| Project by Safetyboy | posted 1804 days ago | 2051 views | 9 times favorited | 17 comments | ![]() |
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I decided I needed a tool cabinet to combat the rust in my garage shop, especially now that I’ve got a few nice tools. I’ve already used up most of my wall space, so I decided to make one that sat on the back 1/2 of my deep bench. I adapted Chris Schwarz’ design from the back of this book, but didn’t want to spend the time or the $$ to make it out of cherry & maple like he did… so, another great use for the left-over plywood taking up valuable shop space. I also took the chance to test out the homemade box-joint jig from the latest woodworking magazine – chip-out is a mess on those with plywood, but I got it to work okay.
Like most of my projects, it’s a bit of a hodge-podge. I originally planned just to slap some plywood slabs on for doors, but after I build the case I decided I didn’t want to look at that plyood all the time… so I decided to take some left-over maple and build real door frames & use the 1/2 birch ply for panels. Then my spiral router bit broke making the mortices for the doors, so this is my plywood tool cabinet with maple doors with hand-cut mortices.
The chamfers on the doors were inspired by the woodwork we saw in the late 19th-century Garfield House (as in the President) in Mentor, Ohio recently. The left 2 doors are hinged in the middle to fold out the way when open. The drawers on the right side are recessed to make room for the chisel rack.
Now all I need is some more planes & tools to fill up all that empty space!
-- -- Kevin in Mentor, Ohio
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17 comments so far
PurpLev
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7764 posts in 1820 days
#1 posted 1804 days ago
Nice looking cabinet- and the doors ARE a nice touch. I just built a (sorry – mine is ALL plywood) tool cabinet based on the FWW design but scaled smaller, and am now left to figure out how to organize the inside, and actually make good use of the cabinet space that I now have… I guess it’s one step at at time huh?
Thanx for sharing… hopefully I’ll post mine soon too.
-- ㊍ When in doubt - There is no doubt - Go the safer route.
teenagewoodworker
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2727 posts in 1940 days
#2 posted 1804 days ago
cool!
blackcherry
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2906 posts in 1995 days
#3 posted 1804 days ago
A nice garage for your hand tools which will come in handy. May I recommend a neat idea that I iused in my tool chest. In the space for the handplanes cut some carpet to fit the slots this way you don’t have to retract the blade everytime you store the plane. Nice cabinet thanks for the post…Blkcherry
trifern
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8131 posts in 1939 days
#4 posted 1804 days ago
Great looking storage cabinet. I need to make some similar projects for my shop. Thanks for the inspiration.
-- My favorite piece is my last one, my best piece is my next one.
BobR
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135 posts in 2156 days
#5 posted 1804 days ago
Very functional and looks good.
-- Bob
Shopsmithtom
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768 posts in 2367 days
#6 posted 1804 days ago
Great job. I’m in the planning (actually more like fantasizing) phase of a toolbox project, so it’s always nise to view others to get ideas. -SST
-- Accuracy is not in your power tool, it's in you
GaryK
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10263 posts in 2160 days
#7 posted 1804 days ago
Nice looking cabinet. A place for your stuff!
-- Gary - Never pass up the opportunity to make a mistake look like you planned it that way - Tyler, TX
Davesfunwoodworking
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272 posts in 2047 days
#8 posted 1803 days ago
Nice looking tool cabinet. I like the way it looks. Good job.
-- Davesfunwoodworking
CharlieM1958
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14865 posts in 2390 days
#9 posted 1803 days ago
Very functional and purdy as well!
-- Charlie M. "Woodworking - patience = firewood"
Safetyboy
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118 posts in 1931 days
#10 posted 1803 days ago
Thanks for the comments. Somebody else asked how the drawer runners worked, so I thought I’d post that here too:
All the drawers run on wooden rails (more 1/2” ply). They’re actually pinched between 2 sets of rails, so that the drawers don’t tip forward & out until you’ve pulled them almost all the way.
The drawers have a corresponding runner glued to the outside that runs in the gap. I loose a little bit of drawer width this way, but I keep the maximum drawer depth, which was my goal.
Probably this is not an original idea… but I was pretty happy with how it worked out.
-- -- Kevin in Mentor, Ohio
motthunter
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2129 posts in 1971 days
#11 posted 1803 days ago
looks good man. I like to leave little silica packs in my outdoor enclosed cases to help avoid moisture problems. Lots of food items and stuff come with them. They are also called anti-desiccant… It helps in a wet garage.
-- making sawdust....
Safetyboy
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118 posts in 1931 days
#12 posted 1802 days ago
Nice idea with the silica packs… I was going to see how it did with nothing first, and then try those little “anti-corosion” emitters that Lee Valley sells if I needed more help. Anybody ever used those?
But maybe now I’ll start with the silica instead.
-- -- Kevin in Mentor, Ohio
USCJeff
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1041 posts in 2240 days
#13 posted 1798 days ago
I love the simplicity of the design. It looks great, yet you didn’t go to extreme’s in constructing it. the wood drawer guides are a great example. Very functional for the shop and cheaper than buying hardware. I’m getting more and more into hand tools and they’re starting to need a dedicated home. Will have to keep this in mind.
-- Jeff, South Carolina
jeanmarc
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1884 posts in 1888 days
#14 posted 1759 days ago
Nice looking cabinet.Good job.
-- jeanmarc manosque france
Beginningwoodworker
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13225 posts in 1845 days
#15 posted 1623 days ago
Thats a nice tool cabinet.
-- CJIII Future cabinetmaker
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