Disciple's Tool Chest - Pic Heavy
#11
I've always been a fan of tool chest porn (maybe I should put emphasis on the "tool" part of that. . .), so hopefully nobody will begrudge the extensive pics.

I call this the disciple's chest because while it's design and construction is largely based off of Christopher Schwarz' Anarchist's Tool Chest it doesn't strike me as very anarchistic to build an awesome chest that several people before have built, and probably several more after me will build. I don't consider myself of a "disciple" of Chris' (Roubo - in, Campaign furniture - out, board furniture - out) but I really appreciate his point of view and have found his approach to working wood to be a good fit for me.

The body of this chest is contructed from glued up "white wood" 2x6's from HD that had been machined to 7/8". All the joinery was cut by hand (boy is it fun and easy to cut dovetails in soft wood!). The skirts are mostly much harder yellow pine, though I screwed up one of the lower side skirts and ended up having to use a cherry offcut I had lying around. The finish is General Finishes milk paint (federal blue) followed by 3 coats of WB lacquer. The handles on the side are some mahogany that I had lying around. They're tapped for six 1/4x20 bolts which are screwed in from the inside out. I'm hoping they'll work out - you're not really supposed to pick this monster up by just the handles anyway. All the hardware is as spec'd by Chris through Horton except the chain with I bought at the hardware store. The lock, key and chain were patina'd with gun blue which worked like a charm.

Anyway, the main differences between this chest and Chris' are the the tool rack in the front (kind of a Jeske/Cohen combo) and the resulting lack of a saw till. I only have one panel saw, so it made sense to put that on the lid. And while I would like the "display aspect of putting the backsaws on the lid, I didn't want to have to screw around with a toggle to retrieve them, as I use them often and plan to work out of this chest rather than simply using it for tool storage. I also refer the rack the floor-mounted till because I'm 6'5 and I do not love bending to retrieve things from that low. And while I do not think I will be putting my backsaws on the lid, I do anticipate some keepers for my marking knife, some dividers, probably my fret saw, and perhaps some of my squares. I guess we'll see.

As I've mentioned recently in the hand tool forum I'm taking a weeklong class at Homestead Heritage starting on Monday, so this chest was finished just in time. For this reason (and the fact that it's a shop accessory and not a piece of fine furniture) I pressed myself not to be too precious with building this thing, trying to find a nice balance of keeping my foot on the gas while mostly executing things well. Overall I'm pretty happy with it and looking forward to several decades of using it.

Thanks for looking all!








Reed
You don't need a parachute to go skydiving unless you want to do it more than once. . .
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#12
Very nicely done, Reed! Functional, simple, yet elegant at the same time. I really like the molded edge on your chisel / file rack.
Still Learning,

Allan Hill
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#13
I do like your tool chest. At only 5'8" and at 68 years, I do not like bending over to pick up tools and all the things I drop.

I am envious of you spending a week at the Heritage school. Great school!
"I tried being reasonable..........I didn't like it." Clint Eastwood
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#14
Nice job Reed
The milk paint turned out nice, just the slightest sheen from the WB lacquer .
Question for you, how do you like the feel of that bronze hammer? Ever since I got a couple of Japanese chisels I have been thinking about getting one but I never remember to handle one at a tool store.
Rusty
Poppa's Woodworks
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#15
Trusty Rusty said:


Question for you, how do you like the feel of that bronze hammer? Ever since I got a couple of Japanese chisels I have been thinking about getting one but I never remember to handle one at a tool store.
Rusty




Hey Rusty. I like that hammer quite a bit since I took a spokeshave to the handle to strip the crappy finish and give it some nice light facets. Much better feel now. Unfortunately, it's no longer available from where I bought it (Craftsman Studio) and I don't know who has another like it (and it was nice and affordable too - less than $20 I think). If I were forced to replace it from readily available offerings I'd probably go with the LN b/c I use mine mainly for fine plane blade adjustment. If I were using it for striking Japanese chisels, I would go with one of the Glen Drake hammers as they are very nice. Woodcraft has blatant knockoffs, but I'd rather my money go to Kevin than a company that would rather produce cheap Chinese knockoffs instead of designing their own tools. At least they designed their own shoulder plane and spokeshave. . .

Reed
You don't need a parachute to go skydiving unless you want to do it more than once. . .
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#16
Nice job. I love the color.
"I buy tools so i can make more money, so I can buy more tools so I can work more, to make more money, so I can buy more tools, so I can work more..."

"Happiness is seeing that big brown truck pull up in front of the house".
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#17
NiteWalker said:

Nice job. I love the color.


+1
Shows how paint can be an attractive option for finish. Good job!
"For true creativity, we have to think beyond our tools." - MsNomer -
"Measuring is the enemy of precision." - Chris Schwarz on story sticks -
"only one opinion counts, the one that pays." - daveferg -
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#18

Ag
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#19
Nice box Reed. Federal Blue is an eye catcher. If you`re gonna go draggin it around, may as well get it over, and just knock a dent into it Gonna happen anyhow.
Worst thing they can do is cook ya and eat ya

GW
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#20
Well done Reed. Appears as though you have plenty of room to stuff in more tools. I get in step with the Schwarz a lot - but not on the tool box thing. I don't expect to ever travel with my tools and my back really does not like bending. Aside from which, I have more tools than will fit in the chest. I don't care - I like them and I'm going to keep them - and may get more, but not until I get the existing project list cut down.

Anyway, I really like your chest. Hope you will report back, in a few months, how you like traveling with it and working from it.
Thanks,  Curt
-----------------
"Life can only be understood backwards; but it must be lived forwards."
      -- Soren Kierkegaard
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