Hand tool chest

Back when I did most of my work with power tools, the number of tools I had was pretty limited and usually they were pretty big. Table saw, Drill Press, Planer, etc… Now that I am using hand tools, I have a lot more tools, each of which is suited to a specific task. For example, instead of a thickness planer I have a collection of hand planes (#7, #5, #4, #3, #40, etc…). Similarly, instead of a table saw I have a collection of hand saws (Rip, Crosscut, Back, Dovetail, etc…).

Don’t get me wrong, I love my tools, but after a while my little working area was getting a little messy. I just had no place to store my tools. I looked at going out and buying a metal tool chest, but for some reason it just seemed wrong to go buy a metal box so I would more efficiently build wooden boxes. With that in mind, I started looking at building a wooden tool chest.

I finally found plans for one that I liked: The Craftsman tool chest at plansnow.com. The plans specify oak, but since I’m a cheapskate I went with poplar. My thinking is that it’s shop-furniture, why spend a bunch of money on it?

Building the chest was a great learning lesson. I had never done drawers by hand before (did them with a 1/2” and a 1/4” plow cutter on my stanley 45). Nor had I done a lot of drawer work in general. Plus, now I can actually keep my work area neat! The one downside is that I did not measure a few of my tools and some of the drawers are just not deep enough. It only affects a couple of tools though, so it’s not too big of an issue.

Finish
Since it’s going into my shop, I just sanded it to 180 grit, put on a coat of Boiled Linseed Oil, and then topped it with some wax. I’m pretty happy with it. The BLO gave it a bit too much of a yellow tone. Maybe I’m just too used to using Tung Oil for shop tools and pieces though.

1. The most important thing in carcase construction is to get the sides perfectly straight, parallel, and perpendicular. I had a slight bow in two panels I glued up and had to completely redo them. Clamping cauls are your friend.
2. Adapt plans. There were several steps in the plans that were intended for power tool users. I could have bypassed them. Instead, I ended up doing extra work.

Now it’s time to build a saw till!

-- Brian - Belmont, Massachusetts