So this past weekend I made quite a bit of progress on the hand tool cabinet, with the completion of the boxes that will make up the doors of the cabinet. The doors are boxes as they are intended to be additional storage for my growing hand tool collection. This was actually my second attempt at making the doors. The first attempt did not end so well, as when I was cutting the grooves in the long boards (the sides) that would house the plywood backing, I had a mishap on the table saw. I finished cutting the short boards (tops and bottoms) and I must have inadvertently hit the locking lever for the fence. Not enough to completely loosen it, but enough to move it each time I pushed a board against. Thankfully no kickback, but the result was each of the long boards had a groove incrementally further into each board. After thinking through my options, I decided that the boards I had just worked on can be used for other aspects of the cabinet, so they will not go to waste. Another aspect was the color of the ambrosia maple had a lot of dark areas in them, so it wasn’t a great match to the existing cabinet box, as well as making some dumb mistakes with wood selection. So lessons learned, I went back to my hardwood supplier, and took more care in what I selected for the doors. Armed with new wood, I milled the boards.
The boxes are a fairly simple construction, with rabbets on each of the side boards, and grooves to hold the 1/2″ baltic birch plywood for the backs. After getting the pieces sanded, and dry fitted a couple times, I glued them up. I ended up only using two clamps for each cabinet, as I had an easier time getting the boxes square. The two clamps held everything tight enough, resulting in tight joints.
The next step in the project is to build the false fronts for the doors. These will be frame and panel fronts. I am thinking once those are done and on the doors, I am going to apply the finish to the cabinet and doors, and go ahead and hang it. The reason being, is it is big. 🙂 Storing it while it is being worked on has become difficult. Once that is done, the rest of the components needing made are relatively small. I do realize that this puts this at risk to never being done. However, it truly never done, as it will always be modified and added to as I continue to add to my hand tools.