[RGtools]

Design Considerations

The topic of tool chests has been quite polarizing on lumberjocks.com. The benefits, some would argue, are that they protect the tools, efficiently store them, cause one to think about what tools are absolutely necessary (i.e., getting back to the basics), and last of all, provide the woodworker with somewhere to sit. Others see tool chests as antiquated storage devices that were theft deterrents in their age and provided some mobility to those who worked on job sites, rather in their own shops or garages. They say that compared to drawers or wall cabinets tool chests are essentially difficult to use since one has to bend down to find the tools in the dark tool chest. Still others would say it's just a matter of taste or aesthetic. For me, I didn't really see much of an advantage to tool chests, especially since I was relatively new to hand tools and was still putting together a basic set of tools.

Now I have planes in tills, saws in tills, chisels and other hand tools hanging on the walls, and just a bunch of other tools sitting in a tool tote haphazardly. There's a place for everything, but my whole system just doesn't make sense. Thus, the need for better organization got me starting to think about tool chests, but also the desire to separate my finer, more used tools from the others. For instance, I have seven or eight back saws, but primarily use three of them. I own dozens of bench planes, but I usually only grab for one of about five frequently used planes. Building a tool chest will help make the whole process of which tools to use slightly more efficient. Yet what turned out to be the ultimate motivating factor was that many of my planes, sitting in their open till, were starting to show signs of rust, which makes it imperative to get them into an enclosed box of some sort.

Many people here are familiar with Chris Schwarz and his book, The Anarchist's Tool Chest, which I would crudely describe as being one part memoir, one part hand-tool apologetic, and one part tool chest design and instruction. Here's the traditional-style tool chest which he builds in that book:

[source]

I was never fully convinced that this is what I needed in my situation, especially since real estate in my one-car garage is very limited. Yet when Chris Schwarz was at the Highland Woodworking Hand Tool event back in February and he brought with him his newly crafted smaller "Dutch tool chest."

[source]

To be honest, I don't know much about Dutch tool chests, their provenance, history, and prevalence, but in terms of style they really appealed to me. I was especially attracted the one that Schwarz brought with him to Atlanta. I've seen Schwarz' larger Dutch tool chest and liked some of the features of that one as well.

[source]

See also, the accompanying YouTube video:

What I like first and foremost about these Dutch tool chests is the accessibility of all the tools in the top section: planes, saws (big and small), and smaller hand tools. Compare this to a traditional tool chest which may hide many of those critical tools underneath sliding tills that tend to get in the way. In the Dutch tool chest, the tools that are used less frequently can be placed in the lower shelf/shelves accessible from the front. The Dutch tool chest also appeals to me aesthetically. Here's a beautiful example of an older tool chest:

[source]

Here's What I'm Doing

My own design of the tool chest fits somewhere in between the smaller and larger Dutch tool chests built by Schwarz. Honestly, I don't know the exact dimensions of his tool chests, but mine will be based on need. First, I wanted to fit a few of my larger planes in there, including a jointer plane, and my larger hand saws, including my D-7 ripsaw which is about 31" long with the handle. I also liked the idea of including a smaller shelf for items that site flat such as a bow saw (for this idea I credit the Frontier Carpenter ). My tool chest doesn't need to be as small as Schwarz's because I don't lug my tools around the country, thus I'm adding some casters on the bottom to make it easier to move around in my garage. Also, unlike the Anarchist's tool chest, this one will not be a demonstration of fine joinery. I'm hoping to be done with it sooner rather than later and so I'll be using screws for most of the joints. The hardware will probably be on the cheaper side as well. Lastly, like Schwarz, I'm building it out of light, white pine in order to keep the weight and price of it fairly low.

I don't have any fancy plans for it, just some crude drawings, so I don't think I'll be posting any sketch up drawings or anything like that. I think Schwarz plans on writing an article on the Dutch tool chest in an upcoming issue of Popular Woodworking, so there will be much better information contained in that, I presume.

The next blog will start walking through some of the construction. Questions and comments are welcome as always.

The gears keep turning on me for this one.

Two major plus sides.

Less Material overall.
No Sliding tills means you can get away with things being a bit more out more out of square.

I'll be honest, the debate between this chest and the one I am building now would have went on for some time in my mind. I am really excited to see how yours comes out.

 

[BrandonW]

Design Considerations

The topic of tool chests has been quite polarizing on lumberjocks.com. The benefits, some would argue, are that they protect the tools, efficiently store them, cause one to think about what tools are absolutely necessary (i.e., getting back to the basics), and last of all, provide the woodworker with somewhere to sit. Others see tool chests as antiquated storage devices that were theft deterrents in their age and provided some mobility to those who worked on job sites, rather in their own shops or garages. They say that compared to drawers or wall cabinets tool chests are essentially difficult to use since one has to bend down to find the tools in the dark tool chest. Still others would say it's just a matter of taste or aesthetic. For me, I didn't really see much of an advantage to tool chests, especially since I was relatively new to hand tools and was still putting together a basic set of tools.

Now I have planes in tills, saws in tills, chisels and other hand tools hanging on the walls, and just a bunch of other tools sitting in a tool tote haphazardly. There's a place for everything, but my whole system just doesn't make sense. Thus, the need for better organization got me starting to think about tool chests, but also the desire to separate my finer, more used tools from the others. For instance, I have seven or eight back saws, but primarily use three of them. I own dozens of bench planes, but I usually only grab for one of about five frequently used planes. Building a tool chest will help make the whole process of which tools to use slightly more efficient. Yet what turned out to be the ultimate motivating factor was that many of my planes, sitting in their open till, were starting to show signs of rust, which makes it imperative to get them into an enclosed box of some sort.

Many people here are familiar with Chris Schwarz and his book, The Anarchist's Tool Chest, which I would crudely describe as being one part memoir, one part hand-tool apologetic, and one part tool chest design and instruction. Here's the traditional-style tool chest which he builds in that book:

[source]

I was never fully convinced that this is what I needed in my situation, especially since real estate in my one-car garage is very limited. Yet when Chris Schwarz was at the Highland Woodworking Hand Tool event back in February and he brought with him his newly crafted smaller "Dutch tool chest."

[source]

To be honest, I don't know much about Dutch tool chests, their provenance, history, and prevalence, but in terms of style they really appealed to me. I was especially attracted the one that Schwarz brought with him to Atlanta. I've seen Schwarz' larger Dutch tool chest and liked some of the features of that one as well.

[source]

See also, the accompanying YouTube video:

What I like first and foremost about these Dutch tool chests is the accessibility of all the tools in the top section: planes, saws (big and small), and smaller hand tools. Compare this to a traditional tool chest which may hide many of those critical tools underneath sliding tills that tend to get in the way. In the Dutch tool chest, the tools that are used less frequently can be placed in the lower shelf/shelves accessible from the front. The Dutch tool chest also appeals to me aesthetically. Here's a beautiful example of an older tool chest:

[source]

Here's What I'm Doing

My own design of the tool chest fits somewhere in between the smaller and larger Dutch tool chests built by Schwarz. Honestly, I don't know the exact dimensions of his tool chests, but mine will be based on need. First, I wanted to fit a few of my larger planes in there, including a jointer plane, and my larger hand saws, including my D-7 ripsaw which is about 31" long with the handle. I also liked the idea of including a smaller shelf for items that site flat such as a bow saw (for this idea I credit the Frontier Carpenter ). My tool chest doesn't need to be as small as Schwarz's because I don't lug my tools around the country, thus I'm adding some casters on the bottom to make it easier to move around in my garage. Also, unlike the Anarchist's tool chest, this one will not be a demonstration of fine joinery. I'm hoping to be done with it sooner rather than later and so I'll be using screws for most of the joints. The hardware will probably be on the cheaper side as well. Lastly, like Schwarz, I'm building it out of light, white pine in order to keep the weight and price of it fairly low.

I don't have any fancy plans for it, just some crude drawings, so I don't think I'll be posting any sketch up drawings or anything like that. I think Schwarz plans on writing an article on the Dutch tool chest in an upcoming issue of Popular Woodworking, so there will be much better information contained in that, I presume.

The next blog will start walking through some of the construction. Questions and comments are welcome as always.

Earlier today I added another post to this blog and it can be found here: http://lumberjocks.com/BrandonW/blog/35391

 

[Witte]

Design Considerations

The topic of tool chests has been quite polarizing on lumberjocks.com. The benefits, some would argue, are that they protect the tools, efficiently store them, cause one to think about what tools are absolutely necessary (i.e., getting back to the basics), and last of all, provide the woodworker with somewhere to sit. Others see tool chests as antiquated storage devices that were theft deterrents in their age and provided some mobility to those who worked on job sites, rather in their own shops or garages. They say that compared to drawers or wall cabinets tool chests are essentially difficult to use since one has to bend down to find the tools in the dark tool chest. Still others would say it's just a matter of taste or aesthetic. For me, I didn't really see much of an advantage to tool chests, especially since I was relatively new to hand tools and was still putting together a basic set of tools.

Now I have planes in tills, saws in tills, chisels and other hand tools hanging on the walls, and just a bunch of other tools sitting in a tool tote haphazardly. There's a place for everything, but my whole system just doesn't make sense. Thus, the need for better organization got me starting to think about tool chests, but also the desire to separate my finer, more used tools from the others. For instance, I have seven or eight back saws, but primarily use three of them. I own dozens of bench planes, but I usually only grab for one of about five frequently used planes. Building a tool chest will help make the whole process of which tools to use slightly more efficient. Yet what turned out to be the ultimate motivating factor was that many of my planes, sitting in their open till, were starting to show signs of rust, which makes it imperative to get them into an enclosed box of some sort.

Many people here are familiar with Chris Schwarz and his book, The Anarchist's Tool Chest, which I would crudely describe as being one part memoir, one part hand-tool apologetic, and one part tool chest design and instruction. Here's the traditional-style tool chest which he builds in that book:

[source]

I was never fully convinced that this is what I needed in my situation, especially since real estate in my one-car garage is very limited. Yet when Chris Schwarz was at the Highland Woodworking Hand Tool event back in February and he brought with him his newly crafted smaller "Dutch tool chest."

[source]

To be honest, I don't know much about Dutch tool chests, their provenance, history, and prevalence, but in terms of style they really appealed to me. I was especially attracted the one that Schwarz brought with him to Atlanta. I've seen Schwarz' larger Dutch tool chest and liked some of the features of that one as well.

[source]

See also, the accompanying YouTube video:

What I like first and foremost about these Dutch tool chests is the accessibility of all the tools in the top section: planes, saws (big and small), and smaller hand tools. Compare this to a traditional tool chest which may hide many of those critical tools underneath sliding tills that tend to get in the way. In the Dutch tool chest, the tools that are used less frequently can be placed in the lower shelf/shelves accessible from the front. The Dutch tool chest also appeals to me aesthetically. Here's a beautiful example of an older tool chest:

[source]

Here's What I'm Doing

My own design of the tool chest fits somewhere in between the smaller and larger Dutch tool chests built by Schwarz. Honestly, I don't know the exact dimensions of his tool chests, but mine will be based on need. First, I wanted to fit a few of my larger planes in there, including a jointer plane, and my larger hand saws, including my D-7 ripsaw which is about 31" long with the handle. I also liked the idea of including a smaller shelf for items that site flat such as a bow saw (for this idea I credit the Frontier Carpenter ). My tool chest doesn't need to be as small as Schwarz's because I don't lug my tools around the country, thus I'm adding some casters on the bottom to make it easier to move around in my garage. Also, unlike the Anarchist's tool chest, this one will not be a demonstration of fine joinery. I'm hoping to be done with it sooner rather than later and so I'll be using screws for most of the joints. The hardware will probably be on the cheaper side as well. Lastly, like Schwarz, I'm building it out of light, white pine in order to keep the weight and price of it fairly low.

I don't have any fancy plans for it, just some crude drawings, so I don't think I'll be posting any sketch up drawings or anything like that. I think Schwarz plans on writing an article on the Dutch tool chest in an upcoming issue of Popular Woodworking, so there will be much better information contained in that, I presume.

The next blog will start walking through some of the construction. Questions and comments are welcome as always.

I am a shipwright from the Netherlands and would like to know the history of the Dutch toolbox . I have never seen a toolbox like that in the Netherlands , for me it looks like a typical shop toolbox because it's very uneconomic to trans port because of it's shape and also because the tools in the bottom part lay loose . I am retired now but during my working life I had to travel a lot and if I look at all the boxes I would be scared to travel with them , they all look so shiny , mine was scratched and battered and was litterly to hold and protect my tools !

 

[BrandonW]

Building the Carcass

So I've manage to build the carcass for the tool chest. Its footprint is about 33" wide by 15" deep. In terms of height, the front of the tool chest is about 23" tall and in the back it is about 31" tall. The size is a bit bigger, at least in terms of width, than the Schwarz design, but again I designed it based on the width of my ripsaw. Here are some photos of the progress so far.

Here's the basic box without the shelves and bottom install:

The middle shelf, seen here, does not protrude all the way to the front of the cabinet. I designed it this way so that when I look into the bottom shelf the contents in the back would be a bit more visible from a higher angle.

And here it is with the bottom installed:

This is the glue-up of the front "door" piece (not sure what else to call this). The pieces are ship lapped.

I decided to paint the whole thing a dark green. Actually the name of the color is "evergreen bough." I was debating between a green and a blue and ultimately liked this color best. Yes, I used latex and not milk paint, primarily because latex is inexpensive and easily available in whatever color I need.

I put these runners on the inside of the door in order to hold the door in place and to align it, although the locking strips (see below) must be in place to keep the door on.

The door stays in place with these brackets that hold piece of wood which can be slid in from the top. This keeps the whole door tight against the cabinet. The brackets are made out of jatoba so that they'll be nice and strong.

This shows the locking mechanism for the door from the top of the tool chest. I used beech for the strips of wood that lock the door in place.

My largest saw, sitting inside the top section of the tool chest. I'm still running through a few different ideas of where to put the larger hand saws and how to do it, and so I'm still open to suggestions at this point.

Thanks for looking!

 

[Smitty_Cabinetshop]

Building the Carcass

So I've manage to build the carcass for the tool chest. Its footprint is about 33" wide by 15" deep. In terms of height, the front of the tool chest is about 23" tall and in the back it is about 31" tall. The size is a bit bigger, at least in terms of width, than the Schwarz design, but again I designed it based on the width of my ripsaw. Here are some photos of the progress so far.

Here's the basic box without the shelves and bottom install:

The middle shelf, seen here, does not protrude all the way to the front of the cabinet. I designed it this way so that when I look into the bottom shelf the contents in the back would be a bit more visible from a higher angle.

And here it is with the bottom installed:

This is the glue-up of the front "door" piece (not sure what else to call this). The pieces are ship lapped.

I decided to paint the whole thing a dark green. Actually the name of the color is "evergreen bough." I was debating between a green and a blue and ultimately liked this color best. Yes, I used latex and not milk paint, primarily because latex is inexpensive and easily available in whatever color I need.

I put these runners on the inside of the door in order to hold the door in place and to align it, although the locking strips (see below) must be in place to keep the door on.

The door stays in place with these brackets that hold piece of wood which can be slid in from the top. This keeps the whole door tight against the cabinet. The brackets are made out of jatoba so that they'll be nice and strong.

This shows the locking mechanism for the door from the top of the tool chest. I used beech for the strips of wood that lock the door in place.

My largest saw, sitting inside the top section of the tool chest. I'm still running through a few different ideas of where to put the larger hand saws and how to do it, and so I'm still open to suggestions at this point.

Thanks for looking!

Brandon, this is looking like a great piece of work! I like the different woods, and I like the paint (Surprise!) in particular. Congrats on taking the plunge in the first place, re: the dutchman. The discussion has been interesting to follow thusfar; there's quite a bit about this form I find compelling. Higher on top, smaller overall footprint, inviting are a few things in it's favor.

Keep us updated!

 

[ShaneA]

Building the Carcass

So I've manage to build the carcass for the tool chest. Its footprint is about 33" wide by 15" deep. In terms of height, the front of the tool chest is about 23" tall and in the back it is about 31" tall. The size is a bit bigger, at least in terms of width, than the Schwarz design, but again I designed it based on the width of my ripsaw. Here are some photos of the progress so far.

Here's the basic box without the shelves and bottom install:

The middle shelf, seen here, does not protrude all the way to the front of the cabinet. I designed it this way so that when I look into the bottom shelf the contents in the back would be a bit more visible from a higher angle.

And here it is with the bottom installed:

This is the glue-up of the front "door" piece (not sure what else to call this). The pieces are ship lapped.

I decided to paint the whole thing a dark green. Actually the name of the color is "evergreen bough." I was debating between a green and a blue and ultimately liked this color best. Yes, I used latex and not milk paint, primarily because latex is inexpensive and easily available in whatever color I need.

I put these runners on the inside of the door in order to hold the door in place and to align it, although the locking strips (see below) must be in place to keep the door on.

The door stays in place with these brackets that hold piece of wood which can be slid in from the top. This keeps the whole door tight against the cabinet. The brackets are made out of jatoba so that they'll be nice and strong.

This shows the locking mechanism for the door from the top of the tool chest. I used beech for the strips of wood that lock the door in place.

My largest saw, sitting inside the top section of the tool chest. I'm still running through a few different ideas of where to put the larger hand saws and how to do it, and so I'm still open to suggestions at this point.

Thanks for looking!

Looking good Brandon.

Did you get a new TS? Looks like a PM in the background, thought you had the Rigid…

 

[mochoa]

Building the Carcass

So I've manage to build the carcass for the tool chest. Its footprint is about 33" wide by 15" deep. In terms of height, the front of the tool chest is about 23" tall and in the back it is about 31" tall. The size is a bit bigger, at least in terms of width, than the Schwarz design, but again I designed it based on the width of my ripsaw. Here are some photos of the progress so far.

Here's the basic box without the shelves and bottom install:

The middle shelf, seen here, does not protrude all the way to the front of the cabinet. I designed it this way so that when I look into the bottom shelf the contents in the back would be a bit more visible from a higher angle.

And here it is with the bottom installed:

This is the glue-up of the front "door" piece (not sure what else to call this). The pieces are ship lapped.

I decided to paint the whole thing a dark green. Actually the name of the color is "evergreen bough." I was debating between a green and a blue and ultimately liked this color best. Yes, I used latex and not milk paint, primarily because latex is inexpensive and easily available in whatever color I need.

I put these runners on the inside of the door in order to hold the door in place and to align it, although the locking strips (see below) must be in place to keep the door on.

The door stays in place with these brackets that hold piece of wood which can be slid in from the top. This keeps the whole door tight against the cabinet. The brackets are made out of jatoba so that they'll be nice and strong.

This shows the locking mechanism for the door from the top of the tool chest. I used beech for the strips of wood that lock the door in place.

My largest saw, sitting inside the top section of the tool chest. I'm still running through a few different ideas of where to put the larger hand saws and how to do it, and so I'm still open to suggestions at this point.

Thanks for looking!

Its looking great man and I think the latex paint looks perfect.

 

[BrandonW]

Building the Carcass

So I've manage to build the carcass for the tool chest. Its footprint is about 33" wide by 15" deep. In terms of height, the front of the tool chest is about 23" tall and in the back it is about 31" tall. The size is a bit bigger, at least in terms of width, than the Schwarz design, but again I designed it based on the width of my ripsaw. Here are some photos of the progress so far.

Here's the basic box without the shelves and bottom install:

The middle shelf, seen here, does not protrude all the way to the front of the cabinet. I designed it this way so that when I look into the bottom shelf the contents in the back would be a bit more visible from a higher angle.

And here it is with the bottom installed:

This is the glue-up of the front "door" piece (not sure what else to call this). The pieces are ship lapped.

I decided to paint the whole thing a dark green. Actually the name of the color is "evergreen bough." I was debating between a green and a blue and ultimately liked this color best. Yes, I used latex and not milk paint, primarily because latex is inexpensive and easily available in whatever color I need.

I put these runners on the inside of the door in order to hold the door in place and to align it, although the locking strips (see below) must be in place to keep the door on.

The door stays in place with these brackets that hold piece of wood which can be slid in from the top. This keeps the whole door tight against the cabinet. The brackets are made out of jatoba so that they'll be nice and strong.

This shows the locking mechanism for the door from the top of the tool chest. I used beech for the strips of wood that lock the door in place.

My largest saw, sitting inside the top section of the tool chest. I'm still running through a few different ideas of where to put the larger hand saws and how to do it, and so I'm still open to suggestions at this point.

Thanks for looking!

Smitty, thanks for the comments. I thought you'd like the paint, too.

Shane, no new TS. I still have the R4511, but I'd definitely take a PM if someone has an extra one.

Mauricio, yeah I get the latex from Home Depot. It's only $2.99 for a sample size in whatever color you need. I bought two of those and will have plenty of paint left over.

 

[a1Jim]

Building the Carcass

So I've manage to build the carcass for the tool chest. Its footprint is about 33" wide by 15" deep. In terms of height, the front of the tool chest is about 23" tall and in the back it is about 31" tall. The size is a bit bigger, at least in terms of width, than the Schwarz design, but again I designed it based on the width of my ripsaw. Here are some photos of the progress so far.

Here's the basic box without the shelves and bottom install:

The middle shelf, seen here, does not protrude all the way to the front of the cabinet. I designed it this way so that when I look into the bottom shelf the contents in the back would be a bit more visible from a higher angle.

And here it is with the bottom installed:

This is the glue-up of the front "door" piece (not sure what else to call this). The pieces are ship lapped.

I decided to paint the whole thing a dark green. Actually the name of the color is "evergreen bough." I was debating between a green and a blue and ultimately liked this color best. Yes, I used latex and not milk paint, primarily because latex is inexpensive and easily available in whatever color I need.

I put these runners on the inside of the door in order to hold the door in place and to align it, although the locking strips (see below) must be in place to keep the door on.

The door stays in place with these brackets that hold piece of wood which can be slid in from the top. This keeps the whole door tight against the cabinet. The brackets are made out of jatoba so that they'll be nice and strong.

This shows the locking mechanism for the door from the top of the tool chest. I used beech for the strips of wood that lock the door in place.

My largest saw, sitting inside the top section of the tool chest. I'm still running through a few different ideas of where to put the larger hand saws and how to do it, and so I'm still open to suggestions at this point.

Thanks for looking!

looking good.

 

[chrisstef]

Building the Carcass

So I've manage to build the carcass for the tool chest. Its footprint is about 33" wide by 15" deep. In terms of height, the front of the tool chest is about 23" tall and in the back it is about 31" tall. The size is a bit bigger, at least in terms of width, than the Schwarz design, but again I designed it based on the width of my ripsaw. Here are some photos of the progress so far.

Here's the basic box without the shelves and bottom install:

The middle shelf, seen here, does not protrude all the way to the front of the cabinet. I designed it this way so that when I look into the bottom shelf the contents in the back would be a bit more visible from a higher angle.

And here it is with the bottom installed:

This is the glue-up of the front "door" piece (not sure what else to call this). The pieces are ship lapped.

I decided to paint the whole thing a dark green. Actually the name of the color is "evergreen bough." I was debating between a green and a blue and ultimately liked this color best. Yes, I used latex and not milk paint, primarily because latex is inexpensive and easily available in whatever color I need.

I put these runners on the inside of the door in order to hold the door in place and to align it, although the locking strips (see below) must be in place to keep the door on.

The door stays in place with these brackets that hold piece of wood which can be slid in from the top. This keeps the whole door tight against the cabinet. The brackets are made out of jatoba so that they'll be nice and strong.

This shows the locking mechanism for the door from the top of the tool chest. I used beech for the strips of wood that lock the door in place.

My largest saw, sitting inside the top section of the tool chest. I'm still running through a few different ideas of where to put the larger hand saws and how to do it, and so I'm still open to suggestions at this point.

Thanks for looking!

I like the choice on the paint, it will still show the grain and the knots thorugh it over time. That green is a great classic color.

The design reminds me of a job box with the angled lid. Can i suggest hydraulic or pnuematic pistons on it to keep it from inadvertantly crashing down on your melon while digging for tools at the bottom. No quicker way to ruin a day than taking a shot to the ole noggin. Lord knows ive taken way too many (obviously).

 

[RGtools]

Building the Carcass

So I've manage to build the carcass for the tool chest. Its footprint is about 33" wide by 15" deep. In terms of height, the front of the tool chest is about 23" tall and in the back it is about 31" tall. The size is a bit bigger, at least in terms of width, than the Schwarz design, but again I designed it based on the width of my ripsaw. Here are some photos of the progress so far.

Here's the basic box without the shelves and bottom install:

The middle shelf, seen here, does not protrude all the way to the front of the cabinet. I designed it this way so that when I look into the bottom shelf the contents in the back would be a bit more visible from a higher angle.

And here it is with the bottom installed:

This is the glue-up of the front "door" piece (not sure what else to call this). The pieces are ship lapped.

I decided to paint the whole thing a dark green. Actually the name of the color is "evergreen bough." I was debating between a green and a blue and ultimately liked this color best. Yes, I used latex and not milk paint, primarily because latex is inexpensive and easily available in whatever color I need.

I put these runners on the inside of the door in order to hold the door in place and to align it, although the locking strips (see below) must be in place to keep the door on.

The door stays in place with these brackets that hold piece of wood which can be slid in from the top. This keeps the whole door tight against the cabinet. The brackets are made out of jatoba so that they'll be nice and strong.

This shows the locking mechanism for the door from the top of the tool chest. I used beech for the strips of wood that lock the door in place.

My largest saw, sitting inside the top section of the tool chest. I'm still running through a few different ideas of where to put the larger hand saws and how to do it, and so I'm still open to suggestions at this point.

Thanks for looking!

This answered a lot of questions about the construction on this style of chest for me, thanks.

How many full length saws are you planing on putting in there? Actually knowing all the saws might prove handy.

our saw kit really does to a lot to dictate the remaining space (recent experience on my tool chest talking here).

Great looking work so far.

 

[BrandonW]

Building the Carcass

So I've manage to build the carcass for the tool chest. Its footprint is about 33" wide by 15" deep. In terms of height, the front of the tool chest is about 23" tall and in the back it is about 31" tall. The size is a bit bigger, at least in terms of width, than the Schwarz design, but again I designed it based on the width of my ripsaw. Here are some photos of the progress so far.

Here's the basic box without the shelves and bottom install:

The middle shelf, seen here, does not protrude all the way to the front of the cabinet. I designed it this way so that when I look into the bottom shelf the contents in the back would be a bit more visible from a higher angle.

And here it is with the bottom installed:

This is the glue-up of the front "door" piece (not sure what else to call this). The pieces are ship lapped.

I decided to paint the whole thing a dark green. Actually the name of the color is "evergreen bough." I was debating between a green and a blue and ultimately liked this color best. Yes, I used latex and not milk paint, primarily because latex is inexpensive and easily available in whatever color I need.

I put these runners on the inside of the door in order to hold the door in place and to align it, although the locking strips (see below) must be in place to keep the door on.

The door stays in place with these brackets that hold piece of wood which can be slid in from the top. This keeps the whole door tight against the cabinet. The brackets are made out of jatoba so that they'll be nice and strong.

This shows the locking mechanism for the door from the top of the tool chest. I used beech for the strips of wood that lock the door in place.

My largest saw, sitting inside the top section of the tool chest. I'm still running through a few different ideas of where to put the larger hand saws and how to do it, and so I'm still open to suggestions at this point.

Thanks for looking!

Thanks guys. Sorry to hear about your experiences, Stef.

Ryan, I only plan on putting two full length saws-- one rip and one cross cut. I haven't given up on the idea of attaching them to the lid, but I'd do it differently than Schwarz did his since I want to be able to pull them out from the top of the opened door. Another option would be to put them either in the top of the box or on that small shelf in the lower section and put a bow saw on the lid. I don't own a bow saw yet, but will probably soon.

 

[489tad]

Building the Carcass

So I've manage to build the carcass for the tool chest. Its footprint is about 33" wide by 15" deep. In terms of height, the front of the tool chest is about 23" tall and in the back it is about 31" tall. The size is a bit bigger, at least in terms of width, than the Schwarz design, but again I designed it based on the width of my ripsaw. Here are some photos of the progress so far.

Here's the basic box without the shelves and bottom install:

The middle shelf, seen here, does not protrude all the way to the front of the cabinet. I designed it this way so that when I look into the bottom shelf the contents in the back would be a bit more visible from a higher angle.

And here it is with the bottom installed:

This is the glue-up of the front "door" piece (not sure what else to call this). The pieces are ship lapped.

I decided to paint the whole thing a dark green. Actually the name of the color is "evergreen bough." I was debating between a green and a blue and ultimately liked this color best. Yes, I used latex and not milk paint, primarily because latex is inexpensive and easily available in whatever color I need.

I put these runners on the inside of the door in order to hold the door in place and to align it, although the locking strips (see below) must be in place to keep the door on.

The door stays in place with these brackets that hold piece of wood which can be slid in from the top. This keeps the whole door tight against the cabinet. The brackets are made out of jatoba so that they'll be nice and strong.

This shows the locking mechanism for the door from the top of the tool chest. I used beech for the strips of wood that lock the door in place.

My largest saw, sitting inside the top section of the tool chest. I'm still running through a few different ideas of where to put the larger hand saws and how to do it, and so I'm still open to suggestions at this point.

Thanks for looking!

I've never seen a Dutch Tool chest before. I like it.

 

[Dakkar]

Building the Carcass

So I've manage to build the carcass for the tool chest. Its footprint is about 33" wide by 15" deep. In terms of height, the front of the tool chest is about 23" tall and in the back it is about 31" tall. The size is a bit bigger, at least in terms of width, than the Schwarz design, but again I designed it based on the width of my ripsaw. Here are some photos of the progress so far.

Here's the basic box without the shelves and bottom install:

The middle shelf, seen here, does not protrude all the way to the front of the cabinet. I designed it this way so that when I look into the bottom shelf the contents in the back would be a bit more visible from a higher angle.

And here it is with the bottom installed:

This is the glue-up of the front "door" piece (not sure what else to call this). The pieces are ship lapped.

I decided to paint the whole thing a dark green. Actually the name of the color is "evergreen bough." I was debating between a green and a blue and ultimately liked this color best. Yes, I used latex and not milk paint, primarily because latex is inexpensive and easily available in whatever color I need.

I put these runners on the inside of the door in order to hold the door in place and to align it, although the locking strips (see below) must be in place to keep the door on.

The door stays in place with these brackets that hold piece of wood which can be slid in from the top. This keeps the whole door tight against the cabinet. The brackets are made out of jatoba so that they'll be nice and strong.

This shows the locking mechanism for the door from the top of the tool chest. I used beech for the strips of wood that lock the door in place.

My largest saw, sitting inside the top section of the tool chest. I'm still running through a few different ideas of where to put the larger hand saws and how to do it, and so I'm still open to suggestions at this point.

Thanks for looking!

The Dutch tool chest is new to me, too, but I like the idea. The slanted lid makes a lot of sense. Good work, Brandon.

 

[RGtools]

Building the Carcass

So I've manage to build the carcass for the tool chest. Its footprint is about 33" wide by 15" deep. In terms of height, the front of the tool chest is about 23" tall and in the back it is about 31" tall. The size is a bit bigger, at least in terms of width, than the Schwarz design, but again I designed it based on the width of my ripsaw. Here are some photos of the progress so far.

Here's the basic box without the shelves and bottom install:

The middle shelf, seen here, does not protrude all the way to the front of the cabinet. I designed it this way so that when I look into the bottom shelf the contents in the back would be a bit more visible from a higher angle.

And here it is with the bottom installed:

This is the glue-up of the front "door" piece (not sure what else to call this). The pieces are ship lapped.

I decided to paint the whole thing a dark green. Actually the name of the color is "evergreen bough." I was debating between a green and a blue and ultimately liked this color best. Yes, I used latex and not milk paint, primarily because latex is inexpensive and easily available in whatever color I need.

I put these runners on the inside of the door in order to hold the door in place and to align it, although the locking strips (see below) must be in place to keep the door on.

The door stays in place with these brackets that hold piece of wood which can be slid in from the top. This keeps the whole door tight against the cabinet. The brackets are made out of jatoba so that they'll be nice and strong.

This shows the locking mechanism for the door from the top of the tool chest. I used beech for the strips of wood that lock the door in place.

My largest saw, sitting inside the top section of the tool chest. I'm still running through a few different ideas of where to put the larger hand saws and how to do it, and so I'm still open to suggestions at this point.

Thanks for looking!

If mounting to the lid you could probably use a turnbuckle to prevent the saws from falling out of your slots (think wooden wing-nut). If it were me I would put the saws in a till on the top of the back of the chest and I would try to parse out a space below that for odds and ends (but this would make chisel storage harder…perhaps, put them behind the saws?). If I did this I would cleat in a small shelf below the saws to protect the teeth from the tools below (and vica versa)

Bowsaws are a B@$+@rd to store. What syle (use) are you looking at getting?

 

[BrandonW]

Building the Carcass

So I've manage to build the carcass for the tool chest. Its footprint is about 33" wide by 15" deep. In terms of height, the front of the tool chest is about 23" tall and in the back it is about 31" tall. The size is a bit bigger, at least in terms of width, than the Schwarz design, but again I designed it based on the width of my ripsaw. Here are some photos of the progress so far.

Here's the basic box without the shelves and bottom install:

The middle shelf, seen here, does not protrude all the way to the front of the cabinet. I designed it this way so that when I look into the bottom shelf the contents in the back would be a bit more visible from a higher angle.

And here it is with the bottom installed:

This is the glue-up of the front "door" piece (not sure what else to call this). The pieces are ship lapped.

I decided to paint the whole thing a dark green. Actually the name of the color is "evergreen bough." I was debating between a green and a blue and ultimately liked this color best. Yes, I used latex and not milk paint, primarily because latex is inexpensive and easily available in whatever color I need.

I put these runners on the inside of the door in order to hold the door in place and to align it, although the locking strips (see below) must be in place to keep the door on.

The door stays in place with these brackets that hold piece of wood which can be slid in from the top. This keeps the whole door tight against the cabinet. The brackets are made out of jatoba so that they'll be nice and strong.

This shows the locking mechanism for the door from the top of the tool chest. I used beech for the strips of wood that lock the door in place.

My largest saw, sitting inside the top section of the tool chest. I'm still running through a few different ideas of where to put the larger hand saws and how to do it, and so I'm still open to suggestions at this point.

Thanks for looking!

Thanks guys, like I said in the previous post, I didn't know anything about the Dutch style tool chest either until this past February. But then I sort of just knew I was going to be making one.

Ryan, I wanted to start out with one of the Gramercy saw kits, then eventually getting a larger bow saw as well.

I really need to layout all my chisels and stuff to see what would go in that back section of the top.

 

[bondogaposis]

Building the Carcass

So I've manage to build the carcass for the tool chest. Its footprint is about 33" wide by 15" deep. In terms of height, the front of the tool chest is about 23" tall and in the back it is about 31" tall. The size is a bit bigger, at least in terms of width, than the Schwarz design, but again I designed it based on the width of my ripsaw. Here are some photos of the progress so far.

Here's the basic box without the shelves and bottom install:

The middle shelf, seen here, does not protrude all the way to the front of the cabinet. I designed it this way so that when I look into the bottom shelf the contents in the back would be a bit more visible from a higher angle.

And here it is with the bottom installed:

This is the glue-up of the front "door" piece (not sure what else to call this). The pieces are ship lapped.

I decided to paint the whole thing a dark green. Actually the name of the color is "evergreen bough." I was debating between a green and a blue and ultimately liked this color best. Yes, I used latex and not milk paint, primarily because latex is inexpensive and easily available in whatever color I need.

I put these runners on the inside of the door in order to hold the door in place and to align it, although the locking strips (see below) must be in place to keep the door on.

The door stays in place with these brackets that hold piece of wood which can be slid in from the top. This keeps the whole door tight against the cabinet. The brackets are made out of jatoba so that they'll be nice and strong.

This shows the locking mechanism for the door from the top of the tool chest. I used beech for the strips of wood that lock the door in place.

My largest saw, sitting inside the top section of the tool chest. I'm still running through a few different ideas of where to put the larger hand saws and how to do it, and so I'm still open to suggestions at this point.

Thanks for looking!

Really nice looking Brandon. The only observation I have at this point is to consider making the locking strips in such a way that they can do double duty as winding sticks. That is if you use winding sticks.

 

[BrandonW]

Building the Carcass

So I've manage to build the carcass for the tool chest. Its footprint is about 33" wide by 15" deep. In terms of height, the front of the tool chest is about 23" tall and in the back it is about 31" tall. The size is a bit bigger, at least in terms of width, than the Schwarz design, but again I designed it based on the width of my ripsaw. Here are some photos of the progress so far.

Here's the basic box without the shelves and bottom install:

The middle shelf, seen here, does not protrude all the way to the front of the cabinet. I designed it this way so that when I look into the bottom shelf the contents in the back would be a bit more visible from a higher angle.

And here it is with the bottom installed:

This is the glue-up of the front "door" piece (not sure what else to call this). The pieces are ship lapped.

I decided to paint the whole thing a dark green. Actually the name of the color is "evergreen bough." I was debating between a green and a blue and ultimately liked this color best. Yes, I used latex and not milk paint, primarily because latex is inexpensive and easily available in whatever color I need.

I put these runners on the inside of the door in order to hold the door in place and to align it, although the locking strips (see below) must be in place to keep the door on.

The door stays in place with these brackets that hold piece of wood which can be slid in from the top. This keeps the whole door tight against the cabinet. The brackets are made out of jatoba so that they'll be nice and strong.

This shows the locking mechanism for the door from the top of the tool chest. I used beech for the strips of wood that lock the door in place.

My largest saw, sitting inside the top section of the tool chest. I'm still running through a few different ideas of where to put the larger hand saws and how to do it, and so I'm still open to suggestions at this point.

Thanks for looking!

That's a great idea, Bondo. I hadn't even thought of that.

 

[CL810]

Building the Carcass

So I've manage to build the carcass for the tool chest. Its footprint is about 33" wide by 15" deep. In terms of height, the front of the tool chest is about 23" tall and in the back it is about 31" tall. The size is a bit bigger, at least in terms of width, than the Schwarz design, but again I designed it based on the width of my ripsaw. Here are some photos of the progress so far.

Here's the basic box without the shelves and bottom install:

The middle shelf, seen here, does not protrude all the way to the front of the cabinet. I designed it this way so that when I look into the bottom shelf the contents in the back would be a bit more visible from a higher angle.

And here it is with the bottom installed:

This is the glue-up of the front "door" piece (not sure what else to call this). The pieces are ship lapped.

I decided to paint the whole thing a dark green. Actually the name of the color is "evergreen bough." I was debating between a green and a blue and ultimately liked this color best. Yes, I used latex and not milk paint, primarily because latex is inexpensive and easily available in whatever color I need.

I put these runners on the inside of the door in order to hold the door in place and to align it, although the locking strips (see below) must be in place to keep the door on.

The door stays in place with these brackets that hold piece of wood which can be slid in from the top. This keeps the whole door tight against the cabinet. The brackets are made out of jatoba so that they'll be nice and strong.

This shows the locking mechanism for the door from the top of the tool chest. I used beech for the strips of wood that lock the door in place.

My largest saw, sitting inside the top section of the tool chest. I'm still running through a few different ideas of where to put the larger hand saws and how to do it, and so I'm still open to suggestions at this point.

Thanks for looking!

Looking good Brandon. Perfect color.

This may be a stupid question, but how do you follow a blog? I clicked on watch in part one but did not receive a notice that part two had started. Just happened to stumble on it.

 

[BrandonW]

Building the Carcass

So I've manage to build the carcass for the tool chest. Its footprint is about 33" wide by 15" deep. In terms of height, the front of the tool chest is about 23" tall and in the back it is about 31" tall. The size is a bit bigger, at least in terms of width, than the Schwarz design, but again I designed it based on the width of my ripsaw. Here are some photos of the progress so far.

Here's the basic box without the shelves and bottom install:

The middle shelf, seen here, does not protrude all the way to the front of the cabinet. I designed it this way so that when I look into the bottom shelf the contents in the back would be a bit more visible from a higher angle.

And here it is with the bottom installed:

This is the glue-up of the front "door" piece (not sure what else to call this). The pieces are ship lapped.

I decided to paint the whole thing a dark green. Actually the name of the color is "evergreen bough." I was debating between a green and a blue and ultimately liked this color best. Yes, I used latex and not milk paint, primarily because latex is inexpensive and easily available in whatever color I need.

I put these runners on the inside of the door in order to hold the door in place and to align it, although the locking strips (see below) must be in place to keep the door on.

The door stays in place with these brackets that hold piece of wood which can be slid in from the top. This keeps the whole door tight against the cabinet. The brackets are made out of jatoba so that they'll be nice and strong.

This shows the locking mechanism for the door from the top of the tool chest. I used beech for the strips of wood that lock the door in place.

My largest saw, sitting inside the top section of the tool chest. I'm still running through a few different ideas of where to put the larger hand saws and how to do it, and so I'm still open to suggestions at this point.

Thanks for looking!

Thanks Clayton. I think the "watch" only works for the single blog post. If you want to follow the blog, you would have to subscribe to the RSS feed (which may not be worth it for you) or just check back on my home page here. The next post will be about the lid, which I just got done gluing a little while ago.