# Penguin Tool Chest



## bobasaurus (Sep 6, 2009)

*Design and Milling*

I decided to make a fancy wooden tool chest as a retirement gift for my Dad. Fortunately, there are many inspiring tool chests here on lumberjocks that I was able to use as a basis (such as JaiMaluga22's, jm82435's, Coleby's, and Mathew Nedeljko's). After examining these and many other tool chests, I came out with a design I liked and made a simple version of it in Sketchup:









(not sure why this turned out so blurry here… I must not be getting the image resolution correct and some resizing is fuzzing it)

This drawing only shows one of the 7 drawers so I could view/dimension the interior easily while working on the chest. The design has changed a little as I've worked on the project, but the overall dimensions (23.5" x 14.25×11) and layout are the same.

I went to my local sawmill, TC Woods, and picked up lots of walnut, maple, elm, and cottonwood (alas… I thought it was maple originally until I cut into it and noticed the smell). After lots of rough cutting, resawing, jointing, planing, etc, I was able to start the initial glue-up of the panels:










I achieved the 11" width of the boards by gluing up two ~5.5" pieces (small enough for me to run through the jointer while milling). Before the glue-up, I drilled pocket holes for some screws to add strength.

There was still lots to get done at this point, but it was a start.


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## Timbo (Aug 21, 2008)

bobasaurus said:


> *Design and Milling*
> 
> I decided to make a fancy wooden tool chest as a retirement gift for my Dad. Fortunately, there are many inspiring tool chests here on lumberjocks that I was able to use as a basis (such as JaiMaluga22's, jm82435's, Coleby's, and Mathew Nedeljko's). After examining these and many other tool chests, I came out with a design I liked and made a simple version of it in Sketchup:
> 
> ...


And now we have another reference for tool boxes, thanks for doing this blog. A nice design too.


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## bobasaurus (Sep 6, 2009)

*Routes and Many Dovetails*

I wanted this toolchest to be fairly traditional, so I worked on the setup for wooden runners early in the build. I used a 1/2" router bit to make dados that run most of the length of the side panels, stopping 3/8" shy of the front. This involved very delicate adjustments and stop-block placements:










The dados will give extra support for the runners, and make them easier to position. I also routed a sliding dovetail for a horizontal divider, and a normal dado for the plywood bottom to the top box/shelf thing.

I made the stupid mistake of routing into not just one, but TWO of my pocket screws . Fortunately, the carbide MLCS bit worked like an end mill and sheared right through the heads of the screws, leaving the bit unscratched. Hopefully I'll learn to watch my screw placements in the future.

Next I started on some of the many dovetails in this project. The sides and bottom are joined by hand-cut (with some help from the bandsaw for the tails) through-dovetails:










Next came the large half-blind dovetails for the top rails. I changed to half-blind from my initial design of through dovetails in order to hide the dado for a plywood bottom. These were also hand/bandsaw cut:


















Test-fitting the dovetails give me a slightly tool-chest-looking thing:


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## Smitty_Cabinetshop (Mar 26, 2011)

bobasaurus said:


> *Routes and Many Dovetails*
> 
> I wanted this toolchest to be fairly traditional, so I worked on the setup for wooden runners early in the build. I used a 1/2" router bit to make dados that run most of the length of the side panels, stopping 3/8" shy of the front. This involved very delicate adjustments and stop-block placements:
> 
> ...


Bob - very cool to see what's a close parallel to a project I did over the summer, specifically the different ways we each went about making it (panel glue ups, joining, stopped dados, drawer assemblies, etc.)



I'll be following this one. Nice work so far!


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## Timbo (Aug 21, 2008)

bobasaurus said:


> *Routes and Many Dovetails*
> 
> I wanted this toolchest to be fairly traditional, so I worked on the setup for wooden runners early in the build. I used a 1/2" router bit to make dados that run most of the length of the side panels, stopping 3/8" shy of the front. This involved very delicate adjustments and stop-block placements:
> 
> ...


Not damaging the router bit is a good thing. You could remove the pocket screws after the glue has dried or consider not using them at all as the glue joint is more than strong enough.


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## bobasaurus (Sep 6, 2009)

bobasaurus said:


> *Routes and Many Dovetails*
> 
> I wanted this toolchest to be fairly traditional, so I worked on the setup for wooden runners early in the build. I used a 1/2" router bit to make dados that run most of the length of the side panels, stopping 3/8" shy of the front. This involved very delicate adjustments and stop-block placements:
> 
> ...


Yeah, the glue joint is likely strong enough on it's own. I just like the kreg jig enough that I use it even when I don't need to. A biscuit jointer would have worked better for this application, though, if I really needed extra strength at all.


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## superdav721 (Aug 16, 2010)

bobasaurus said:


> *Routes and Many Dovetails*
> 
> I wanted this toolchest to be fairly traditional, so I worked on the setup for wooden runners early in the build. I used a 1/2" router bit to make dados that run most of the length of the side panels, stopping 3/8" shy of the front. This involved very delicate adjustments and stop-block placements:
> 
> ...


Looking good.


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## bobasaurus (Sep 6, 2009)

*Turquoise and Internal Dividers*

One of the bookmatched side panels of the chest had a large knothole that needed filling. I've seen lots of neat stone inlay here on lumberjocks and wanted to give it a try. My Dad found some crushed turquoise and fancy epoxy at a jewelry supply store, and I bought some bigger pieces at a local gem and mineral show. After testing the technique on some scrap, I epoxied the turquoise pieces into the knothole:










I tried to place in big pieces first, then fill the rest of the gap with smaller pieces, making something like islands floating in the resin. After filing off the bulk of the excess and rough sanding with a 40 grit disc, it looked like this:










After I finish fine sanding, the epoxy will turn clear, showing more embedded pieces inside the knothole. But that step comes much later.

Next I made the horizontal and vertical dividing panels that act as internal supports to the tool chest:










These are MDF lipped with hardwood, since the faces will be hidden by the drawers anyway. The horizontal panel has a sliding dovetail channel routed for the vertical panel. The vertical panel has routes matching the left/right sides of the tool chest to accommodate the wooden runners. These were tricky to place accurately.

Finally I had the parts needed for the initial glue-up of the outer carcass (the top rails are just there for support… they'll be glued in during a later step):










This was difficult with my lack of large clamps. I need to invest in some nice bessy/etc parallel clamps. The horizontal divider is only glued on the very front of the sliding dovetail to allow for wood expansion of the sides.


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## Smitty_Cabinetshop (Mar 26, 2011)

bobasaurus said:


> *Turquoise and Internal Dividers*
> 
> One of the bookmatched side panels of the chest had a large knothole that needed filling. I've seen lots of neat stone inlay here on lumberjocks and wanted to give it a try. My Dad found some crushed turquoise and fancy epoxy at a jewelry supply store, and I bought some bigger pieces at a local gem and mineral show. After testing the technique on some scrap, I epoxied the turquoise pieces into the knothole:
> 
> ...


Hardware edging = a great idea! Nice work, and I like the turquoise fill. Anxious to see how it finishes.


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## Timbo (Aug 21, 2008)

bobasaurus said:


> *Turquoise and Internal Dividers*
> 
> One of the bookmatched side panels of the chest had a large knothole that needed filling. I've seen lots of neat stone inlay here on lumberjocks and wanted to give it a try. My Dad found some crushed turquoise and fancy epoxy at a jewelry supply store, and I bought some bigger pieces at a local gem and mineral show. After testing the technique on some scrap, I epoxied the turquoise pieces into the knothole:
> 
> ...


Looking good! Also waiting to see the finished turquoise fill.


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## bobasaurus (Sep 6, 2009)

*Penguin Inlay*

My Dad spent a year at the South Pole as part of his job. Ever since he got back, friends and relatives have been jokingly giving him penguin-themed gifts (despite the lack of penguins at the South Pole), so it seemed like an appropriate subject for trying out wooden inlay.

I used the router inlay technique of the Wood Whisperer, which routes out a matching groove in solid stock, though doesn't use a template like some router inlay systems. Here is the pattern I came up with, traced from some penguin image I found on google:










I cut some walnut veneer for the inlay myself on the bandsaw, making it about 1/8" thick for extra support on the thinner regions (beak, toes, etc). I used the scrollsaw to cut out the penguin shape from the veneer, and cut out the wing shape with an inside-cut to add some extra detail. I used a small drill bit to make a hole for the eye. After tracing and routing the recess, it looked like this:










After gluing, sanding/scraping, and filling the wing/eye with putty, the inlay really came out well:










I think this will give the tool chest a little more visual interest.


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## gfadvm (Jan 13, 2011)

bobasaurus said:


> *Penguin Inlay*
> 
> My Dad spent a year at the South Pole as part of his job. Ever since he got back, friends and relatives have been jokingly giving him penguin-themed gifts (despite the lack of penguins at the South Pole), so it seemed like an appropriate subject for trying out wooden inlay.
> 
> ...


As if the hinges weren't enough, now you have a really cool inlay as well. I am very envious of your talent!


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## Smitty_Cabinetshop (Mar 26, 2011)

bobasaurus said:


> *Penguin Inlay*
> 
> My Dad spent a year at the South Pole as part of his job. Ever since he got back, friends and relatives have been jokingly giving him penguin-themed gifts (despite the lack of penguins at the South Pole), so it seemed like an appropriate subject for trying out wooden inlay.
> 
> ...


Wow, I have to agree with gfadvm: you're incredibly skilled with your tools, Bob! Congrats on pulling off this inlay!


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## bobasaurus (Sep 6, 2009)

*shipwright-style Box Hinges*

After seeing shipwright's nifty wooden box hinge technique , I knew I had to try it myself. I'm not sure if it's been attempted on this large a scale, but I'm happy with how it came out. The only change I made to the original technique was putting the grooves on the face of the board instead of the edge, that way the somewhat-unsightly filled groove would be hidden from view on the outside of the tool chest. Here is the initial setup with the grooves still open:










I then filled in the grooves on the cottonwood rail piece and test-fit it with the lid on the tool chest carcass:


































I haven't yet filled the walnut top's groove… that needs to happen after gluing in the rails, etc. The hinging action seems to be pretty smooth in my initial tests.


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## gfadvm (Jan 13, 2011)

bobasaurus said:


> *shipwright-style Box Hinges*
> 
> After seeing shipwright's nifty wooden box hinge technique , I knew I had to try it myself. I'm not sure if it's been attempted on this large a scale, but I'm happy with how it came out. The only change I made to the original technique was putting the grooves on the face of the board instead of the edge, that way the somewhat-unsightly filled groove would be hidden from view on the outside of the tool chest. Here is the initial setup with the grooves still open:
> 
> ...


That is a beautiful tool box in the making. You did a MUCH better job with the shipwright hinges then I did. Yours look perfect and mine just never seemed to fit together right. Your post encourages me to try again.


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## Bearpie (Feb 19, 2010)

bobasaurus said:


> *shipwright-style Box Hinges*
> 
> After seeing shipwright's nifty wooden box hinge technique , I knew I had to try it myself. I'm not sure if it's been attempted on this large a scale, but I'm happy with how it came out. The only change I made to the original technique was putting the grooves on the face of the board instead of the edge, that way the somewhat-unsightly filled groove would be hidden from view on the outside of the tool chest. Here is the initial setup with the grooves still open:
> 
> ...


You did a beautiful job and I'll bet Shipwright would say so too! (Not to put words in his mouth either)


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## SPalm (Oct 9, 2007)

bobasaurus said:


> *shipwright-style Box Hinges*
> 
> After seeing shipwright's nifty wooden box hinge technique , I knew I had to try it myself. I'm not sure if it's been attempted on this large a scale, but I'm happy with how it came out. The only change I made to the original technique was putting the grooves on the face of the board instead of the edge, that way the somewhat-unsightly filled groove would be hidden from view on the outside of the tool chest. Here is the initial setup with the grooves still open:
> 
> ...


Very nice.
Looks like a really good application - being such a large panel.

I like it very much. Excellent work.
Steve


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## PurpLev (May 30, 2008)

bobasaurus said:


> *shipwright-style Box Hinges*
> 
> After seeing shipwright's nifty wooden box hinge technique , I knew I had to try it myself. I'm not sure if it's been attempted on this large a scale, but I'm happy with how it came out. The only change I made to the original technique was putting the grooves on the face of the board instead of the edge, that way the somewhat-unsightly filled groove would be hidden from view on the outside of the tool chest. Here is the initial setup with the grooves still open:
> 
> ...


this looks great. I might not even bothered filling in the groove which will allow the top to come off it needed, although for esthetics you might want to fill it in and lock it in.


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## shipwright (Sep 27, 2010)

bobasaurus said:


> *shipwright-style Box Hinges*
> 
> After seeing shipwright's nifty wooden box hinge technique , I knew I had to try it myself. I'm not sure if it's been attempted on this large a scale, but I'm happy with how it came out. The only change I made to the original technique was putting the grooves on the face of the board instead of the edge, that way the somewhat-unsightly filled groove would be hidden from view on the outside of the tool chest. Here is the initial setup with the grooves still open:
> 
> ...


Those look super. Glad to see another application.
Two comments:
1) As strength is always an issue, I'd say that the larger the box the better these hinges are suited. I think that's what Steve was saying as well.
2) As you applied the hinge directly to a slab top, as opposed to the aproned top that I used, the slot cover is in the same position when closed as the original, that is facing down. That's a good modification to go with that change. I do suspect however that when finished you won't see them anyway.

Thanks for posting this, I definitely approve!


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## BritBoxmaker (Feb 1, 2010)

bobasaurus said:


> *shipwright-style Box Hinges*
> 
> After seeing shipwright's nifty wooden box hinge technique , I knew I had to try it myself. I'm not sure if it's been attempted on this large a scale, but I'm happy with how it came out. The only change I made to the original technique was putting the grooves on the face of the board instead of the edge, that way the somewhat-unsightly filled groove would be hidden from view on the outside of the tool chest. Here is the initial setup with the grooves still open:
> 
> ...


This is impressive. Not seen a wooden hinge this large before.


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## Jim Jakosh (Nov 24, 2009)

bobasaurus said:


> *shipwright-style Box Hinges*
> 
> After seeing shipwright's nifty wooden box hinge technique , I knew I had to try it myself. I'm not sure if it's been attempted on this large a scale, but I'm happy with how it came out. The only change I made to the original technique was putting the grooves on the face of the board instead of the edge, that way the somewhat-unsightly filled groove would be hidden from view on the outside of the tool chest. Here is the initial setup with the grooves still open:
> 
> ...


Cool hinges and nice box you made!!


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## bobasaurus (Sep 6, 2009)

*Drawer Runners*

Recently I've been making drawer runners for the tool chest (slow progress, I know). I started off with a piece of red oak about 8" wide. After hand-planing one face (too wide for my jointer) somewhat flat, I sent it through the planer to get the 1/2" width, then ripped and crosscut on the table saw to size. Using a 3/8" roundover bit, I made the round edge profile on one side to fit my runner dados:










I then used my thin-rip jig to cut out 3/8" strips to make the runners. With the 1/8" dado depth, it will leave 1/4" sticking out for the drawers to slide on:










I then made some countersunk holes for screwing the runners to the panels. I had a hard time getting them centered for some reason, despite center-punching and using a drill press. The front hole is sized for countersinking a normal flat-head wood screw. The rear hole is larger and countersunk with a bigger-than-necessary forstner bit to match the washer-head screw I'll be using. This too-big hole will allow the solid panels to move a bit with humidity/etc without the runners fixing them in place:










Next I have to sand out some burn marks on the runners, ease the edges, possibly pre-finish them since it will be hard after attaching, and attach them to the carcass.


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## FatherHooligan (Mar 27, 2008)

bobasaurus said:


> *Drawer Runners*
> 
> Recently I've been making drawer runners for the tool chest (slow progress, I know). I started off with a piece of red oak about 8" wide. After hand-planing one face (too wide for my jointer) somewhat flat, I sent it through the planer to get the 1/2" width, then ripped and crosscut on the table saw to size. Using a 3/8" roundover bit, I made the round edge profile on one side to fit my runner dados:
> 
> ...


Looks like it is going to be quite the box. I am really enjoying this blog, thanks for posting it.


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## bobasaurus (Sep 6, 2009)

*Dovetails and a Glue-Up*

Today I sanded the drawer runners for a while, then worked on the vertical divider's sliding dovetails. I first marked and chiseled-out the rear section of the sliding dovetail groove (I'd already done the front a few weeks back), then cut the recess in the front rail for the false front dovetail to fit into. Here are some pictures of the test fits:


















Then it was finally time to glue-up the top section of the carcass. I sanded all inside sections to 150 grit before starting, since sanding inside corners after assembly is a pain in the ass. I also masked off lots of areas to prevent glue drizzle issues. Using a disposable glue brush and titebond 3, I glued and clamped it all together:


















I had to bring it inside for the glue to cure properly. A garage shop in Colorado in November makes for a cold working environment.


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## JRL (Jun 14, 2011)

bobasaurus said:


> *Dovetails and a Glue-Up*
> 
> Today I sanded the drawer runners for a while, then worked on the vertical divider's sliding dovetails. I first marked and chiseled-out the rear section of the sliding dovetail groove (I'd already done the front a few weeks back), then cut the recess in the front rail for the false front dovetail to fit into. Here are some pictures of the test fits:
> 
> ...


This is my first look in on your penguin chest. captivating!
Now I will check your previous posts to get your technique for the hinge and for
the combination of woods you are using.

Thanks for the inspiration. Can't wait to see your coming posts.


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## fernandoindia (May 5, 2010)

bobasaurus said:


> *Dovetails and a Glue-Up*
> 
> Today I sanded the drawer runners for a while, then worked on the vertical divider's sliding dovetails. I first marked and chiseled-out the rear section of the sliding dovetail groove (I'd already done the front a few weeks back), then cut the recess in the front rail for the false front dovetail to fit into. Here are some pictures of the test fits:
> 
> ...


Allen, coming out great. Neat and tidy.

Great blog, great work


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## bobasaurus (Sep 6, 2009)

*Finishing the Carcass and Starting the Drawers*

I finally managed to finish the last part of the carcass assembly by gluing in the vertical divider. It's looking pretty awesome with everything together (except for the cheap pine plywood, which I'll cover with some material after finishing):


















This weekend, I've been spending my time flattening and cutting up a ridiculously twisted and bowed elm board:










This will become the drawer sides. After spending hours and hours with a combination of hand planes, the jointer, and the planer, I finally managed to get some reasonably flat 1/2" elm pieces. Wiping the board with water periodically helped reduce planer tear-out. Next time I'll buy flatter wood to save some of this effort… I didn't know what I was getting into with the time and work involved. Here's one of the nice and flat pieces after planing:










After ripping to width and squaring one end of each strip on my sled, I set up a jury-rigged stop block on the miter saw for cutting all sides to the same length:










The pieces seemed to bow again slightly after being ripped, so I clamped all the final cut drawer sides together to hopefully let them stabilize a bit while the last of my planer-wiped water dries:










Now I have to do a similar process for the fronts/backs of the drawers. The piece of maple I have for them is much straighter, thankfully.


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## superdav721 (Aug 16, 2010)

bobasaurus said:


> *Finishing the Carcass and Starting the Drawers*
> 
> I finally managed to finish the last part of the carcass assembly by gluing in the vertical divider. It's looking pretty awesome with everything together (except for the cheap pine plywood, which I'll cover with some material after finishing):
> 
> ...


bobasaurus That is a very nice looking tool chest. And I feel your pain with the warped board. I have had a few that I placed in the yard on the grass for 24 hours. The morning dew will set in and then the sunshine will pull the moisture into the board. Place the board cuped down. It allowed me to get it to the table saw for some what of a straight cut. Cutting it smaller then relieved some stress. All I have to join with is hand planes. And a board that warped will kick your but.
Great build keep us posted.


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## LeeJ (Jul 4, 2007)

bobasaurus said:


> *Finishing the Carcass and Starting the Drawers*
> 
> I finally managed to finish the last part of the carcass assembly by gluing in the vertical divider. It's looking pretty awesome with everything together (except for the cheap pine plywood, which I'll cover with some material after finishing):
> 
> ...


Very good looking project.

Lee


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## bobasaurus (Sep 6, 2009)

*Slow Drawer Progress*

My progress working on the tool chest has been very slow, mostly thanks to Colorado's cold weather and my unheated garage shop. But I finally got something done on the first drawer. I made a mistake laying out the dovetails, and unfortunately had already cut the tail members before realizing, resulting in this fiasco:










Oops. I was able to fill the holes with small wood pieces glued in, then re-cut the angle on the pins and re-fit the dovetail. Now I know, I guess. The rest of the drawers will have smaller pins on the edges to hide the stupid dado. At least the dovetails came out reasonably tight for being mostly hand-cut (I cheat with the bandsaw on the tails).

I then sanded the insides of the drawer (a little too far, creating some gaps… next time I'll have to take it easy on the inside sanding), fit a plywood bottom, and started the glue-up:










I use this room for generic storage right now. I want to get an assembly/glue-up table setup in the future so I'm not hunching over the carpet. I rubbed matching sawdust into any gaps in the dovetails, etc, while the glue was wet. Close-up of my new fancy clamps squeezing the drawer:










Here are the sides after a bit of light planing:


















And now I have 6 drawers left to do. I hope each one doesn't take me this long.


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## itsmic (Nov 11, 2009)

bobasaurus said:


> *Slow Drawer Progress*
> 
> My progress working on the tool chest has been very slow, mostly thanks to Colorado's cold weather and my unheated garage shop. But I finally got something done on the first drawer. I made a mistake laying out the dovetails, and unfortunately had already cut the tail members before realizing, resulting in this fiasco:
> 
> ...


Nice clamps, I can really relate to the cold weather being an issue, I also have, at present, an unheated shop, makes Your end result even more impressive, and a great write up on the process, thanks for sharing


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## bobasaurus (Sep 6, 2009)

*Fitting Drawers and Making Mistakes*

I finally finished dovetailing the last of the drawers. The next step was to sand the sides until they would slide easily into the tool chest (I made them a little too large to facilitate the fitting process). After getting all six little drawers to fit without runners (crowning the sides a bit with the orbital sander, unfortunately, but I'll flatten them better later on), I screwed their drawer runners in place:










I had applied one coat of finish to the dados and backs of the runners beforehand to seal against moisture, etc, without having to remove the runners again later and risk stripping the wood screw holes. The next step was routing the drawer sides for the runners. I spent ages measuring things with calipers, calculating exact distances, and doing test routes in scrap before routing the first drawer. And of course, it came out a little off anyways… sigh. I adjusted the cut a bit and rerouted the drawer and it fits okay now, though a little loose. The rest of the drawer routing went smoothly until I made one grave error:










I routed the damn back instead of the side on the first pass. And I thought I was being careful in the setup, too. At least it was on the back of the drawer instead of the front. I'll cut a strip of wood and fill the slot, maybe even put a contrasting color or something in there to look different "on purpose" instead of an obvious fix.

Here are the first few drawers sliding in:










The bottom drawer took a bit more work. I sanded the sides smooth with a block to avoid the problems the orbital was having crowning the smaller drawers' sides. Worked great, but took forever. Also, the middle divider of the carcass had bowed down a little, stopping insertion of the drawer while test fitting. I managed to get it flattened with a little block plane that would fit in the recess, followed by some sanding to remove the tracks (I'm not a great hand-planer yet). After a bit of planing on the drawer edges, I managed to get it pushed into place:










Looking pretty good, if uneven. Some sanding and planing will be required to flush the drawer faces after I've routed the bottom drawer sides. It's starting to look complete, incredibly.


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## Woodenwizard (Jan 25, 2010)

bobasaurus said:


> *Fitting Drawers and Making Mistakes*
> 
> I finally finished dovetailing the last of the drawers. The next step was to sand the sides until they would slide easily into the tool chest (I made them a little too large to facilitate the fitting process). After getting all six little drawers to fit without runners (crowning the sides a bit with the orbital sander, unfortunately, but I'll flatten them better later on), I screwed their drawer runners in place:
> 
> ...


WOW! This is really strating to look GREAT!


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## Egor (Aug 2, 2007)

bobasaurus said:


> *Fitting Drawers and Making Mistakes*
> 
> I finally finished dovetailing the last of the drawers. The next step was to sand the sides until they would slide easily into the tool chest (I made them a little too large to facilitate the fitting process). After getting all six little drawers to fit without runners (crowning the sides a bit with the orbital sander, unfortunately, but I'll flatten them better later on), I screwed their drawer runners in place:
> 
> ...


Looking good.


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## gfadvm (Jan 13, 2011)

bobasaurus said:


> *Fitting Drawers and Making Mistakes*
> 
> I finally finished dovetailing the last of the drawers. The next step was to sand the sides until they would slide easily into the tool chest (I made them a little too large to facilitate the fitting process). After getting all six little drawers to fit without runners (crowning the sides a bit with the orbital sander, unfortunately, but I'll flatten them better later on), I screwed their drawer runners in place:
> 
> ...


I still maintain that is the nicest tool chest I have seen. Your patience and perseverence is being rewarded. I know you have been at this for a while as I've been following along and enjoying the journey. Routing the dado on the back is no big deal (proves you're human) and I like the idea of contrasting strip to hide the goof.Keep up the good work.


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## bobasaurus (Sep 6, 2009)

*Attaching the Lid and Final Sanding*

I'm finally about done with the tool chest. After sanding the inside of the lid smooth, I attached it permanently to the carcass by gluing in strips of matching wood (masking off other areas to protect against glue drops/smears) and sawing/sanding flush:










I then spent forever sanding every corner of this damn thing. Rounding all the edges and de-pointing corners took a while too. I stopped at about 400 grit, then buffed with 0000 steel wool. The turquoise inlay now looks pretty nice with a mineral spirits wipe:










And finally it's ready for finishing! Here it is sitting in my spare room I use for finishing and glue-ups:










The picture isn't great, but the wood is quite shiny and looks pretty nice overall. I wish I matched the colors of the walnut strips that make up the bottom a little better, as the abrupt sapwood->heartwood change annoys me a little. Oh well. Now I have to decide what finish to use.


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## phtaylor36 (Jun 13, 2011)

bobasaurus said:


> *Attaching the Lid and Final Sanding*
> 
> I'm finally about done with the tool chest. After sanding the inside of the lid smooth, I attached it permanently to the carcass by gluing in strips of matching wood (masking off other areas to protect against glue drops/smears) and sawing/sanding flush:
> 
> ...


That looks pretty dang good!


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## ruddy (May 9, 2010)

bobasaurus said:


> *Attaching the Lid and Final Sanding*
> 
> I'm finally about done with the tool chest. After sanding the inside of the lid smooth, I attached it permanently to the carcass by gluing in strips of matching wood (masking off other areas to protect against glue drops/smears) and sawing/sanding flush:
> 
> ...


That is an impressive piece of work. Lovely toolbox.


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## gfadvm (Jan 13, 2011)

bobasaurus said:


> *Attaching the Lid and Final Sanding*
> 
> I'm finally about done with the tool chest. After sanding the inside of the lid smooth, I attached it permanently to the carcass by gluing in strips of matching wood (masking off other areas to protect against glue drops/smears) and sawing/sanding flush:
> 
> ...


I've been following along through the whole project and it has taken a while but it was worth it. That is absolutely gorgeous! If it is going to see actual use you may have to go with poly for durability but an oil finish would be beautiful, age nicely, and be easy to repair if needed. I'd probably go with several coats of oil and then wax but that's me.


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## bobasaurus (Sep 6, 2009)

bobasaurus said:


> *Attaching the Lid and Final Sanding*
> 
> I'm finally about done with the tool chest. After sanding the inside of the lid smooth, I attached it permanently to the carcass by gluing in strips of matching wood (masking off other areas to protect against glue drops/smears) and sawing/sanding flush:
> 
> ...


Thanks for following along, gfadvm. I just sanded two scrap pieces, one walnut and one soft maple, to the same grit as the tool chest. I'm trying out three finish combinations:

1. minwax tung oil / poly blend
2. satin wipe-on poly
3. one coat of the tung oil / poly blend, followed by the satin wipe-on poly for all other coats

Once I'm done with this test, I'll see which one I like and go with it. All of them use polyurethane, since I need some added durability (the spalted soft maple is REALLY soft in parts) and I like the look. I'm avoiding glossy poly finishes since I think a matte/satin finish will look better. Maybe I'll use some wax for the final coat… I have some minwax paste wax that might work, or I may invest in some carnauba wax or renaissance wax (any suggestions here?).


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## gfadvm (Jan 13, 2011)

bobasaurus said:


> *Attaching the Lid and Final Sanding*
> 
> I'm finally about done with the tool chest. After sanding the inside of the lid smooth, I attached it permanently to the carcass by gluing in strips of matching wood (masking off other areas to protect against glue drops/smears) and sawing/sanding flush:
> 
> ...


The wax won't add any protection or enhance the appearance but I feel like it REALLY enhances the 'touchability' factor. The Renissance is pricy but lasts forever (use very sparingly) and it dries almost instantly. It requires the least amount of buffing of the waxes I have tried. I apply my Renissance with a grey or white Scotch pad depending on how much I want to knock the shine down. I tried steel wool but didn't like getting all those teeny pieces of steel wool frags in my wax can.


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## bobasaurus (Sep 6, 2009)

*Finally Finished the Tool Chest*

I finally managed to finish the tool chest a little over a week ago (I was on a trip this week and couldn't post it). Here is the project page with the details:

http://lumberjocks.com/projects/67437

And a photo set with more pictures:



http://imgur.com/upQCL


Thanks for following along. It has been a long journey getting this thing to completion.


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## jumbojack (Mar 20, 2011)

bobasaurus said:


> *Finally Finished the Tool Chest*
> 
> I finally managed to finish the tool chest a little over a week ago (I was on a trip this week and couldn't post it). Here is the project page with the details:
> 
> ...


they say to never work in the shop buzzed. After viewing your tool chest I am going to refrain from going to the shop. I actually got a little high. Man I like that tool chest. Thanks for taking the time to post.


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## bobasaurus (Sep 6, 2009)

bobasaurus said:


> *Finally Finished the Tool Chest*
> 
> I finally managed to finish the tool chest a little over a week ago (I was on a trip this week and couldn't post it). Here is the project page with the details:
> 
> ...


Thank you my friend. It felt a little sad giving this thing away, though I was sick of working on it. It's good to keep your fingers intact, so please stay alert in your shop  .


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