01-08-2017, 10:01 AM
Here is my Frankenchest.....a cobbled together cabinet in an attempt to protect my tools, get them off the wall. Even though it's not what I had planned, it's not all that bad, and it represents an accomplishment that seemed unattainable just a few years ago.
Sometimes I just sit and stare at all these tools, they represent so many things to me that others would never see; hardship, pain, suffering, hope, generosity, friendship, recovery, happiness,the future, contentment, and blessing from God.
I've had a few of my planes since the early 90s, lost most of them being moved from hospital to hospital while in recovery from being wounded.
My goal was to rebuild my collection, it taken me 12 years to this point and with the help of others, I'm close, there are a few rare/odd Stanley planes that I'll probably never replace and I've pick up many different from what I originally had.
Friends and family have made gifts of planes and saws, chisels and even sharpening stones, many that I probably would have never purchased for myself. Plus skills change, and my interests are different, plus my physical abilities now drive my hobbies in ways that would never have occurred to me prior to being injured.
Anyway back to the Frankencabinet:
It's a workin progress, a way to use what one has to fill a need. Started with a TV cabinet some friends gave to us, it's big and structurally sound. Was planning on building a real toochest out of maple and cherry, even have the lumber, but cold weather set in so I compromised and decided to recycle the TV cabinet.
Decided to make the doors to the design in my original plans, doing that ensures that I can build the carcass later without changing my design, however it limits the door opening swing. That could be overcome with the correct type of cranked hinges, but used what was at hand in the shop.
The draw raw back is the doors won't open a full 180 deg on this chest, no big deal really. If the doors had been designed for this cabinet, then it would not be an issue.
Still working on the storage layout, not happy with it so far, and need to do some tweaking on the doors, but it gave me an incredible amount of storage, and got my tools off the wall. Plan on making some block plane cubby shelves inside the doors to free up some space on the plane till.
Only has the first coat of finish, and needs sanding and several more coats.....
Please excuse the sappy portion.....
Regards,
Andy
Sometimes I just sit and stare at all these tools, they represent so many things to me that others would never see; hardship, pain, suffering, hope, generosity, friendship, recovery, happiness,the future, contentment, and blessing from God.
I've had a few of my planes since the early 90s, lost most of them being moved from hospital to hospital while in recovery from being wounded.
My goal was to rebuild my collection, it taken me 12 years to this point and with the help of others, I'm close, there are a few rare/odd Stanley planes that I'll probably never replace and I've pick up many different from what I originally had.
Friends and family have made gifts of planes and saws, chisels and even sharpening stones, many that I probably would have never purchased for myself. Plus skills change, and my interests are different, plus my physical abilities now drive my hobbies in ways that would never have occurred to me prior to being injured.
Anyway back to the Frankencabinet:
It's a workin progress, a way to use what one has to fill a need. Started with a TV cabinet some friends gave to us, it's big and structurally sound. Was planning on building a real toochest out of maple and cherry, even have the lumber, but cold weather set in so I compromised and decided to recycle the TV cabinet.
Decided to make the doors to the design in my original plans, doing that ensures that I can build the carcass later without changing my design, however it limits the door opening swing. That could be overcome with the correct type of cranked hinges, but used what was at hand in the shop.
The draw raw back is the doors won't open a full 180 deg on this chest, no big deal really. If the doors had been designed for this cabinet, then it would not be an issue.
Still working on the storage layout, not happy with it so far, and need to do some tweaking on the doors, but it gave me an incredible amount of storage, and got my tools off the wall. Plan on making some block plane cubby shelves inside the doors to free up some space on the plane till.
Only has the first coat of finish, and needs sanding and several more coats.....
Please excuse the sappy portion.....
Regards,
Andy
