# Anarchist's tool chest vs Dutch tool chest?



## SMP (Aug 29, 2018)

Has anyone here built either of these and have any thoughts on it? I really like the ATC book, and kind of want to build it for the experience and to have a full set of tools in one spot. However, I kind of like the smaller size and "portability" of the dutch tool chest. Plus I think it would fit underneath my bench. But the dutch chest won't likely fit all the tools recommended in the ATC book. I also realize the design book has a "boarded" chest, but I am more interested in getting the practice of DTs on the regular chest while building. Hoping someone here has built one or both and can offer pros and cons.

Thanks


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## bondogaposis (Dec 18, 2011)

I built the Dutch tool chest a few years ago and it has served me well. You can see it here. I followed the plans mostly except I added 2 drawers to hold the small bits and I think it improves the design a lot. I also built a saw bench for it to sit on. I have it behind me when I work at my bench. I keep all of my handtools in it and I can grab anything I need just by turning around. It is all within arms reach and I don't have bend down to get anything.


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## Wintergreen78 (Feb 11, 2019)

I built a traditional style tool chest as the first thing to hold my tools. It was a good bit simpler than the exact design from Chris Schwartz's book, but still a good introduction into dovetailed cases. It worked pretty well, but since then I made a cabinet to hold tools and converted the chest into a toy chest for my nieces. The one in Chris Schwarz's book is really big, so think about your work space before committing to it.

I think that dutch chest design makes a lot of sense, if you want to work out of something like that. It is small enough to be fairly portable while still holding a pretty good set of tools. If you outgrow it you can just make some shelves or cabinets for the overflow tools. I really like keeping hand tools easily accessible, so lately I've been kicking around the idea of adding more open shelves and racks to the back of my bench and my wall to keep everything I use regularly out in sight.


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## jdmaher (May 4, 2011)

I've built the ATC. One of my all-time favorite projects. Plenty of dovetail experience. That daunted me, at first. After a while, I was looking forward to each opportunity to make them "perfect" (though I never succeeded).

It IS big. Haven't even filled it completely! I keep it under an assembly "table" (double plywood on high sawhorses) in the center of my work-space and roll it out every day. Handy.

I keep trying to interest one of my adult children in woodworking - so I have someone to leave this to!


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## BubbaIBA (Nov 23, 2011)

SMP,

I have a traditional tool chest that mostly lives behind the main work bench. I do not in reality work out of it. My daily tools are on shelf's next to the chest but what I use it for is to store tools needed often but not daily and my wood stock planes. My guess is if it went away I'd build another.



















ken


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## theoldfart (Sep 9, 2011)

I have built both. Most of my tools are in the big chest. The Dutch style, the smaller one, goes with me to the narrow gauge railroad museum where I volunteer doing restoration work.

I enjoyed the build on both. The Dutch was built in a class at Lie Nielson with Chris Schwarz a few years ago.


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## SMP (Aug 29, 2018)

That looks great and great setup! Good call on the drawers, does look more functional thanks ! And I actually am 3/4 done on my "traditional saw bench" from Chris's plans.


> I built the Dutch tool chest a few years ago and it has served me well. You can see it here. I followed the plans mostly except I added 2 drawers to hold the small bits and I think it improves the design a lot. I also built a saw bench for it to sit on. I have it behind me when I work at my bench. I keep all of my handtools in it and I can grab anything I need just by turning around. It is all within arms reach and I don t have bend down to get anything.
> 
> - bondogaposis


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## SMP (Aug 29, 2018)

> I built a traditional style tool chest as the first thing to hold my tools. It was a good bit simpler than the exact design from Chris Schwartz's book, but still a good introduction into dovetailed cases. It worked pretty well, but since then I made a cabinet to hold tools and converted the chest into a toy chest for my nieces. The one in Chris Schwarz's book is really big, so think about your work space before committing to it.
> 
> I think that dutch chest design makes a lot of sense, if you want to work out of something like that. It is small enough to be fairly portable while still holding a pretty good set of tools. If you outgrow it you can just make some shelves or cabinets for the overflow tools. I really like keeping hand tools easily accessible, so lately I've been kicking around the idea of adding more open shelves and racks to the back of my bench and my wall to keep everything I use regularly out in sight.
> 
> - Wintergreen78


Yeah it definitely is big. I know Chris uses a lower addon box that he takes on the road. I asked about it and he sent me a link on the cut list for that lower box, so that is an option, but then it won't fit under my bench. Decisions decisions.


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## SMP (Aug 29, 2018)

> I ve built the ATC. One of my all-time favorite projects. Plenty of dovetail experience. That daunted me, at first. After a while, I was looking forward to each opportunity to make them "perfect" (though I never succeeded).
> 
> It IS big. Haven t even filled it completely! I keep it under an assembly "table" (double plywood on high sawhorses) in the center of my work-space and roll it out every day. Handy.
> 
> ...


Yeah I look forward to the DTs, since its a "shop" item, its a good thing to practice on.


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## SMP (Aug 29, 2018)

> SMP,
> 
> I have a traditional tool chest that mostly lives behind the main work bench. I do not in reality work out of it. My daily tools are on shelf s next to the chest but what I use it for is to store tools needed often but not daily and my wood stock planes. My guess is if it went away I d build another.
> 
> ...


Looks great, yeah I don't personally see working out of it. I am also building a Pekovich wall cabinet to put behind my bench for my most used tools. But I have a bunch of wooden moulding planes, hollows and rounds etc that I don't want in my day to day wall cabinet.


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## SMP (Aug 29, 2018)

> I have built both. Most of my tools are in the big chest. The Dutch style, the smaller one, goes with me to the narrow gauge railroad museum where I volunteer doing restoration work.
> 
> I enjoyed the build on both. The Dutch was built in a class at Lie Nielson with Chris Schwarz a few years ago.
> 
> - theoldfart


I first saw the dutch chest at an LN tool event, I guess since they sell the DVD they used it to show off. I probably would buy the DVD as well as follow the plans. Would love to take a class with Chris, but seems like they are all Midwest to back east, never here on the west coast.


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## AndyMcKenzie (Nov 5, 2011)

I've got a Dutch tool chest I built maybe six or seven years ago, and I don't think I'd trade it for anything. Fully packed, it holds every tool I use regularly, and a few I don't. The key ones are:

Top:
- A full set of screwdrivers in phillips and flat head.
- A full set of chisels (1/8" - 1 1/2"), plus a 1/4" mortise chisel.
- Full sized rip (5 1/2 tpi) and crosscut (~10 tpi)
- A set of gimlets
- Three joinery saws.
- Jointer, jack, and two smoothing planes, plus a couple of block planes and a cabinet scraper.
- 16" combination square, two smaller old try-squares, and two adjustable t-bevels.
- A couple of rasps
- If I'm going somewhere or just need to get everything out of the way, my shop apron with its load of small tools fits on top.
Bottom:
- #78 Rabbet plane, plus scrapers.
- marking gauges
- files for saw sharpening
- Big hammer, little hammer, medium mallet
- A couple of bit braces and an eggbeater drill, plus a bit case for small bits and a boxed set of bits for the braces
- A drawer of small tools, like a push drill, calipers, pliers, dividers, nail punches, and I don't recall what else
- A roll of drill and driver bits, and another with files and rasps
- A wooden straight rabbet plane, a set of match planes (tongue and groove), and maybe one more wooden plane. These usually live on a shelf, though, where they're easier to see.
- A coping saw.
- Whatever other detritus and small tools have wound up in it recently.

It stands on a cabinet directly behind me as I work at my bench, so a lot of tools only stay out while I'm working with them. The only things I use regularly that don't fit are clamps, and those hang on a rack near my bench. There's more space in the chest, but it starts getting hard to find things if I put any more in it.


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## livewire516 (Oct 13, 2018)

> ... the dutch chest won t likely fit all the tools recommended in the ATC book.
> 
> Thanks
> 
> - SMP


I myself just finished the Dutch tool chest. Here's a link to my LJ Project Page for it.

I personally wouldn't worry about fitting all the tools listed in ATC. I also own the book, and found myself thinking similarly at first; however, as time passes, I have a better idea of what kind of work I want to make. I let the requirements of the next project dictate my tool purchase. As a result, there are many tools listed by Chris I don't ever see myself purchasing.

That being said, I found his five or six part blog series at LAP on the ATC, five years later much more fitting to my needs. (tl;dr He nixed his fancy plow for an old Stanley No. 45, he counts his jointer and smoother essential alongside his fore plane, he doesn't think you need even a half set of hollows and rounds).

Either way, if you look at most woodworkers who've gotten bit by the bug - they end up making another tool chest at some point or another (it seems like most often just for the hell of it). So I wouldn't let distant, potential, purchases dictate what works best for you now.

Honest to goodness, the main reason I chose to go for the Dutch tool chest over the English-style is the slanting lid. I really don't trust myself to not put crap on top of it if it were level. The second reason is simply that I liked its appearance better.


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## bandit571 (Jan 20, 2011)

Hmmm…had the ATC for a while..









Got to the point it was hurting my back,,,bending over to pick out a tool, or put it back….









Went and built a 5 drawer Chest of Drawers to hold all the tools, instead.


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## bandit571 (Jan 20, 2011)

Someday…THIS will get built, when I have a better place to set, than a damp basement floor…









Was posted a long time ago, in WOOD magazine….


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## AMZ (Jan 27, 2020)

I have built variations of each, and I find the tool chest inconvenient to use (bending over). I like the Dutch tool chest much better, and I made a stand so I wouldn't have to place on my bench.

Each of us has specific tools we always use, and for me, the Dutch tool chest presents those tools easier to me.


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## Smitty_Cabinetshop (Mar 26, 2011)

I rebuilt this (and exhaustively blogged it here on LJs) and open it every time I'm in the shop.










It rolls mostly under a table when not in use, so nothing sits on top of it. I do have other storage solutions for my tools.


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## Mosquito (Feb 15, 2012)

I have built 75% of a dutch tool chest (no innards, just the carcass and lid). It's just storage right now, but finally made it out to the shop this fall. We moved before I finished it, so it became a way to move tools from one house to the next, and hasn't been unpacked yet, but it's on my list.

I opted for that instead of ATC simply because I liked the size more, and when I was building it, I had a much smaller (10×12) shop for it. I also like the effective use of space, and slant top design so I don't have too many things land on top of it.

Good discussions all around though, thanks for bringing it up, it's helpful for me as I begin to look at building solutions for my handtools at the bench in the near future


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## Wintergreen78 (Feb 11, 2019)

Since we are sharing other ideas, here is what I'm working out of right now. Sharpening station is on top, one drawer is marking/layout, I lay my back saws and coping saw in one drawer, spokeshave/rasp,file, etc. goes in one drawer, block plane/router plane/etc. in the last drawer, then bench planes/bigger stuff goes below. My chisels/mallet/panel saws all just live on racks the bench. It is working pretty well for me and I like having another work surface. Like I said before, I'm thinking about building wall-hanging tills for my saws and bench planes to get them more accessible. But I've decided I like having things in drawers and racks more than I like digging through a chest. The chest in the background is what I used before but gave away after making the cabinet.


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## BrentParkin (Nov 3, 2015)

I built the ATC a few years ago and I love working out of it. It's great storage. Although while using tools, they may sit out for a few hours but everything goes back to the chest by days end. Here is a link to my chest build here on LJ. https://www.lumberjocks.com/projects/268506


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