Hand tool cabinet in maple

[SawDustB]

Just now, Chestnut said:

I have 2 both are in good shape i'd offer to send one to you to see if you like it but I remember your in Canada and shipping is crazy expensive.

Thanks, I appreciate the offer but it would be almost as much as the plane is worth ($20-30 shipping, and possibly duty on top). I've seen a couple come up but just wasn't motivated enough to get them in time. At worst I can eventually pick one up on eBay.

[Chestnut]

Just now, SawDustB said:

Thanks, I appreciate the offer but it would be almost as much as the plane is worth ($20-30 shipping, and possibly duty on top). I've seen a couple come up but just wasn't motivated enough to get them in time. At worst I can eventually pick one up on eBay.

Yeah i snagged both of them off ebay for $40 each, i put bids on not expecting to get them because the type 9&10 #3s usually go for $100+ at least they did when I was watching last.

[SawDustB]

5 hours ago, Mick S said:

Very mice job, Brian! That's a definite bucket list item for me. Nice detail on the chisel sockets. Love the continuous grain on the drawers. Lot's to be proud of.

Thanks Mick!

I got in another hour or so today and made another chisel rack. This has a couple chisels, along with a bunch of miscellaneous items. As a result the holes weren't all the same size. I found an easier way to make it though.

1. Drill through holes at the correct size for the ferrule

2. Use a 22.5 degree chamfer bit to chamfer about half the height from the top.

3. Rabbet the top back about 1/4" and then use a chisel to ease the corners.

I used 7/8" for the crank neck chisels, 3/4" for the burnisher and countersink, and 5/8" for the awls and little scraper. The corner chisel needed 1", and was closer to the bench chisels in size.

As with the other rack, here's the zoomed in detail.

I tried to hang the draw knife using some shaker pegs, but they were undersized and are too loose in the holes. I'm debating either epoxying them in or scrapping the idea and making wooden hooks held on with screws.

[Chet]

I haven't looked at this for a while but it is definitely coming out nice.  Lots of nice details on your part Brian.

[SawDustB]

9 hours ago, Chet said:

I haven't looked at this for a while but it is definitely coming out nice.  Lots of nice details on your part Brian.

Thanks Chet! It's been a fun build, lots of little things that can be added to it.

I took another pass at the draw knife. The wooden hooks work great, although I wasted a while getting them carved just right. I'm much happier than I think I would have been with the pegs.

The left doors are going to be my saw area. The hand saw is mounted with a block that fits in the handle, and a single magnetic stud under the saw plate.

http://www.leevalley.com/en/wood/page.aspx?p=69809&cat=1,42363,42356

It's just enough to keep it firmly in place. I'm not sure if I'll add anything else, but this seems to be enough to keep it up. The only issue I ran into is that the studs were too long, so I had to grind about 1/8" off.

[SawDustB]

I snuck in a few minutes to knock out a marking gauge rack today. It made sense to me to also put my marking knife, and then I added my most used awl.

I like it for the most part, but I'm debating how I feel about the marking knife blade being out like that. When I went to grab the gauge beside it, my instinct was to grab from underneath near the blade. If it's possible to stab myself on this thing I'll find a way. That's why you'll see most of my tools have blade covers.

[SawDustB]

There - I've protected myself against future clumsiness. That was actually really simple to do, once I thought about it, and it still works just as well.

[Mark J]

Exactly what I was going to suggest.

[SawDustB]

My files and rasps now have a home, although I need longer screws to attach it. I left room for some planned (or unplanned) acquisitions. Haven't decided exactly where I'll put it, but I'm thinking midway up on this door would work.

[SawDustB]

I got the saw till made and installed today. I wanted to minimize how much I had to lift the saw to get it out, since the cabinet's up pretty high. I found that a large dowel in the handle worked, since the two saws that fit here are open handled. I used a rare species of ash, the reclaimed snow shovel handle variety that has dark grain lines. That's what was left over after I scraped off the varnish.

The left side of the dowel is threaded onto a piece of all thread that is installed in the cabinet side. I used the thread taps and 1/4-20 all thread. The right side is a support that I wasted about 2 hours carving. Totally unnecessary, but it was fun. The top block is sized to allow the saws to sit with the guards on the blades. I prefer to store them that way.

With this in, I realized that I could slip the tenon saw in behind the plane till. Fits perfectly, and I still have room for some miscellaneous stuff.

I was looking, and my list of tools without a home is getting much shorter. I need to organize my squares and rulers, and put in the rest of my saws. At that point I should only have a few things left. Although I've almost fallen in the trap of going and buying tools I've been thinking about, so I can fit them in now...

A nice set of screwdrivers, some gouges, maybe a shiny new square or two... 

[gee-dub]

Settling in nicely.  Looks like the gallery divider cutouts work fine.  I like the dowel/saw  handle rest idea.  Gives me some ideas; thanks!

[SawDustB]

On 9/4/2019 at 8:50 AM, gee-dub said:

Settling in nicely.  Looks like the gallery divider cutouts work fine.  I like the dowel/saw  handle rest idea.  Gives me some ideas; thanks!

Yes, the dividers have been fine. Other than my block plane, I don't find I use those tools that often anyway. I'm glad you're getting something out of it.

I got a few more holders mounted earlier this week. I can finally see my bench again now that the tools are going away.

[OniC]

On 2/26/2019 at 10:58 AM, Johnny4 said:

Used Marc’s recipe for popping the grain.

New here, How do I search for this? I'm in need of that info.

[SawDustB]

1 hour ago, OniC said:

New here, How do I search for this? I'm in need of that info.

Try here - it should have what you need.

https://www.thewoodwhisperer.com/videos/pop-goes-the-maple/

[SawDustB]

I think my measurement area is just about complete, aside from adding a lip for pencils. I'm especially happy with the holder for the folding ruler, which has is very securely but lets you slip in a finger in the side to get it. I still also need to hang my bevel gauge, but somehow it got misplaced in all this. I did also order a couple more items that are in the mail, like a new 12" combo square.

You can see in the right side my solution for the scrapers. I don't have nearly the number Matt does, so a block in a single cubby takes care of it. This way you also don't need to remove the block unless you want to, since the scrapers easily slide out the front.

Just a couple more items and then it'll be time to pull it all out for finish.

 

[Chet]

I really like that saw till design Brian.

On 9/1/2019 at 3:45 PM, SawDustB said:

A nice set of screwdrivers, some gouges, maybe a shiny new square or two... 

If your thinking about new stuff, you might be able to find a little space for keys to a new vehicle, they shouldn't take up that much space. 

[pkinneb]

Coming along nicely!

[SawDustB]

6 hours ago, Chet said:

I really like that saw till design Brian.

Thanks! I really wanted something that wouldn't close off the space, but I needed it to be secured. If I had just placed a block in there like Matt, I'd be knocking it over in no time.

6 hours ago, Chet said:

If your thinking about new stuff, you might be able to find a little space for keys to a new vehicle, they shouldn't take up that much space. 

If only! I replaced our crossover with a new Subaru in the spring, so the other car will need to hold out a bit longer. I suspect my wife might notice what goes with the keys... I was instructed not to buy any tools since my birthday and Christmas are coming up, but I might have made a couple of small additions anyway 

[SawDustB]

I think these are the last couple additions: a holder for my digital calipers, and a magnetic block to find my 6 inch rulers. The other tools are in the mail, but I think I'll get these holders all finished. I need to get onto a couple of other projects soon.

[Chestnut]

Brian,

I'm thinking of starting my cabinet soon. What advice do you have to someone that is thinking of making one of these? I thought you mentioned that there was a dimension that you'd have increased knowing what you know now.

I'm looking at some awesome QS ash on my rack that I'll never use for anything around the house. I'm thinking of cutting it up for the case and the internal dividers.

[SawDustB]

13 minutes ago, Chestnut said:

Brian,

I'm thinking of starting my cabinet soon. What advice do you have to someone that is thinking of making one of these? I thought you mentioned that there was a dimension that you'd have increased knowing what you know now.

I'm looking at some awesome QS ash on my rack that I'll never use for anything around the house. I'm thinking of cutting it up for the case and the internal dividers.

Hey Drew, that's great. It's a fun project, and I'm pretty happy overall. There were a couple of minor things that I wish I'd known ahead of time.

The biggest complaint I had was discovering that my back saws wouldn't fit in the height for the saw till. The Veritas tenon saw is over an inch too big, and another Disston saw was about the same. I also found the gallery was bigger than necessary, so I would have had the left side of the cabinet go down to the shelf above the drawers for the 6 inches or so of the till (dropping two cubbies). Actual hand saws require almost the full height of the cabinet, so I'm OK with putting the one I have in the door.

The plane cubbies aren't very deep, so they end up being useless for anything bigger than a #4. As it is, I had to plan what was in the doors so it left a gap where the bottom of the plane castings are. If you wanted to make it more useful, adding 1/2" to 1" to the carcass depth would make a big difference. I'm limited on space since it's over my bench, so I'm happy as is.

In the shorter plane till, if you follow the plans it's just barely big enough to squeeze in a #5, but I wanted to plan for possibly having a low angle Jack later. This was an easy fix, just requiring a wider piece of plywood and a shallower angle. I think I ended up at 14 degrees instead of 16. I didn't bother making it full width since I don't have that many planes, but I can later if necessary.

Both plane tills hold the planes, but they're not in there all that firmly at that angle. I will be adding some magnets behind the plywood. I'd still build it the same next time.

The piano hinges worked fine, but I bought the heaviest ones I could. I wouldn't want anything lighter duty on it. The butt hinges would have worked too, if I'd been willing to spend the extra on them.

I ended up deciding the card scraper tray was way overkill for the 7 scrapers I have, which is why they went into a cubby. This depends on your tools. As I said, I'm replacing it with a drawer.

With the carcass, I built the carcass, then built the doors. This wasn't a great idea, since I ended up having a discrepancy in size of between 1/32 and 1/16, which I then had to plane and sand away. Clamping the doors to the carcass worked to a point, although one door warped a bit after I put everything up.

Hope this helps. Let me know if I can answer anything else.

[Chestnut]

I think that covers everything I'll keep those notes as I move forward. I'm going to make this in parallel with other projects so it may go a bit slower than my typical pace. Megan really wants to start wrapping up rooms of the house and that means i have to finish the furniture for those rooms. The next BIG item on the list is dining room chairs, I admit I've been dragging my feet on them a bit as it's a daunting project.

[Art]

When I built this project, I took Matt's advice to heart.  I thought about what tools I had and what would end up in the cabinet, and then built what I needed using the videos only as guides.  Not a single dimension from Matt's cabinet ended up in my version.  The interior is also completely different in order to fit my needs.  I guess what I'm getting at is that this is so easy to customize that really you can build it to fit any space and any set of tools. 

[SawDustB]

7 hours ago, Art said:

When I built this project, I took Matt's advice to heart.  I thought about what tools I had and what would end up in the cabinet, and then built what I needed using the videos only as guides.  Not a single dimension from Matt's cabinet ended up in my version.  The interior is also completely different in order to fit my needs.  I guess what I'm getting at is that this is so easy to customize that really you can build it to fit any space and any set of tools. 

I tried to do the same, but I also know I'm not done acquiring tools so I tried to keep my options open for later. I view this build similar to the roubo in that even though it's a shop project, I intend to only ever build it once. I felt kind of silly about not checking the dimension on the saw till, but I guess Matt has smaller than average handles and saws, so it worked for him. Otherwise I was generally happy with the internal layout, so I figured it was better to build to the plans.

The customizations I made were minor, like adding more plane cubbies in the space. I did also watch a few other tool cabinet videos, like the Mike Pekovich series from fine woodworking. They've now uploaded that one to YouTube, so check it out if you haven't already.

[wtnhighlander]

21 minutes ago, SawDustB said:

... I'm not done acquiring tools...

Who among us really is?