A hand-tool tool chest

[DuncanA]

I thought the hand-tool enthusiasts here might enjoy seeing my recently finished tool chest.











It's mostly built using Chris Schwarz's article on the Dutch style tool chest in Popular Woodworking magazine, though I did deviate (or improvise) in some of the details. It's reasonably simple to make - the bottom corners are dovetailed, the middle shelf is a dado but most of the rest is just glued and/or screwed. I had to tongue and groove most of the pieces to get the suitable width as the widest pine boards I could get were about 5", and the clamped ends on the lid include 5 mortise and tenon joints per end.

It took me much longer than planned to finish (though most of that time was finishing touches), but I'm happy with the result. Now I just need to refine my skills with the tools inside it!

Apologies if the pictures are showing up very large - I've re-sized them on photobucket but they change doesn't seem to have reached the forums yet (least not on my end).

 

[Racers]

That's a very nice well made tool chest, can't say I am keen on the colour.
And it looks like you have some very nice old tools.

Pete

 

[bugbear]

Nice chest, nice tools.

BugBear

 

[jimi43]

Nice chest, nice tools.

BugBear

Nice tools indeed and it's nice to see the keeping of rasps/files in a tube too! Clearly a person who cares for their tools a lot!

Jimi

 

[DTR]

Nice chest (and the tools that go in it) =D>

I've been thinking about making a Dutch chest for SWMBO to put her carving bits in. I already have an English style chest myself. I'm surprised this forum doesn't have any "Post pics of your [insert topical subject here]" threads like other forums do. Tool chests would be a good one. And workbenches for that matter....

 

[AndyT]

+1

Very nice work, even if it does look rather pink on this screen!

What's the round wooden thing in the third picture, left hand side, standing upright? Is it a wooden box for drill bits?

 

[Cheshirechappie]

First class job - that's a fairly comprehensive kit of very servicable tools stored in a way that makes them easy to get at. You could do a lot of woodworking with that kit, and by the look of it, it didn't take a fortune to put it together, either.

If I didn't know any better, I'd suspect that someone has been reading Chris Schwarz's 'The Anarchist's Tool Chest'. May that kit give you many hours of quiet pleasure and many a useful item made.

 

[rspsteve]

great job !

 

[DuncanA]

Thank you for the kind comments chaps.

I hadn't really noticed the colouration of the pics but they are a bit off (though they look too orange on my screen), it's a bit more of a dusky shade of red in the flesh.

AndyT, the round wooden thing is a set of drill bits, square shanked so that they fit in a brace (I can sort out a picture if you'd like - in fact I'm playing round with setting up a blog that may contain a more detailed inventory at some point).
I got slightly carried away trying to get numerous brace bits in small sizes to match the most common size of screws for the various sizes of clearance holes & pilot holes in soft/hard wood etc. In an effort to save space (and be slightly more 'trad') I wanted to avoid adding a hand-drill into the kit in addition to the brace.

ChesireChappie, 'The Anarchists Toolchest' is indeed among my favourite books, though I tended to lean more towards the writings of Charles H. Hayward in filling up this chest!

 

[Benchwayze]

This is a very nice chest. The Dutch pattern we are told. I wondered if one of these, in a small version, could sit in the utility room, with all the tools we usually need for those little household jobs. I must get around to some order in my shop, so that could be a start.

BTW, it's good to see someone who is a fan of CH Hayward. I think he was 'The Man'.

Now there's a point Cheshirechappie. Chris Schwarz and the 'Anarchist's Toolchest'. He also did a video on the big tool-chest, plus another one about a version of it, that was made in a couple of days. Quite interesting for a 'quick-fix.

 

[DannyEssex]

I really like that, and have been thinking of building a tool chest, hmmm maybe I should put the Schwartz book on my reading list?

Great work Duncan =D>

 

[AndyT]

I really like that, and have been thinking of building a tool chest, hmmm maybe I should put the Schwartz book on my reading list?

Great work Duncan =D>

... or watch Chris Schwarz explain this style of chest to Roy Underhill here http://video.unctv.org/video/2365021526/

 

[DannyEssex]

I really like that, and have been thinking of building a tool chest, hmmm maybe I should put the Schwartz book on my reading list?

Great work Duncan =D>

... or watch Chris Schwarz explain this style of chest to Roy Underhill here http://video.unctv.org/video/2365021526/

Thanks Andy, I will give that a watch, although I do like to have a book, so will probably still get it

 

[morfa]

Looks very nice. Do you have any pics of the construction? I'm tempted to build one, it looks more sensible than the main 'Anarchists tool chest'.

 

[MMUK]

From a practical point of view, is it truly portable? There must be some weight in it fully loaded?

 

[n0legs]

I like it, I've viewed a few times now and the more I see it the more I'm liking it =D>

 

[G S Haydon]

Really like that, colour and all.

 

[rwyoung]

From a practical point of view, is it truly portable? There must be some weight in it fully loaded?

Yes, they can be quite heavy if you go nuts and pack it full. Easily in excess of 100#.

Mine, if I only put in the items I feel I will need will come in around 80# minus a large rip saw and two saw benches which (strangely) don't fit inside. With that I can do just about any small to medium sized joinery or cabinet making project I wish. But normally it lives at home in the workshop as a way of controlling the tool chaos.

Not sure what the equivalent descriptive term would be but here in the States, there is a "Job Box" which is a large tool box left at a worksite. Typically secured with a lock and also can be secured to a structure to prevent it from walking away when aided by a few small minds and strong backs. They can also be secured to a pickup-truck (lorry?) bed.

These larger "traditional" designs seem to have similar purpose in my mind. No pickup-trucks in 1897 but could be secured to a wagon bed I suppose.

If nothing else, a fun project with good, basic skill building exercises if one starts out from rough stock.

Rob

 

[DuncanA]

Morfa, I'm afraid I've no pictures of it being built, but the link AndyT posted to The Woodwright's Shop gives you a pretty good idea of how its made. There is also a good blog where someone else made a Dutch style chest with fairly good in-progress shots, but I can't seem to find it just now. [edit: found it, https://medium.com/look-what-i-made/d0abb306252]

MMUK, I can just about lift the chest by myself (and I'm a bit of a sapling), but I wouldn't want to move far. On it's own I wouldn't really call it "portable", though with a trolley to do most of the transporting you could manage to lift it into the boot of a car etc. I did also make the chest a few inches wider (just under 30" in all) to fit my panel saw, which possibly makes it a little harder to manage than if I had stuck to the instructions.

And like rwyoung says, it doesn't really fit everything. I've got a couple of saws and other odds and ends that I keep separately, but it can be made to carry the bare essentials to tackle most woodworking tasks while remaining reasonably portable.

 

[morfa]

I think I'll have to buy a PDF of the magazine. Basically it's dovetailed at the bottom and the shelfs are all rebated right? I'd found the medium link the other night, there's quite a few other folk who've built one.