Hand Tool Cabinet – Update 1

Published on by Mike  (Leave a comment)

I got some time today to work on the hand tool cabinet, specifically starting on the hand plane storage.  I am actually breaking from my sketch-up plan almost completely on this.  Since I made the cabinet an inch deeper, I decided I could do a little better for my block planes.  So I decided I would build a block plane garage.  I had a few cut-offs that were left from the case construction, so they were wide enough, w4ithout glue-ups.  I planed these down to 1/2″ thick, as I felt 3/4″ thick would be too much.  After I planed them down, I ripped the stock to width, then cut each piece to length.  At this phase, I wasn’t sure how many cubbies I would have (I was playing this by ear after all), so I made sure I cut what turned out to be one extra spacer.  At this point, I glued everything together. Once the glue was dry, I did a base sanding to get everything good and smooth.  On the router table, I routed round overs on the front.  At this point, I noticed that it was sitting as flat as I would have liked.  So I took my hand planes, and started planing down the bottom of the dividers, until I got sitting flat.  From there I took a rasp and completed the round overs.  Now this may seems like a minor detail, but it doesn’t take long, and it makes the piece look so much more refined.  From there, I did the final sanding.

The next phase of plane storage will be the till for the bench planes.  I haven’t 100% decided how the plane will turn out, I am thinking through some ideas.  As soon as I come up with something, I will post here.  I still have the doors to make for the cabinet.  I figured out that I need more wood to completethem, so I haven’t started yet.  My driveway the last few weekend has been inaccessible due to road work.  My plan next weekend is to go to my hardwood supplier and get more so that I can start on the doors when I am ready for them.

Tool Cabinet Project – Finally!

Published on by Mike  (Leave a comment)

Ever since I completed the chisel rack at the beginning of 2011, I have been wanting to build a hand tool cabinet.  Over the past year or so I have off and on been working on a design for the cabinet using sketch-up.  So to take advantage of a long weekend, this past Saturday I finally started the actual build.  Right off the bat, I made a design change to the cabinet, simply because I had the wood to do with.  I had some wide boards of maple I have been holding back for this project, that were a bit wider then the 7″ depth I had planned on.  So I added on an extra inch, making it 8″ deep.  I was pretty much in the shop all day Saturday, and got most of the case work done on it.  The only items missing were the dividers for the drawers and the back.  During the process of cutting the dados, I made another design change.  I decided it may be good to have one of the drawers wider, so I took out the center divider.

Sunday, I did spend nearly as much time in the shop as the heat and humidity (it wanted to rain all day, but didn’t) were horrible.  I did however clean up all the glue joints and sanded it.

Today, Labor Day Monday, I glued in the dividers and back.  This was also the inaugural run of my new cross-cut sled I made.  I have been meaning to make one for years, even bought Incra’s slider bar a couple years ago, but never got around to it.  The back on this is 27″ wide, and would be impossible to cut with the miter gauge on the table saw.  I did break it down to manageable piece with my circular saw, but that does not leave a clean cut.  In fact it tears up the veneer on the baltic birch ply horribly.  I used my roller stand to support the sled, and was able to safely cross cut the back down to the exact size I needed.  All I can say is, I wish I hadn’t waited so long to make one! The rest of the time I spent in the shop today was sanding the back.

All-in-all, I am happy with the progress I made, in fact a little surprised I am already this far a long.  I was hoping for the first glue-up this weekend, but managed to get that done the first day.  Most likely I will work on the door boxes next, but I am considering work on the plane till portion next.