# Dovetailed Hand Tool Cabinet



## JasonD (Jul 26, 2010)

*The plan...or lack thereof...*

I've slowly built my hand tool arsenal up over the past year. Unfortunately, I didn't have anywhere to put most of my new tools. I saw an article in the last issue of ShopNotes for a tool cabinet and it sparked my interest. I was originally going to build that exact cabinet, but as the project progressed, I found my Krenovian muse and let the project "go with the flow".

I remember the first time that I read James Krenov's "A Cabinetmaker's Notebook" and he talked about starting a project with just a general idea; maybe a couple of sketches or rough dimensions, but not having any strict plans to follow. The idea is to let the wood and the tools dictate the flow of the project and to work in the joy of the craft.

I thought to myself, "sure, you can do that, but I'd be too scared to try it". Well, I don't know what came over me, but some where in the middle of rough milling the boards to make the carcass, I decided to "wing it" and I'm very glad that I did.

This project was built using hand tools. The tasks and their respective tools are listed below:

Saws
dimensioning crosscuts = GreatNeck crosscut panel saw 
dimensioning rip cuts = Stanley rip panel saw 
joinery crosscuts = LV crosscut saw
joinery rips cuts = LV 20tpi dovetail saw

Chisels
Stanley FatMax 1/4", 3/8" bench chisels (chopping, shaping the tool holders, some paring)
Buck Bros. 1/2", 1" paring chisels

Planes
vintage Stanley #7 jointer plane with an IBC replacement blade and chipbreaker
LV LA Jack plane with both 25-deg blade (shooting end grain) and 38-deg (general dimensioning and smoothing)

Various other tools that I made myself
small mallet for light chopping / carving (hard maple / red oak)
large mallet for heavy chopping (hard maple / red oak)
shooting board for planing end grain and dimensioning small parts

This project included a LOT of "firsts" for me and I learned a ton of new techniques and had to come up with ways to handle tasks that I had never faced before. All in all, that means more to me than the finished product, because my primary motivation and inspiration as a woodworker is the chance to tackle new hurdles each day and learn something new.

Here is a link to the finished cabinet: Hand Tool Cabinet Project


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## JasonD (Jul 26, 2010)

JasonD said:


> *The plan...or lack thereof...*
> 
> I've slowly built my hand tool arsenal up over the past year. Unfortunately, I didn't have anywhere to put most of my new tools. I saw an article in the last issue of ShopNotes for a tool cabinet and it sparked my interest. I was originally going to build that exact cabinet, but as the project progressed, I found my Krenovian muse and let the project "go with the flow".
> 
> ...


Pat,
To be honest, I thought about the idea of my tools outgrowing my cabinet. That's why I installed all the tool holders with small brass screws, but no glue. That way, if I want to change something later, I can easily move things around or change what tools are stored in the cabinet. One thing I was thinking about in the future, it using this cabinet just for my marking / measuring tools and moving the saws to a saw till / cabinet that I will build in the future.


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## JasonD (Jul 26, 2010)

*One man's trash - making the cabinet back from scraps*

When I first started working on my Roubo workbench, I was given the advice to buy 2×12 lumber, rip the sides off to use to laminate the top, and then toss the pith section from the middle into the scrap bin. Needless to say, I ended up with a lot of pith scrap. The idea as I understood it is that the pith section is the least stable and to have it used in the bench top (or other critical parts of the bench) could lead the problems later.

Pith scrap end grain:










I did use some of the left over pith scraps on "non-essential" parts of the bench. For instance, I sawed and planed some down to use as the cleats to hold the shelf at the bottom of my bench. Even with that, I was still left with a bunch of scraps roughly 2" x 3" and ranging between 4' to 8' in length. When I started building this cabinet, I got the wild idea to rip and resaw some of these scraps to edge joint in order to create the back of the cabinet.

My line of thinking was this: considering that I would be cutting them so that there wouldn't be any more fully circular end grain on any one piece AND the fact that they were going to be so thin in their final size (3/8"), that it shouldn't be that much of a problem from a stability standpoint. Of course, this is all supposition on my part and a bit of a wood movement experiment.

So, I grabbed my trusty (cheap $10, plastic-handled) Stanley rip panel saw and got to work. I cut them a little more than 1/2" thick at first, because I expected them to move quite a bit (and some of them did). This would leave enough for me to be able to hand plane them down to 3/8" final thickness.

Here are some of the pieces sitting over night to allow them to move:










The first few edge-jointed pieces clamped up










While the back was being clamped / glued up in stages (I'm too much of a chicken to edge glue more than a few pieces at a time  ), I made some templates with scrap paper to begin to play with the layout of the tools. This also allowed me to get an idea of how wide the cabinet would have to be in order to accommodate the tools I wanted to store; remember, I was working without a plan here.


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## Chelios (Jan 2, 2010)

JasonD said:


> *One man's trash - making the cabinet back from scraps*
> 
> When I first started working on my Roubo workbench, I was given the advice to buy 2×12 lumber, rip the sides off to use to laminate the top, and then toss the pith section from the middle into the scrap bin. Needless to say, I ended up with a lot of pith scrap. The idea as I understood it is that the pith section is the least stable and to have it used in the bench top (or other critical parts of the bench) could lead the problems later.
> 
> ...


Looking forward to the next parts. You did a good job on the cabinet


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## JasonD (Jul 26, 2010)

JasonD said:


> *One man's trash - making the cabinet back from scraps*
> 
> When I first started working on my Roubo workbench, I was given the advice to buy 2×12 lumber, rip the sides off to use to laminate the top, and then toss the pith section from the middle into the scrap bin. Needless to say, I ended up with a lot of pith scrap. The idea as I understood it is that the pith section is the least stable and to have it used in the bench top (or other critical parts of the bench) could lead the problems later.
> 
> ...


Thanks, Chelios!


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## JasonD (Jul 26, 2010)

*Flow with the go*

While the pieces for the back were clamped / glued up, I spent some time practicing hand cut through dovetails for my next project. I had cut some where between 6 - 12 single tail practice dovetails off an on over the past 6 months or so. I'd never tried cutting an actual "set"; as in more than one tail and at least 3 pins (counting 2 half pins).

Well after cutting a practice set, I decided that the only way I was ever going to get any good at them was to use them more; not just in practice, but to commit to using them in a real project.

Here's picture of my practice set:










Originally, my cabinet was going to be built using plans from a recent issue of ShopNotes. The plans called for the carcass joinery to be through tenons and dados. Here is a link to the ShopNotes website with a picture to show what their cabinet looked like.

The ShopNotes cabinet is a great looking cabinet, no doubt, but a big part of me wanted to make the case using dovetails now. I guess I was finding my Krenovian muse without realizing it.

I like the look of pins that aren't too small, which meant I'd be limited to only two tails…but I wanted to do something different than just two equally sized tails. So, I decided to use one larger tail and one smaller tail. I positioned the larger tail toward the back of the cabinet. I can't explain why exactly, but I felt that this just "felt" better visually as far as weighting the cabinet's aesthetic. With the larger tail in the front, it would have looked awkward.

I cut the tails first. After sawing the sides of the tails, I tried removing the pin-waste from the tail boards a couple different ways in order to find which method worked best for me. Since the two cabinet sides offered four sets of tails, I figured it would give me a chance to try each of the three methods I had in mind and then finally use my favorite method to clean up the last set.

First, I tried cutting the bulk of the waste out with a coping saw, then paring the remainder at the shoulder line. On the opposite end of that carcass side, I tried drilling out most of the waste and then paring to handle the final clean up. On the third set, I chopped the waste out with a chisel the way I'd seen Roy Underhill do it in the tool chest till episode of the Wood Wright's Shop this past season. You chop out a good chunk of the waste and pair the last bit up to the shoulder line; as with the other methods. The chopping method was my favorite and I found it to be the fastest for me personally. I used this method on the final set of tails at the other end of the second carcass side.

I used my tail boards to layout my pins and cut the cheeks with the my LV dovetail saw. I then chopped out the tail-waste on the pin board using the same method that I used on the last two sets of tails. Of course, I had to angle the chisel to prevent from cutting into the sides of the sloping tails. The dovetails came together pretty close at first, but did require a little bit of paring to get them to come together tightly without having to break out a big mallet to whack them into place.

After a quick dry-fit, I got busy cutting out the dados / grooves to hold the cabinet back. I don't have a plow plane (yet). So, I had to figure out a way to do this with the tools I had. First, I scored the sides to define the dado with a mortising gauge. Next, I used a 1/4" chisel (the width of the dado / groove) and a small shop-made mallet to chop out the first 1/8" or so of the depth. After that, I used my marking knife to score the side lines deeper and got to the heavy whacking to chop out the bulk of the waste. I used a combination square to continually check to see when I got to my desired depth.










Once it was within 1/16", I turned the chisel bevel down and used shoulder pressure to "shave" the groove to get a consistent somewhat-smooth depth. After I was done getting the dados / grooves chopped out of all four carcass pieces, I did one more dry fit of the cabinet to double check my dado depths.

While it was together, I placed the tools inside to get an idea of how they would fit and what it might look like. I moved them around a few times until I got the layout that I liked.










After this, I glued the cabinet up and clamped it for the night. The next day, I planed the tails and pins flush using my LV LA jack plane. I absolutely LOVE this plane. It is literally in my hand every day that I'm in the shop.


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## JasonD (Jul 26, 2010)

JasonD said:


> *Flow with the go*
> 
> While the pieces for the back were clamped / glued up, I spent some time practicing hand cut through dovetails for my next project. I had cut some where between 6 - 12 single tail practice dovetails off an on over the past 6 months or so. I'd never tried cutting an actual "set"; as in more than one tail and at least 3 pins (counting 2 half pins).
> 
> ...


Oh, by the way: the title of this entry is not a typo. "Flow with the go" is an homage to a quote from Rickson Gracie used here as an homage to him.


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## JasonD (Jul 26, 2010)

JasonD said:


> *Flow with the go*
> 
> While the pieces for the back were clamped / glued up, I spent some time practicing hand cut through dovetails for my next project. I had cut some where between 6 - 12 single tail practice dovetails off an on over the past 6 months or so. I'd never tried cutting an actual "set"; as in more than one tail and at least 3 pins (counting 2 half pins).
> 
> ...


Oh, and I forgot to mention above. I used 2×12 pith scraps to make the back and tool holders, but the carcass pieces, door frame stiles / rails, and the glass stops were all made from a couple of pieces of 1×4 yellow pine boards.


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## jsheaney (Jun 25, 2007)

JasonD said:


> *Flow with the go*
> 
> While the pieces for the back were clamped / glued up, I spent some time practicing hand cut through dovetails for my next project. I had cut some where between 6 - 12 single tail practice dovetails off an on over the past 6 months or so. I'd never tried cutting an actual "set"; as in more than one tail and at least 3 pins (counting 2 half pins).
> 
> ...


I don't like chopping out all that waste between the pins and tails. It may be pretty quick with soft woods, but it takes (me) and awful long time with hardwoods. It's how I've been doing it, though, because I've never gotten used to turning the coping saw in that thin dovetail saw kerf. I *finally* figured out a way to do it on the project I'm just finishing up.

I take a Stanley FatMax and rip a big fat kerf right down the center of the waste as close to the base line as I dare. It takes about three long strokes and then a bunch of little ones to sneak up to the line. I have no trouble at all turning the coping saw in the gash left by that thing. A little cut to the left and a little cut to the right and I'm ready for paring.


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## jsheaney (Jun 25, 2007)

JasonD said:


> *Flow with the go*
> 
> While the pieces for the back were clamped / glued up, I spent some time practicing hand cut through dovetails for my next project. I had cut some where between 6 - 12 single tail practice dovetails off an on over the past 6 months or so. I'd never tried cutting an actual "set"; as in more than one tail and at least 3 pins (counting 2 half pins).
> 
> ...


BTW, nice job with the groove. That's awesome. I've chopped out short dados before, but never a long groove like yours.

One of these days, I should get a plow plane too, but I've been using a router table. I don't particularly like routers.


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## JasonD (Jul 26, 2010)

JasonD said:


> *Flow with the go*
> 
> While the pieces for the back were clamped / glued up, I spent some time practicing hand cut through dovetails for my next project. I had cut some where between 6 - 12 single tail practice dovetails off an on over the past 6 months or so. I'd never tried cutting an actual "set"; as in more than one tail and at least 3 pins (counting 2 half pins).
> 
> ...


Thanks for the big kerf idea. I'll definitely try it out some time soon. The more I work with yellow pine, the more I fall in love with it, but I do plan on branching out and working with some oak, maple, and ash in the future in some other dovetailing projects I want to tackle. I'll see how well the chopping serves me in those woods and decide then, but to be honest, I just really like banging away at a chisel with a mallet some times. lol

I HATE routers. I own one. I bought it with a router table a year ago when I started. I've used it a few times and I can't stand it. WAY too loud, way too much saw dust, and way too much fear of losing a finger (or four).

As for chopping out the kerfs, I really found my groove after a few of them and when I had to cut some grooves for some of the tool holders, the work went really quick and I enjoyed it; whereas it felt like "work" when I was cutting out the first few in the carcass sides.

I appreciate my table saw and for certain things (cutting plywood for instance) I really love it. But I have no love for tailed routers. My router and router table are inside a big black contractor-style garbage bag sitting in the back of my shed; been there for months and not missed one bit.

One of the things I love most about hand tools is that I can work at 5am or 11pm and never bother my neighbors or wake up my wife and kids. Also, I don't have to worry about hearing protection, dust masks, or goggles.


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## JasonD (Jul 26, 2010)

*Making the tool holders*

As I got further into the build process, I found myself really starting to fly by the seat of my pants. I really had a lot of fun working on the tool holders. This was the design process: grab the next tool, look at it a bit, pass it from one hand to another, and finally get an idea.

For the most part, I liked my first idea and went with it. The one area that I had to revisit and revamp several times was the holders for my joinery saws. I am happy with the set up that I eventually settled on. I don't remember exactly, but I think it was the 4th or 5th design.

All the tool holders were made using the same pith scraps that I used to make the back. As with the back, I purposely chose to use pieces that were "ugly"; including pieces with knots, odd grain patterns, etc. I absolutely LOVE the beautiful array of yellows, oranges, etc in yellow pine.

The tool holders were made by first ripping, resawing, and crosscutting the pieces to rough size using my panels saws. For the rip and resaw cuts, I used my new Stanley rip panel saw. I just got this saw a month or so ago on a whim at a local hardware store. It only cost $10 brand new and it works great. I'd cut about 80% to 90% of the way through the piece, then insert a shim into the kerf to keep it open, flip it over in the vise, and saw the remainder.










After that, I used my newly-built shooting board to mill the pieces flat and square on all six sides with my LV LA jack.










Having a shooting board made milling these small pieces SO much easier. I can't believe I didn't get off my behind and make one sooner.

To shape the holders, I then used a combination of sawing using my joinery saws, chopping / paring using a few different chisels, and in some cases, a little bit of filing using an 8" LV cabinet file.

Here are some pictures of some of the stops in their build process and when they were completed:


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## RGtools (Feb 18, 2011)

JasonD said:


> *Making the tool holders*
> 
> As I got further into the build process, I found myself really starting to fly by the seat of my pants. I really had a lot of fun working on the tool holders. This was the design process: grab the next tool, look at it a bit, pass it from one hand to another, and finally get an idea.
> 
> ...


This project is coming along nicely.

You have a very good approach to what you are doing.


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## JasonD (Jul 26, 2010)

*Half lap door frame, glass panel, glass stops...*

I didn't take too many pictures on the day that I built the door frame. This is particularly because it was the first time that I made a frame using half lap joints and I completely hate them and never want to use them again because they make me feel completely incompetent.

I did everything the way I normally do to cut a clean, square shoulder and cheek; just like when I cut tenons. I made sure the lumber was flat and square. I used the reference face and edge to score the lines to define the shoulders and cheeks. Then, I chiseled out a small "valley" to start a perfectly straight, sharp shoulder / cheek line. Even doing that, I wasn't happy with the final fit. Another thing that was a pain was figuring out where to put the clamps to pull one part together without pulling another part out of whack.

One thing I think that I could do differently is to clamp the two stile pieces up together to mark the shoulder lines at the same time. Then, do the same thing with the rails.

One thing that I did do was to clamp each half lap down with a small clamp, then clamp the frame together from the sides. Even though I did this, it still didn't seem to work the way I wanted it to.

Before gluing the door frame up, I cut out the rabbets on the inside faces of the stiles / rails to hold the glass door panel. I used basically the same method that I used to cut the carcass dados to cut the door frame rabbets. After the door was glued up, I measured the inside dimensions of the rabbet and visited my friend's glass shop the next day to buy a piece of 1/16" clear glass. I wanted a piece of 1/8" thick glass, but he didn't have any clear in stock large enough to serve as my panel.

I put the glass panel in place using some clear silicone. Of course, since I'd never used a glass panel before, I messed up and put too much silicone in some places. Carefully cleaning this up with a razor blade after it set up wasn't too hard, but it was an avoidable pain in the behind. Oh, well, you live and learn, I guess.

To make the glass stops, I crosscut, ripped, and resawed some scraps left from the 1×4s that I used to make the carcass. Then, I planed them flat, square, and to the proper size with my Stanley #7 jointer plane. Afterwards, I cut the miters on the ends with my LV crosscut joinery saw. I nailed the glass stops into place with really small brads, being careful to nail them at a slight angle without hitting the glass.



















Oh, I should also mention that I was going to go with a 1-1/2" deep dovetailed door in order to give me more tool storage room. My wife came into the shop to check out my progress one night and mentioned that she loved the look of the colors of the holders; especially in how they contrasted against the colors of the tools they'd hold. She suggested that I use a glass door panel; which is what led to me choosing to do half lap joints in the first place.


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## RGtools (Feb 18, 2011)

JasonD said:


> *Half lap door frame, glass panel, glass stops...*
> 
> I didn't take too many pictures on the day that I built the door frame. This is particularly because it was the first time that I made a frame using half lap joints and I completely hate them and never want to use them again because they make me feel completely incompetent.
> 
> ...


Half laps can be a pain, for such a simple looking joint you would think they would be no fuss at all. When you set your depth of cut use a cabinetmakers triangle to mark the adjoining faces of the pieces and use that face to mark the depth on both faces, that way if you are a little off, the pieces still match.

Don't you love being able to work small pieces without fear of losing fingers?


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## JasonD (Jul 26, 2010)

JasonD said:


> *Half lap door frame, glass panel, glass stops...*
> 
> I didn't take too many pictures on the day that I built the door frame. This is particularly because it was the first time that I made a frame using half lap joints and I completely hate them and never want to use them again because they make me feel completely incompetent.
> 
> ...


Thanks, RG. The problem wasn't so much being off on depth. I purposely left a little to plane flush in that regard. The biggest problem I had was alignment of the shoulders / cheeks. It wasn't anything major; but it was a real headache. I think the culprit was because I measured / marked each piece separately; instead of ganging them up the way I do when I mark out mortises.

When I'm marking out mortises for a door frame, I clamp both stiles together, get them aligned, then make one mark across them both at the same time. That way, I'm all but guaranteed to have them line up properly when I put the frame together. With this half lap frame, I marked each stile by itself and I'm guessing that allowed just enough room for error so that the frame's cheeks / shoulders weren't 100% flush / square when it was time to put it all together.

I also don't like half laps, because there's no mechanical interlock; which made assembly a pain. With mortise-and-tenon or dovetail joints, there is a solid mechanical interlock that holds it together while you're getting the clamps into place.


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## RGtools (Feb 18, 2011)

JasonD said:


> *Half lap door frame, glass panel, glass stops...*
> 
> I didn't take too many pictures on the day that I built the door frame. This is particularly because it was the first time that I made a frame using half lap joints and I completely hate them and never want to use them again because they make me feel completely incompetent.
> 
> ...


That's why I like bridle joints, easy to do but there is a nice mechanical interlock still.

Keep on knockin' it out. You'll get there.


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