| Project by Boxguy | posted 384 days ago | 2343 views | 13 times favorited | 16 comments |  |
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As Lumber Jocks many of you have seen Roy Underhill’s PBS TV show “The Woodwright’s Shop.” Each show starts out with Roy carrying his tool box on a city street and making his way to his shop where he sets down his well-worn tool box on a bench. So I thought I would adapt his tool box concept in a format that I could fit behind the seats of my pickup truck.
This tool box has a central handle, with three sides that are set at a 22 1/2 degree angle and one side that is set at a 90 degree angle. Putting the 90 degree side against your leg makes it easier to carry especially when it is filled with heavy tools. The elongated handle hole lets you slide your hand back and forth in the handle to balance the weight of the load of tools.
It is held together with no metal fasteners. The secret is a sliding dovetail at each of the two outwardly angled ends. The more the weight pulls down on the handle the more tightly the handle is wedged into the box. View five shows the sliding dovetail joint.
The bottom is set firmly into a dado that runs around the inside of the box. Masonite works well here. The corners are glued and then cross splined to reinforce the joints. Assembly is a bit tricky since you start the ends in their sliding dado and then slide in the bottom board, but the bottom doesn’t fit until you drive down the handle to pull the ends inwardly.
My first versions were oak with walnut handle boards. They were beautiful, but really too heavy for most people. The ones pictured here have painted Baltic birch plywood sides. One center board is mahogany the other is cherry.
I found an unexpected market for these. Local weavers like to set them next to their looms for storing bobbins, scissors, and shuttles. Knitters keep skeens of yarn, scissors, and needles in them. Some customers love them as garden totes. At home, I have this one that holds plumbing tools and another filled with electrical tools. If you show up at a Habitat build with your tools in one of these, you immediately get street cred for wood working.
As always thanks for looking and a special thanks to all of you who have taken time to add comments and suggestions.
This is the jig used to cut the sides.
This is the site that explains the process.
It is like building a tray with a sliding miter joint in the middle of it.
-- Big Al in IN
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16 comments so far
JoeyG
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1161 posts in 795 days
#1 posted 384 days ago
Now that’s a nice tool box. What angle are the sides set to?
-- JoeyG ~~~ http://www.facebook.com/JHGWoodWorks
Boxguy
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925 posts in 437 days
#2 posted 384 days ago
Joey,
Sides are cut by setting your miter at 22 1/2 degrees, and tilting your saw blade to 40 degrees. The bottom dado is cut at 25 degrees. After the first one, I made a jig to cut both sides without needing to set my miter one way for one end and the opposite way for the other end of the cuts.
-- Big Al in IN
JoeyG
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1161 posts in 795 days
#3 posted 384 days ago
Thanks Al, I would like to see that jig. A lot of possible uses pop into my head. I am going to favorite this. I need a good tool tote to carry around the house when I am fixing things up for my wife and I like the look of this one. I have to say that if mine comes out half as nice as yours, I will be afraid to put any tools in it. LOL
-- JoeyG ~~~ http://www.facebook.com/JHGWoodWorks
Martyroc
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2708 posts in 476 days
#4 posted 384 days ago
Great looking tool box, I would like to see the jig you made as well please post it. Nice work.
-- Martin ....always count the number of fingers you have before, and after using the saw.
Roger
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9191 posts in 974 days
#5 posted 384 days ago
Very nifty toolbox. Handy-Dandy
-- Roger from KY. Work/Play/Travel Safe. Kentuk55@bellsouth.net
Enoelf
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190 posts in 433 days
#6 posted 383 days ago
Street Cred indeed! very nice tote!
Thanks for sharing.
Well done.
-- Central Ohio, Still got 9 and 15/16 fingers!
a1Jim
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87200 posts in 1747 days
#7 posted 383 days ago
Very nice work a real unique design.
-- W James Brokenbourgh Custom furniture maker http://artisticwoodstudio.com/
Kookaburra
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744 posts in 394 days
#8 posted 383 days ago
Oh, I like this a lot too. I could use half a dozen of them for various projects – not just woodworking! I could keep my glass work tools in one, paper cutting in another, polymer clay in a third and so on. I could then pull out just the tool box for what I am working on, instead of rummaging through a mixed lot. I am not surprized they are popular.
-- Kay - Just a girl who loves wood.
grizzman
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5389 posts in 1473 days
#9 posted 383 days ago
very neat, good idea with the dovetails, and it really would come in handy for other uses, nice job al…
-- GRIZZMAN ...[''''']
IndianJoe
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386 posts in 420 days
#10 posted 383 days ago
Very nifty toolbox and I would like to see that jig you made if you would show us vary good work love it
-- Nimkee** Joe
majeagle1
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1382 posts in 1666 days
#11 posted 383 days ago
Al, this is just fantastic! This by far is the “nicest” looking tote that I have ever seen!
Sleek, unique and totally useful. I agree, I can see why they are popular…..
What are the basic dimensions? and is the inside surface laminate? or what?
I would also like so see the jig you use for thee angles….
This is a favorite for sure…
-- Gene, Majestic Eagle Woodworks, http://majesticeagleww.etsy.com/, http://www.flickr.com/photos/majesticeagle/
gfadvm
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6643 posts in 860 days
#12 posted 383 days ago
That is a very innovative tool tote. Those compound miter cuts drive me crazy but you did a super job. The dovetail joinery for the handle is ingenious.
-- " I'll try to be nicer, if you'll try to be smarter" gfadvm
Jorge G.
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1313 posts in 645 days
#13 posted 383 days ago
Whew….there for a moment I thought you had painted the pretty one green…I was about to let you have it… :-)
-- Just because you’ve always done it that way doesn’t mean it’s not incredibly stupid.
DYNO360
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144 posts in 1035 days
#14 posted 383 days ago
“This tool box has a central handle, with three sides that are set at a 22 1/2 degree angle and one side that is set at a 90 degree angle.” Funny, I don’t see any straight side. What did I miss? Anyway, you got a great design with the dovetailed handle. I would also like to see the jig that you made.
AKSteve
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412 posts in 473 days
#15 posted 380 days ago
WOW! I noticed this the other day and didn’t really look at it but after your suggestions I wanted to see your craftsmanship, very good! I have to say that dovetail is quite impressive to say the least. very clean and simple design. but very complex in craftsmanship for sure, kudos!
-- Steve - Wasilla, Alaska
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