Handmade Tool Chest Doubles As A Workbench

Handmade Tool Chest Doubles As A Workbench FARM HOME Furniture Dr Al knows of many different sizes and types of toolboxes he could’ve bought for his personal use but since he’s an accomplished woodworker he decided to make one of his own design “Mine is a combined tool chest and workbench made out of sweet chestnut and American black walnut ” Al says “I did all the woodwork with hand tools except for a few cuts with a bandsaw and all the metalwork with power tools ” The front of the box doubles for what Al calls a shooting board for shooting square edges and miters It has drawers holding various hand tools he uses to make simple wooden boxes The back of the chest has a handmade vice with a leather jaw The uprights provide a firm surface to clamp against rather than a solid back while allowing for wood movement because of the narrow slats The diagonal piece stops racking while he planes on the top surface of the chest Al says the vice holds boards securely for sawing or planing on the edges and ends Wide boards can be held by removing the middle vice screw The vice can also be flipped around so the leather jaw faces out and the vice screws are placed in the slotted holes It can then be raised providing a stop so boards can be securely held while still giving access to the top surface Al says he built the box entirely with hand tools to practice his hand-tool woodworking skills He says he learned many techniques while working on the project part-time over a year “This was the first project where I cut dovetails without any saw guide ” Al says “It’s also the first project where I’ve cut those intricate dovetails on thick wood and the first project where I made wooden drawers with half-lap joints One of the wood pieces had a blemish that Al repaired with two different Dutchman graving pieces one a decorative butterfly in a contrasting wood and a discrete version for grain-matched repair To eliminate dust Al finished the tool chest surfaces with a smoothing plane rather than sandpaper He used a Scotch-Brite pad to rub surfaces between coats of finish with equal parts of pure tung oil satin varnish and white spirit Al says the chest is the largest and most difficult project he’s ever done and he’s extremely pleased with the results “I even tried photolithography for the first time to etch numbers into the top of each drawer to help fit them in the right place after they’re removed when the chest is in use ” Contact: FARM SHOW Followup Dr Al www cgtk co uk/woodwork/handtools/traveltoolchest

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