How a novice plans a first project
Hello everyone - my first blog, my first project! I have very little woodworking experience. I sew a lot and am a "crafty" sort of person, but the turn to woodworking has been prompted by my daughter and the little set of tools she got for Christmas.
I decided we'd make a toolbox, intended for the 9 "Red Toolbox" tools we got, plus various things like nails, screws, a pencil, sandpaper and glue… (The tools are: little saw, little hammer, little rasp, 2 clamps, 2 screwdrivers, measuring tape, and coping saw).
The design is a classic one, a simple box with an upper tray with a dowel handle and a removable tray that sits in the lower box. The tool silhouettes are painted in the tray bottoms. I used a plan from the Australian Better Homes & Gardens as inspiration.
However I also took inspiration from Ana White's site and redesigned the toolbox to be more decorative. The sides of the box are made of decorative mouldings and the whole thing will be painted a bright red. The tool silhouettes are done in a light pink. Or vice versa. Charlotte's initials and the date will be on one end.
The Better Homes and Gardens plan said "you can cut everything from two sheets of plywood" but me and my cr*ppy handsaw are not at all dealing with giant sheets of ply. No how, no way, not dealing. And since this project is all about working with Charlotte, no power tools. I modified.
Here's our shopping list from the local Travis Perkins. Here's where I remember that everything in England is supposedly metric but secretly Imperial:
Cut list, modified from the BH&G plan as follows to account for the moulding - meaning I put the moulding over the ends, rather than the ends over the sides, as the BH&G plan has it. Also modified for our sizes of timber and other choices.
CUT LIST
ITEM PART SIZE MATERIAL
A Main box ends (2) 300×193 x 21 Pine (8×1)
B Main box handle 442×24mm dia Mopstick
C Tray ends (2) 100×193 x 21 Pine (8×1)
D Main box base 400×193 x 21 Pine (8×1)
E Tray base 400×193 x 3 Hardboard
F Top box base 400×100 x 3 Hardboard
G Main box sides (2) 442×59 x 21 Moulding
H Tray sides (2) 358×41 x 12 Pine (strips, glued edgeways)
I Tray handle 400×24mm dia Mopstick
J Top box sides (2) 400×43 x 19 Moulding (trimmed)
K Main box dividers
M Locators 400×20 x 12 Pine (strips)
At this point most everything is cut.
Hello everyone - my first blog, my first project! I have very little woodworking experience. I sew a lot and am a "crafty" sort of person, but the turn to woodworking has been prompted by my daughter and the little set of tools she got for Christmas.
I decided we'd make a toolbox, intended for the 9 "Red Toolbox" tools we got, plus various things like nails, screws, a pencil, sandpaper and glue… (The tools are: little saw, little hammer, little rasp, 2 clamps, 2 screwdrivers, measuring tape, and coping saw).
The design is a classic one, a simple box with an upper tray with a dowel handle and a removable tray that sits in the lower box. The tool silhouettes are painted in the tray bottoms. I used a plan from the Australian Better Homes & Gardens as inspiration.
However I also took inspiration from Ana White's site and redesigned the toolbox to be more decorative. The sides of the box are made of decorative mouldings and the whole thing will be painted a bright red. The tool silhouettes are done in a light pink. Or vice versa. Charlotte's initials and the date will be on one end.
The Better Homes and Gardens plan said "you can cut everything from two sheets of plywood" but me and my cr*ppy handsaw are not at all dealing with giant sheets of ply. No how, no way, not dealing. And since this project is all about working with Charlotte, no power tools. I modified.
Here's our shopping list from the local Travis Perkins. Here's where I remember that everything in England is supposedly metric but secretly Imperial:
- One board 25×200mm (which is actually 21×193) - also called an 8×1; we needed 1.4 metres so got a 1.8m board. Cost £9.45 (seriously?) + 20%VAT…
- One strip of moulding 25×63 (again, 21×59) - I guess this is 2 ½x 1 in old money; we needed 1.8m so got 2.1m (£4.04)
- Two 12×25mm (1 x ½) strips for internal dividers and such. They should be 1 ¼ x 1 but they had not got such things - 2 x ½ was the next size up. Two 1.8m strips. (£1.74)
- A 4×2 sheet of hardboard - for tray bases. We didn't need nearly this much but that's the smallest size they had. (£3.69)
- Sample tins of red and pink paint - Dulux "Red Stallion" 3 and 6. (£3.57 ea)
- Mopstick - 15/16" or 24mm x 48" (£1.80)
- Wood glue, nails, wood filler, sandpaper and a sanding block - expensive, actually, but generally if you do woodworking I guess you have these.
Cut list, modified from the BH&G plan as follows to account for the moulding - meaning I put the moulding over the ends, rather than the ends over the sides, as the BH&G plan has it. Also modified for our sizes of timber and other choices.
CUT LIST
ITEM PART SIZE MATERIAL
A Main box ends (2) 300×193 x 21 Pine (8×1)
B Main box handle 442×24mm dia Mopstick
C Tray ends (2) 100×193 x 21 Pine (8×1)
D Main box base 400×193 x 21 Pine (8×1)
E Tray base 400×193 x 3 Hardboard
F Top box base 400×100 x 3 Hardboard
G Main box sides (2) 442×59 x 21 Moulding
H Tray sides (2) 358×41 x 12 Pine (strips, glued edgeways)
I Tray handle 400×24mm dia Mopstick
J Top box sides (2) 400×43 x 19 Moulding (trimmed)
K Main box dividers
x 20×12 Pine (strips)
M Locators 400×20 x 12 Pine (strips)
At this point most everything is cut.