For Those Wondering About Building a Wall-Mounted Tool Cabinet

[lilrichard2]

Some might question if it's worth the effort - this might provide an answer.

https://www.ebth.com/items/5136716-custo...hand-tools


r2

[Blacky's Boy]

Every once in a while I look at the tool cabinet I built back in 2008 and I'm amazed that I actually pulled it off and that it turned out so cool.

And I know I didn't spend anywhere NEAR what these people are asking!

[mvflaim]

Were there twenty $100 bills in the drawers?

[DaveParkis]

Depending on what's in the drawers, it might not be that bad a deal. I'd say there's at least $1000 visible in the picture.

[Bruce Haugen]

Mine doesn't look quite that good, but it has twice the tools and they are at least as good as the ones in the pic.

[AHill]

There's at least $1500 in tools alone in the case.  The wood alone is easily another $200.  Considering the time spent to fit each tool and lay it out, $2700 might not be all that unreasonable.  Some of the tools aren't what I'd consider to be high quality (e.g. Craftsman saw), but most are, and they are all in excellent condition, and well-maintained.  I probably spent 40 hours making my tool cabinet.  At $40/hour, that's $1600 worth of labor alone.  (I have no idea if that's what cabinet makers charge for custom cabinets - just wagging one.)  There is some stuff in the drawers, but no close-up pics.

[Admiral]

Actually, the Craftsman hand saw is not a bad saw but market value would not reflect that; taper ground, steel is pretty much ok, it all depends on the sharpening; I see Pax saws there too, again, its how they are sharpened.  Otherwise, I see Sorby chisels and gouges, a LN 140 maybe, the Record planes are good, I think I see a Starrett square there, for my money, you can keep the turnscrews; nice collection of layout tools too.  Not a bad deal for someone, especially when considering the time invested for the cabinet.

[EricU]

like it or not, that's not an outrageous price, not like the last toolbox that was posted that seemed like an attempt to capitalize on the interest in the Studley toolchest.

Although my first impression of the cabinet in the OP was that the layout wasn't carefully thought out.  I would hate to have to move things to get to a tool I wanted to use.  Looks like you could easily knock things loose.  In contrast, there are open spaces that look a little weird.  They should have generated some patina, stuffed some tools in the empty spaces and tried to sell it to a collector.

[Joe Connors]

There's at least $1500 in tools alone in the case.  The wood alone is easily another $200.  Considering the time spent to fit each tool and lay it out, $2700 might not be all that unreasonable.  Some of the tools aren't what I'd consider to be high quality (e.g. Craftsman saw), but most are, and they are all in excellent condition, and well-maintained.  I probably spent 40 hours making my tool cabinet.  At $40/hour, that's $1600 worth of labor alone.  (I have no idea if that's what cabinet makers charge for custom cabinets - just wagging one.)  There is some stuff in the drawers, but no close-up pics.

For those that still wonder why custom woodworking as a trade has died and there exists very little respect for hand made products, I give you this thread!

As the reply quoted above aptly demonstrates, the value of the cabinet is very reasonable yet the reaction of many, here in a forum filled with people who more than appreciate the time and effort to construct a cabinet like this, is that the value is not there! Is it any wonder then that the public at large do not see the value of hand made products?!

[EricU]

Joe, I had similar thoughts.  Of course, I think a lot of us would feel funny spending money on a tool cabinet, because we should make something like that ourselves.  And a lot of us got into woodworking because we didn't like the price of furniture.  But if you get past that, the furniture stores around here would definitely charge that kind of money for a cabinet like that.