Wooden Machinist's chest WIP thread

[John L Sanford]

Hey folks, I'm new here.

I started a thread over in the General forum looking for walnut; or just advice on how to get it and what I have to do with it once I get it. Here is that thread: http://www.sawmillcreek.org/showthread.php?181484-Looking-for-Walnut-or-similar-exotic-wood-to-build-a-Machinist-s-chestI

I figured it would be best to start a thread here detailing the design and build of it, before that thread turns into that type of thing. I think this forum is more suited for a build type thread. I've been modeling the chest in Solidworks to better understand how it all goes together. I have a set of plans I got online, but I am not following them exactly to the letter. I have changed a few minor things. This is what I have so far:

This picture shows the bottom (which is white). I had originally planned to do this part out of plywood or some other wood that isn't so expensive, but I feel like now I may not be able to because I am having trouble hiding the edges on all four sides. You can also see the two sides, the bottom lower panel, and the two vertical styles. Pay no attention to the grain lines. They are not intended to reflect the way the finished real project will be. Solidowrks applies realistic looking graphics, but I haven't figured out how to orientate the grain lines on the individual pieces.
http://i226.photobucket.com/albums/dd198/JSMachine/solidworks/chest1.jpg

Here I have added the center piece, the upper rear panel, and the notch cut in all three that will hold the piece that will be the floor or bottom of the main compartment.
http://i226.photobucket.com/albums/dd198/JSMachine/solidworks/chest2.jpg

Another view
http://i226.photobucket.com/albums/dd198/JSMachine/solidworks/chest3.jpg

[John L Sanford]

I got some work done to the model today. I added the floor or bottom to the upper compartment, the front rail that spans across the front, and the hoizontal and vertical drawer dividers.

http://i226.photobucket.com/albums/dd198/JSMachine/solidworks/chest4.jpg

http://i226.photobucket.com/albums/dd198/JSMachine/solidworks/chest5.jpg

[Gary Kman]

I can't see the corner joints working on plywood and panels of solid wood 30" wide would change width so much with changes in humidity the desk would be too low to use in winter and too high in summer.:rolleyes:

[John L Sanford]

I can't see the corner joints working on plywood and panels of solid wood 30" wide would change width so much with changes in humidity the desk would be too low to use in winter and too high in summer.:rolleyes:Gary, The actual outside dimensions are 26" wide, 16" tall, and 10.5" deep. As I stated before, I was hoping to use plywood for the bottom, but I can't figure out how to make the joints work where the whole thing is covered. I will probably end up using walnut there too. Your response is just the kind of thing I will need along the way, because this will be my first woodworking project that is this involved. I have done some little projects and other bigger projects, but nothing that has to be nice. This will be a true test.

[Joe Hillmann]

Here is a small machinist chest that I built (All the box joints were cut on a laser but could easily be replaced with hand cut dovetails)
Outside of the box. That is a one foot rule to show size.
223800
Box with lid open you can see the inside of the handles which I wanted to build without sticking out so they can be packed in closer together(I have 4 or 5 of theese)
223801
The handle on the side
223802
With a few drawers open
223803
The back side. You can see the wooden hinges. If I planned it for heavy use I would put about 20 wooden hinges on it or use metal hinges.
223804

I plan to do an inlay on the lid and stain and varnish it nicely.

[John L Sanford]

That's some really nice stuff Joe. I have to admit, I didn't know wood could be cut on a laser.

[Kent A Bathurst]

This picture shows the bottom (which is white). I had originally planned to do this part out of plywood or some other wood that isn't so expensive, but I feel like now I may not be able to because I am having trouble hiding the edges on all four sides.

Pay no attention to the grain lines. They are not intended to reflect the way the finished real project will be. Solidowrks applies realistic looking graphics, but I haven't figured out how to orientate the grain lines on the individual pieces.



Point 2 first: If you orient the grain as shown in the sketch, then you have eliminated all issues related to wood expansion except for the intermediate shelf. And - there are a variety of ways to deal with the expansion of that one section, ranging from simple to complicated. The simple way is to use dados and rabbets, and glue only the center 2" - 3", letting the front and back of the shelf expand away from the center.

Point 1 next: If you use solid wood for this, you have added a second piece whose expansion you have to address. Again - there is a way to do it, but that would also work with plywood. You show dado-and-rabbet joints at the front case corners. You just need to use that same approach for the bottom on all 4 sides - the front and back would be extended as far down as the sides are, and you put dados all the way around, and the plywood bottom has rabbets all the way around. With plywood, you get the benefit of being able to glue those joints on all 4 faces, which adds strength and rigidity. With solid wood, you can't - it has to float to allow for expansion.

EDIT: Oooops. I missed the upper shelf. It has to be done in the same manner as the intermediate shelf.

[Gary Kman]

To keep the theory simple an applicable to any project, changes in humidity;
- have very little effect on plywood and medium density fiberboard
- have little or any effect on the length of solid wood
- have the most effect across flat sawn boards (I've seen a 1/4" width change in a hundred year old 12" wide door panel.
- somewhat less in quarter sawn boards depending on species.
Some species have such a large difference of coefficient across the growth rings vs 90* to them that the wood is destroyed during drying.

Look at how ingenious a panel door is constructed to take all this into account.

[John L Sanford]

Thank you for all of the great suggestions and help. I'm kind of starting to worry about the wood movement issues. It will be hard enough to cut all the joints and special cuts to get this thing right. I feel like I can do it with guidance though. Here are some more progress pics. I've added the drawer runners and adjusted some stuff.

http://i226.photobucket.com/albums/dd198/JSMachine/solidworks/chest7.jpg

http://i226.photobucket.com/albums/dd198/JSMachine/solidworks/chest8.jpg

[John L Sanford]

Today I worked on the drawers a little bit. They are assemblies themselves and difficult as well. I did the drawers in the very top, which are 1.5" tall, and then the four underneath those which are 1" tall. Note the color difference in the drawer fronts. I want to use curly maple here. Solidworks does a poor job of depicting maple, other than to just make it look like a lighter colored wood. I also designed the rest of the drawers with oak. This is a cost saving measure. I'm sure that baltic birch plywood would work here too. None of the wood choices are set in stone. I can change that with the click of a mouse, lol.

http://i226.photobucket.com/albums/dd198/JSMachine/solidworks/chest9.jpg

http://i226.photobucket.com/albums/dd198/JSMachine/solidworks/chest10.jpg

The upper compartment bottom / floor has been set to translucent here, so you can see the drawers underneath. I know some of the joints and orientation of grain may not make sense, but let me finish the model and then I will start tweaking it based on you all's suggestions.

Sill left to do are the 2.5" tall drawers that go under the ones I did today, and then two longer drawers on the bottom, and the center drawer. Also left to do is the cover for the front, and the lid.

Thanks for staying tuned.

[John L Sanford]

All Drawers are done, although I think I am going to change the orientation of them a little bit. http://i226.photobucket.com/albums/dd198/JSMachine/solidworks/chest11.jpg

[Marty Paulus]

Great job so far. I am looking to build a tool box as well so I am watching you progress for ideas. Keep up the great work and keep us up on the progress.

[frank shic]

love the inlay

[John L Sanford]

I changed a few things around. I moved the smaller 1" drawers up above the 1.5" drawers that were originally on top. Just seems more correct to go from smallest to largest. I stll may do away with the handbook drawer and put two small drawers in its place.

The top is added in this pic, but not opened.

http://i226.photobucket.com/albums/dd198/JSMachine/solidworks/chest12.jpg

[John L Sanford]

Final picshttp://i226.photobucket.com/albums/dd198/JSMachine/solidworks/chest13.jpghttp://i226.photobucket.com/albums/dd198/JSMachine/solidworks/chest14.jpgThis is the box completely closed. The front cover is in place.http://i226.photobucket.com/albums/dd198/JSMachine/solidworks/chest15.jpg

[John L Sanford]

Just wanted to update. I received a very Generous gift in the mail yesterday from a forum member by the name of Jim Matthews. He sent me some walnut he had that he is not going to use. I was blown away when I opened the package. I never expected such generosity from him.

http://i226.photobucket.com/albums/dd198/JSMachine/Wooden%20tool%20chest/2012-02-23_20-03-28_216.jpg

The widest pieces are 9.5", so I will have to change my box dimensions to make this work with the wood he sent. No big deal.

I also purchased a piece of quilted maple off of ebay. This will be used for the drawer fronts.

http://i226.photobucket.com/albums/dd198/JSMachine/Wooden%20tool%20chest/maple.jpg

I'm excited. Now I have to see about getting the wood planed. the walnut will need to be 1/2", and the maple will have to be 3/8".

[Mike Svoma]

Nice job so far, John. Isn't Solidworks great? I use it for all of my project layouts, as well.

[John L Sanford]

Question: I thought about going ahead and cutting out some of the pieces I need out of these larger pieces of walnut. I have not had it planed yet. Would it be easier for the person doing the planing to have the boards whole like they are now, or would it be ok to take them the individual cut pieces?

[Todd Burch]

Whole, for certain. (unless they are planing by hand).

[John A. Callaway]

If that quilted is thick enough ( 1.25" or thicker ) , I would find a shop that will resaw it for you first, so you get double the drawer fronts....

[John L Sanford]

If that quilted is thick enough ( 1.25" or thicker ) , I would find a shop that will resaw it for you first, so you get double the drawer fronts....John, The maple was 1.75" thick. My drawer fronts are .375". The guy I bought it from offered free resawing, and he uses a .125" blade. I figured it up and told him to make me three cuts at roughly .400"+ thick, and I will have three sheets of that stuff that can be planed to .375". That piece only measures 21.75 tall though, so some changes in the model are in order. The main changes are drawers that are 21" wide now vs. 25" (the lower ones), and also the box will be 9" deep instead of 10.5". I'm working on redrawing the model now in solidoworks. Since I lost the width by about 4", I am going to eliminate the center drawer. I didn't really like it anyway.

[John Miletta]

Ah Yes, The double panel, front and back was the truly only solid wooden machinist chest built in the old days. Later veneer was used for the back and lid... Looks like it`s coming along just fine... ...MC

[John L Sanford]

Thanks for all the support. The new drawing is almost complete, and I'll post some pics of it in a day or two. I'm really excited to get started on it.

[John L Sanford]

So here's a question I've had in the back of my mind since I started designing this thing. What kind of clearance do I need in the red circled areas of this picture?

http://i226.photobucket.com/albums/dd198/JSMachine/Wooden%20tool%20chest/chest16.jpg

The red circled areas are supposed to depict the drawer sides and case sides, drawer sides and vertical center dividers, drawers in relation to one another, and so forth. Right now, the box has been designed with zero clearance. I know this can't work, especially if the wood really moves like you all say it does. So what is acceptable? 1/16" around all places of contact? The factory made boxes look to be pretty tight. I don't want mine to look sloppy because of too much clearance. I know that grain direction has a part to do with this, and I plan to draw up a simple model detailing that as well, so you guys can point me in the right direction if I don't have the grain correct.

[Todd Burch]

If you fit to 1/16" on a dry day, you might be tight on a humid day. Your big center drawer, the fit between the two bottom drawers, and the two drawers 4th from the top will be the ones to watch. You could back-bevel, ever so slightly, the top and bottom edges of your drawer fronts to reduce chances of collision on a humid day. 1/2 of a degree or 1 degree would probably be enough. You could get by with only beveling the bottom edge of the drawer fronts if you didn't want to see the bevel.

[John L Sanford]

Here is the new model. This one has been updated to accomodate the wood sizes I have. Should get the maple any day now, and then it's off to the planer. http://i226.photobucket.com/albums/dd198/JSMachine/Wooden%20tool%20chest/chest17.jpg

[John L Sanford]

Just to update..The wood is at the trim shop now being planed. I should be able to pick it up today. I'll try to get some pics up of it in it's new slimmer size :)

[John L Sanford]

Got the wood back. Here are some pics. Both 1/2" AND 3/8" walnut here

http://i226.photobucket.com/albums/dd198/JSMachine/Wooden%20tool%20chest/chest18.jpg

Then here is the maple. Three pieces at 3/8" and one a little thinner. I'll use it for another project

http://i226.photobucket.com/albums/dd198/JSMachine/Wooden%20tool%20chest/chest19.jpg

And these pics are a close up of some holes in the wood. I'm not sure if this is some sort of beetle or what. I can always fill these holes if I absolutely have to. I probably have enough of the walnut to avoid these areas though I think. Does anybody recognize this damage?

http://i226.photobucket.com/albums/dd198/JSMachine/Wooden%20tool%20chest/chest20.jpg

http://i226.photobucket.com/albums/dd198/JSMachine/Wooden%20tool%20chest/chest21.jpg

[David Keller NC]

What you're seeing is typically insect damage from wood-boring species (there are several common ones, there's no way to tell exactly which one from just the holes). In walnut, these insects only attack the sapwood - the heartwood remains untouched. This is one reason why most woodworkers cut the sapwood off of walnut.

Regarding your drawer fit - you don't need to leave 1/16" clearance on the ends of your drawers - wood doesn't change length along the grain with moisture changes. It's the drawer height that needs clearance. However, it looks like your drawers are going to be side-hung with dovetail runners. If that's the case, don't design in a clearance. Instead, make your drawers to be a perfect flush fit, then plane them down with a block plane or other method to get the clearance you need.

[John L Sanford]

Just to update, I have secured a table saw and gotten it to my shop. It does not have a fence, so I will be rigging something that will work and making some test cuts. Hope to start working on the cuts this weekend for some of the pieces, as I will have some time off of work :)

[Myk Rian]

Too bad this thread isn't a continuation of the first one. All this does is confuse the issue, and throws the build all over the place.
Anyway, it's been 3 months. Any progress?