Project Information
Tommy MacDonald is the host of a woodworking television show. I enjoy his program, called Roughcut, because he emphasizes that power tools are for rough shaping of a project but using hand tools to finish the project really makes a difference. He also advocates modifying plans to your own taste.
In the background on his show you can often see his cherry toolbox which I really like. You can see a nice picture of his toolbox here http://www.thomasjmacdonald.com/media/uploads/thumbs/24256cb11-1.jpg
And he shows you how to build it step by step here
http://www.thomasjmacdonald.com/media/category.php?cat=tool-box
In an article in Popular Woodworking magazine he told how making this toolbox really raised his skill level. You can see it here http://www.popularwoodworking.com/dec12/tommy-macs-toolbox. I learned a lot from building it too, enough that I am going to build several more.
My skill level is not up to his so I decided to make one in pine. He really liked the stripe in the cherry lumber. One day I found a 1×12 pine board at the store that had a stripe down the middle, although the colors are reversed from his. My version is 23 ¾ x 11×11 inches. I didn't have a thickness planer so the wood is the thickness it came from the store minus a little hand planning. I sized the drawers for what was going into them and put the knobs at the point where pushing on either knob would close the drawer without racking.
My second box added a divider to make two drawers on the top level. The knobs on the big drawers had to be adjusted to line up with the little drawers. Just to keep the color reversal idea going, I used redwood for the drawer sides and back but that was not really a good idea. The next box will add a few more details of Tommy's box and hopefully one day I will decide to make a cherry toolbox too.
Cost of the wood and the knobs was about $16. And no matter how it comes out, you still have a useful toolbox.
In the background on his show you can often see his cherry toolbox which I really like. You can see a nice picture of his toolbox here http://www.thomasjmacdonald.com/media/uploads/thumbs/24256cb11-1.jpg
And he shows you how to build it step by step here
http://www.thomasjmacdonald.com/media/category.php?cat=tool-box
In an article in Popular Woodworking magazine he told how making this toolbox really raised his skill level. You can see it here http://www.popularwoodworking.com/dec12/tommy-macs-toolbox. I learned a lot from building it too, enough that I am going to build several more.
My skill level is not up to his so I decided to make one in pine. He really liked the stripe in the cherry lumber. One day I found a 1×12 pine board at the store that had a stripe down the middle, although the colors are reversed from his. My version is 23 ¾ x 11×11 inches. I didn't have a thickness planer so the wood is the thickness it came from the store minus a little hand planning. I sized the drawers for what was going into them and put the knobs at the point where pushing on either knob would close the drawer without racking.
My second box added a divider to make two drawers on the top level. The knobs on the big drawers had to be adjusted to line up with the little drawers. Just to keep the color reversal idea going, I used redwood for the drawer sides and back but that was not really a good idea. The next box will add a few more details of Tommy's box and hopefully one day I will decide to make a cherry toolbox too.
Cost of the wood and the knobs was about $16. And no matter how it comes out, you still have a useful toolbox.