angle, at most 5 degrees. I will be using new broom handles for my dowel lengths as they are 7/8" diameter and my cutters have a 1" bore, plus the broom handles are dirt cheap, much cheaper than dowelling from the DIY shop.

By having the dowels sticking out say 3" or 4", as long as they are far enough apart, you can just keep loading cutters onto each dowel until it is nearly full. I will be using the largest diameter cutter I have to set the spacing between the dowels.


John


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## pelallito (Nov 21, 2011)

Pete and John,
Thanks for the advice! At the moment all of the cutters are in a large plastic bucket that I had to put them in, shortly after I got them and the machine to the house. 
They had been in a thick cardboard box that fell apart in my hands as I tried to put it on a low shelf.
I am always fighting corrosion where I live because of the high humidity.
I will have to put a vertical back splash/board on the workbench. It is free standing and not attached to any wall. At least not now. I am trying to keep the mill far from my belt sanders.
Perhaps I need to shuffle my tools around and put the mill on a work bench I built a while ago that is attached to a wall. The larger sander is bolted to it right now.
Then I would have this workbench to pile all sorts of things. :big: 
I never seem to have a work bench with available space to actually work on a project. :-[
Keep the ideas coming.
Thanks again,
Fred


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## pelallito (Nov 21, 2011)

Guys,
Years ago I saw somebody was using pegboard and these-
http://www.homedepot.com/Crown-Bolt...splay?langId=-1&storeId=10051&catalogId=10053
He had cut pieces of clear tubing and placed it on the hook to protect the finish of the item he had resting on it.
I had something like that in mind with 1/4" pegboard.
Do you think that might work?
Fred


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## pelallito (Nov 22, 2011)

John, I think that i am now leaning to your broom handle recommendation.
I posted this elsewhere- 
I picked up the pan today and put it on my bench. It is a very good fit. I have about 1/2" on each side of the bench on the long stretch, and about 5 1/2" on the narrow. That leaves me room to make a strong back board. 
I decided to look at, clean and organize the cutters. Ha, I only cleaned a few, put the rest in piles by sizes. I have 2.5,2.75,3,4,4.5,5,6, and an 8" cutter. I think that I missed a couple of sizes. The pile of 2.75" exceeds 6" high!
I am going to have to make a very strong backboard!
Thanks for the help.
Fred


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