The Anarchist's Tool Chest - why build one or the like?

[Mike Kelsey]

First of all I find Schwartz's book to be a great read, well worth having & rereading. As I'm nearing the end of the book I thought about the practicalness of the chest it self. Sure if one is traveling it might be a good "travel case" for your tools. But doesn't the weight of the thing require at least two people to heft it into a vehicle? In the days of Hand tool craftsmanship no doubt there were apprentices to help load & move it.

I sure it is a wonderful exercise but how practical is it to have in your shop? I ask because many seem to be building one (not necessarily Chris's) so how useful is it? In what ways do you find it better than a cabinet or tool rack?

[Zach Dillinger]

I've used traditional tool chests for several years. I like them better than racks or cabinets for several reasons. One, they seal tight and will protect your tools from rust. Two, I like the organizational advantages (tills, trays, etc. for each type of tool, i.e. gouges in one, chisels in another). Three, they look really cool and make me feel like a proper cabinetmaker every time I use mine. Are there other options, sure. But none are as satisfying to me to use.

I keep my bench planes, chisels, joint cutting planes, marking tools, etc. in one large chest. Another smaller chest holds all of my molding planes. With my recent score of a huge bunch of patternmakers gouges, carving chisels, etc. I am planning to make two additional trays in my molding plane chest. Kind of a "straight cutting tools in one chest, curved cutting tools in the other."

Plenty of great reasons to build one.

Zach

[george wilson]

I want PICTURES,do you hear me,PICTURES of your score!!:)

[John Powers]

I got half a two car garage. I wouldn't take chris's chest if he gave it to me. The tools got the walls and the ceiling but the drill press, bench, bandsaw and tablesaw have the floor. I also can't see bending over and digging for tools. Rust isn't an issue for me. A nice cabinet on the wall? Sure.

[Zach Dillinger]

I want PICTURES,do you hear me,PICTURES of your score!!:)

Ask and ye shall receive.

http://galootcentral.com/index.php?option=com_copperminevis&Itemid=2&place=thumbnails&album=661

I paid $300 for everything you see in the photos. And, yes, that is a early Bailey's patent #13... and a Type 3 #7, and the cleanest #8 I've ever seen. 36 assorted carving and patternmakers gouges / chisels. A sweet little 4" Jennings drawknife. Translucent Arkansas. Huge surgical black. Nice Howland toothing plane and fillister. Clean 28" thumbhole 4 1/2 ppi D-8 with perfect etch. Other assorted stuff.

Sorry for the brief threadjack. Carry on!

[Zach Dillinger]

I got half a two car garage. I wouldn't take chris's chest if he gave it to me. The tools got the walls and the ceiling but the drill press, bench, bandsaw and tablesaw have the floor. I also can't see bending over and digging for tools. Rust isn't an issue for me. A nice cabinet on the wall? Sure.

You don't really bend over to get tools, just kind of lean. They work great for me. Floor space isn't an issue without all those machines...

[John Powers]

I'm really more of a home improvement/small boat builder than a woodworker. I can't envision life without my bandsaw. You didn't drive all the way to egg harbor city nj for those tools did you? There was a lovely oak chest full,of pristine old tools on cl last week that look a lot like your haul right down to that sharpening stone box. Those tools you got look like someone took great care of them. They deserve a nice chest......or cabinet on the wall. Nice score.

[Jared McMahon]

I bought my tool chest at an antique store basically on a whim just before I started reading the ATC book. I assumed I would be cumbersome for everyday use and that I'd use it basically as storage for the tools I wasn't using, but it's really surprising how nice it is to work out of. I have to fuss with the tills a bit but that's pretty minimal. I keep it tucked under the far end of my bench when I'm not actively working, and coax it out a bit to open it up and dig in. I had every intention of building a wall cabinet at least for a plane till and saw till, but I feel zero need to at this point. I'm developing a little bit of a Saw Problem (they've always attracted me more than any other type of hand tool) so I might very well build a saw till sometime here, but that's due to my personal issues, not any functional reasons.

[george wilson]

A truly great haul!!:)

My best score was in the 80's(I guess). This guy came into the instrument shop. After he heard my interpretation,he mentioned that he had a box full of chisels that his grandfather had left. He didn't know the makes. He wanted to sell them. I did not have any idea what the tools were. They could have been Speed Ball linoleum block cutters for all I knew. I made him a blind offer of $75.00.

When he got back to New Jersey,I called him to see if he could examine the tools and identify the maker. No,they are all black,he said. I went ahead and sent the money. Then,he started wanting to keep things. He kept the wooden planes,and some other stuff. No price reduction. I was getting discouraged that he was reneging like that,but said nothing.

Finally,the tools came. There were over 75(or 100?) 19th.C. Addis English carving tools,with the name CLEARLY stamped on them,even if they were black. Plus,several files and a real nice,large 1/2 round wood rasp.

Well,I was very relieved,and happy,to say the least. They are hanging in my shop,taking up a large amount of space on the racks I made for them!

My 2nd. biggest haul was when I was JUST starting the flea market at Kutztown,with $500.00 in my pocket. Here was a LARRRRRGE assortment of pattern maker's gouges,cranked chisels,NICE old Disston back saws. I mean,there must have been over 150 tools laid out. I asked the seller,a young,large guy how much. He said $24.00 each. This was in the 70's,and that was GOOD money for those tools at that time,but,they were very nice,well cared for old tools. He'd just bought out a pattern maker's shop.

So,I resigned myself to blowing my whole wad,and picked out about 24 gouges,chisels,and some saws. I asked what I owed? He screwed his face around for several seconds and said $150.00!!! I paid up EL PRONTO MUCHO. Later on,he came up to me with a nice,large Atkins miter box saw,wanting $50.00 for it. It was way too much,but I think he had figured out how bad he had screwed himself,so I bought it. Never have yet sawn a piece of wood with it.

[Mike Kelsey]

It seems to me (and I see this as a good thing) that using a tool chest would require a lot more disipline in organization and even keeping tools clean. One wouldn't be "throwing" quality tools in the chest willy-nilly, nor leave them covered with shavings etc as both actions could affect other tools in the chest. I'm finding just how important "taking time" is when working with hand tools and maybe the tool chest partly symbolizes that for some.

[george wilson]

I made my tool chest more of a pattern maker's type. But,I was never an itinerate(sp?) type woodworker. Those big chests were rugged,and were often used as workbenches on jobs like trim carpentry,etc..

[Andy Margeson]

I was concerned about the same thing, but you don't bend over and dig. I put my chest on a platform with casters about 6" high. Larger tools are on the bottom, so you are grabbing a saw handle or plane tote. The smaller tools are in tills. I find it much easier and quicker to get and put away tools than I did when they were in wall cabinets. Everything is a step away and I maintain a cleaner bench. (I'm an older, big guy and can't touch my toes.)

[Joe Fabbri]

I also just recently acquired an old tool chest full of tools for $300, Zach. It is an old Shipwright's chest. But I over the years, it's been picked, I guess. It has plently of wooden planes in it (coffin smoothers, jacks, and a 26" jointer), but unfortunately no chisels. Some of the planes aren't in great shape, but some are pretty nice. The large jointer has a seriously hefty Butcher blade on it. It also came with some of the heaviest duty rasps I've ever seen, a bunch of old blades (Butchers), a bunch of different sharpening stones, a few saws, three try squares, an old block of wax, a few unusual small torches, and a bunch of other tools/objects I can't quite identify. Maybe I'll post some pictures of it.

Anyway, a chest seems like a great way to store tools. Before I got this one, I was planning on making one. I may still do it, and use this as a pattern.

But, that's a nice find there, Zach.

Joe

[Mike Brady]

A few observations and personal opinions about tool chests and the recent fad of building them:

-How many of you would have built a tool chest if Chris Schwarz ( whom I greatly admire for inspiring many to use hand tools) had not touted them in his book? It's not like they are a new idea!
-I built the school box, which was a fun way to practice dovetail construction. I haven't found a good use for it...either.
-It takes two men and a boy to lift a tool chest filled with tools. My wife wouldn't be up to it.
-Just where are you taking those tools anyway? Is there a demand for itinerant hand tool craftsmen?
-I cringe when I look at photos of tools knocking against each other in those beautiful tool chests. I don't want my Lie-Nielsen tools rubbing against anything but water stones and curly maple.
-People using tool chest should have to dress like Adam Cherubini. Its only fitting.

Who knows? Maybe I will run out of things to build and decide a tool chest would be just the place to put all those impulsively bought tools that I just might need someday.... #s 51 through infinity.

[Mike Kelsey]

Mike,

You stated part of my point/inquiry exactly.....


A few observations and personal opinions about tool chests and the recent fad of building them:

-How many of you would have built a tool chest if Chris Schwarz ( whom I greatly admire for inspiring many to use hand tools) had not touted them in his book? It's not like they are a new idea!
-I built the school box, which was a fun way to practice dovetail construction. I haven't found a good use for it...either.
-It takes two men and a boy to lift a tool chest filled with tools. My wife wouldn't be up to it.
-Just where are you taking those tools anyway? Is there a demand for itinerant hand tool craftsmen?
-I cringe when I look at photos of tools knocking against each other in those beautiful tool chests. I don't want my Lie-Nielsen tools rubbing against anything but water stones and curly maple.
-People using tool chest should have to dress like Adam Cherubini. Its only fitting.

Who knows? Maybe I will run out of things to build and decide a tool chest would be just the place to put all those impulsively bought tools that I just might need someday.... #s 51 through infinity.

[george wilson]

As with many things,there may not have to be a logical or practical reason to make something. Just a matter of what ever makes your putter flutter.

[Dave Lehnert]

I plan to build one someday when time lets me. I love to go to antique shops and find and restore old tools. Just think it would be neat to have a complete set of tools in a homemade chest.

Building a chest, for some, is nothing more than enjoying your hobby. I know guys who just enjoy building a shop full of tools and supplies as a hobby. Rarely a project ever comes out the door. As long as you enjoy it and is a way for you to escape the every day, then it is very practical. Maybe not for the shop but for ones self pride.

[Andy Margeson]

I built mine prior to publication of the book and it is not very similar to his; in fact, I think he would disapprove of mine. There are different reasons for building a chest. The way my shop is arranged I don't have wall space that is convenient to my bench, which is under a window and next to a door, with a garage door occupying the adjacent side of the garage. I got tired of the back and forth. Now that I have it, I really enjoy working from it. My tools don't knock together in the chest at all. In fact, they knock together less, because I put them away more often, rather than leaving them on the bench. If I wanted to, I could load my toolbox into my pickup alone in ten minutes: remove the tills, lift the planes out of the bottom, put the chest in the truck and replace the contents. As for where I am taking them, to my bench and back. Same as I did when I had wall cabinets.

Probably best not to generalize about woodworkers who prefer wall cabinets or who prefer chests. Both options have advantages and disadvantages and woodworkers have different preferences.

[Bruno Frontera dela Cruz]

I am a hybrid woodworker (hand and power tools) in a non climate controlled garage. This chest fits perfectly under my out feed table, so no wasted floor space and with vapor emitting corrosion inhibitors and a goldenrod dehumidifier it is my only means of rust control for my hand tools (plus oil of course). It also holds ALL of my hand tools so they are now in one place and the days of fumbling throug router bits and jig saw blades to find my marking gauge are over and my shop organization is much improved.





First of all I find Schwartz's book to be a great read, well worth having & rereading. As I'm nearing the end of the book I thought about the practicalness of the chest it self. Sure if one is traveling it might be a good "travel case" for your tools. But doesn't the weight of the thing require at least two people to heft it into a vehicle? In the days of Hand tool craftsmanship no doubt there were apprentices to help load & move it.

I sure it is a wonderful exercise but how practical is it to have in your shop? I ask because many seem to be building one (not necessarily Chris's) so how useful is it? In what ways do you find it better than a cabinet or tool rack?

[Eric Brown]

One reason to build the chest is that its painted. That makes it an excellent project for those just getting into hand tool work.
Its very good at teaching the basics needed that leads to other carcass work. The paint covers up the mistakes.
It's a great first large project. If you then follow Chris's thoughts on the tool selection, you end up spending more time working wood and less on tool collecting. To someone starting out, its a good way to go. Then as experience and needs dictate, other methods will be much better realized. If someone starting out built the largest tool storage solution, they would not get to the fun part of working wood that will develop their skills near as fast.

Food for thought. Eric

[Peter Pedisich]

A few observations and personal opinions about tool chests and the recent fad of building them:

-How many of you would have built a tool chest if Chris Schwarz ( whom I greatly admire for inspiring many to use hand tools) had not touted them in his book? It's not like they are a new idea! I built mine before I read ATC, and I wish I had read the book first, CS's design is much better than mine. I originally wanted one like Roy Underhill's.
-I built the school box, which was a fun way to practice dovetail construction. I haven't found a good use for it...either.
-It takes two men and a boy to lift a tool chest filled with tools. My wife wouldn't be up to it. Mine is heavy, I can only move it empty, which I must do at the beginning and end of each winter, from basement to garage.
-Just where are you taking those tools anyway? From basement to garage...
Is there a demand for itinerant hand tool craftsmen?
-I cringe when I look at photos of tools knocking against each other in those beautiful tool chests. I don't want my Lie-Nielsen tools rubbing against anything but water stones and curly maple. good point, this is one point I do consider a negative about a chest as compared to wall cabinets, I keep chisel guards in place and use care when removing things to avoid scratching, basically just my LV LAJ and other co$tly new stuff!
-People using tool chest should have to dress like Adam Cherubini. Its only fitting. Better than a lot of folks I see walking around nowadays!
Who knows? Maybe I will run out of things to build and decide a tool chest would be just the place to put all those impulsively bought tools that I just might need someday.... #s 51 through infinity.

When I have dedicated shop, I plan to build a wall arrangement, with the chest as auxilliary storage, until then I find it is many times better than what I had before, which was nothing, and it does offer much protection for my tools.


-Pete

[Zach Dillinger]

A few observations and personal opinions about tool chests and the recent fad of building them:

-How many of you would have built a tool chest if Chris Schwarz ( whom I greatly admire for inspiring many to use hand tools) had not touted them in his book? It's not like they are a new idea!
-I built the school box, which was a fun way to practice dovetail construction. I haven't found a good use for it...either.
-It takes two men and a boy to lift a tool chest filled with tools. My wife wouldn't be up to it.
-Just where are you taking those tools anyway? Is there a demand for itinerant hand tool craftsmen?
-I cringe when I look at photos of tools knocking against each other in those beautiful tool chests. I don't want my Lie-Nielsen tools rubbing against anything but water stones and curly maple.
-People using tool chest should have to dress like Adam Cherubini. Its only fitting.

Who knows? Maybe I will run out of things to build and decide a tool chest would be just the place to put all those impulsively bought tools that I just might need someday.... #s 51 through infinity.

#1: I've used my traditional tool chests for years, long before that book was published. In fact, I really don't like that all traditional chests are now referred to as "anarchists tool chests" by Schwarz's readers. It drives me nuts, to be perfectly honest. Like you said, they are far from a new idea.
#2: The school box is useless, as far as I can tell, except for tiny things. Some tool chests are also useless, depending on how they are made and the storage options they have. Mine are not useless.
#3: There is a basic misunderstanding with tool chests. Not all of them were intended to be moved from job site to job site. For a joiner, they were, but they had smaller chests and a smaller kit. Cabinetmakers had to have a larger selection of tools and were more likely to work in one set place, hence a larger chest. I have my chests (one large chest full of bench planes, chisels and saws, one smaller with molding planes and gouges) on moving dolly carts, to help me slide it around my shop. I'm not an itinerant woodworker. When I do need to take tools to another site, I use a smaller, more portable box. I'm not likely to need all of my tools at any one job site. Plus, I have way more tools than I need, or than an 18th century joiner had.
#4: My tools don't knock together. I don't have many Lie-Nielsens, but if I did, I wouldn't treat them specially. They are just mass-produced, readily available tools. Nice ones, sure, but readily available. In fact, I value my 18th century planes and even my 19th century planes far, far, far more than my few LNs. I can easily buy a new LN plane or saw... when is the last time you saw a set of like new Gabriel hollows and rounds for sale? They live in my tool chest and I dote on them, just like all of my other wooden planes. If there was any chance of damage, I wouldn't use the chest for them.
#5: If I could figure out who Adam's tailor is, I'd probably buy a few things... for my work at the Charlton Park living history museum of course. Those loose, flowing shirts look pretty darn comfy though... On the flip side, people who use wall hung boxes should wear a waistcoat and a tie.

The fact is, if you don't want to use a chest, you don't have to. But until you've worked out of one, it is just silly to dismiss their use as a "fad" spawned by a currently-popular writer. A properly built tool chest is a powerful storage tool. The fact that they are the proper storage option for the joiners and cabinetmakers of the time period I choose to study is also a factor in my decision. I've worked out of just about every storage system there is, and the chests work for me.


As with many things,there may not have to be a logical or practical reason to make something. Just a matter of what ever makes your putter flutter.

I'm totally stealing that line, George.

[george wilson]

Steal it,Zach,I stole it from Johnny Carson. And,build your chest however it excites you. I have never been very practical,to say the least. I just get the job done somehow!!:)

[Zach Dillinger]

I just get the job done somehow!!:)

And that's all that counts, wherever you choose to store your planes.

[Jessica Pierce-LaRose]

I've been thinking of building a tool chest for a while now - simply because while I don't have much space in my shop, the footprint of a chest will take a little space, but hold more tools than I can fit in the available wall space, and I locate it more comfortably to my bench.


#1: I've used my traditional tool chests for years, long before that book was published. In fact, I really don't like that all traditional chests are now referred to as "anarchists tool chests" by Schwarz's readers. It drives me nuts, to be perfectly honest. Like you said, they are far from a new idea.


I'm glad I'm not the only one annoyed by this. "Anarchist's tool chest" is the title of the book, a bit of credo, and a toolchest that belongs to an anarchist. It's not the form itself!



#3: There is a basic misunderstanding with tool chests. Not all of them were intended to be moved from job site to job site. For a joiner, they were, but they had smaller chests and a smaller kit.

Exactly! Yes, a toolchest would be much easier to move than maybe a wall cabinet if you needed to and had the manpower, but the large sized ones weren't made to be moved. I don't know where this misunderstanding came from.




#4: My tools don't knock together.

Again, I don't understand where this perception comes from - it must be related to the perception that these large chest are made for traveling, or people who roll their chests over really bumpy floors? Saws sit in their nice little spots. Molding planes have their pocket in the back. Large planes don't really move too much on their own. Some chests have nice dividers, or little holes to keep the edge tools from banging around, otherwise you use tool rolls or whatever.


#5: ... On the flip side, people who use wall hung boxes should wear a waistcoat and a tie.

Haha! (I've tried working like that - I get too stinky. I don't even wear a shirt woodworking half the time, with all the dimensioning/surfacing by hand I've been doing)


The fact is, if you don't want to use a chest, you don't have to.

again, exactly - although I feel like the thread was originally questioning why some folks like them. I think shop storage is one of those personal things that is both related to how you work and the layout of your shop.


But until you've worked out of one, it is just silly to dismiss their use as a "fad" spawned by a currently-popular writer.

I think there's a tendency, with the internet, to just sort of figure everything is new if we haven't seen it written about recently. The thing is, there's so much more woodworking getting done around the world by folks that we don't know about because they aren't writers, or they aren't sharing their work on message boards or whatever. I mean, I'm sure that a lot more toolchests have been getting built lately than maybe in the past, because the builders where inspired by Chris's writings. I mean, there's enough toolchests in Tolpin's book (which has a couple of really cool variations on the traditional chest, by the way) to suggest that the form didn't die out with the advent of the wall-hung tool cabinet



The bending over thing gets commented on a lot - I know it seems odd, but if you build a large chest, the bending is a lot easier than it would seem - you put a hand on the rim of the chest, and support most of your weight with that - I don't know quite how to explain it, but it makes things a lot easier than say, getting something out of the bottom drawer in the kitchen cupboards without squatting. It's when you build a small chest that you need to worry about bending or getting the chest up on something.

One feature I really like that I've seen in some chests, are tills (either in addition to or in replacement of the normal sliding tills) with small handles - so they become lift out trays to bring all of one set of tools to the workbench at once.

[Adam Blanton]

A few observations and personal opinions about tool chests and the recent fad of building them:

...
-People using tool chest should have to dress like Adam Cherubini. Its only fitting.

...


"Hey, if I saw myself in clothes like those, I'd have to kick my own A**"

[Zach Dillinger]

One feature I really like that I've seen in some chests, are tills (either in addition to or in replacement of the normal sliding tills) with small handles - so they become lift out trays to bring all of one set of tools to the workbench at once.


I do this all the time with my chisel tray and my gouge tray. Works great, they all stay together and I have them all at hand when I need them.

[Allen Hunt]

Well I've bought the lumber to build my chest. I've noticed that most tills hang from the left and right sides. I am thinking of hanging my tills from the front and back so that when I take a till to the bench it will be smaller. Also since I think my chest is going to be 43" to 45" I would have two tills on each level, about 11" wide each. This way my dovetail chisels will be in one till and regular bench chisels in another, etc. I am just getting into wooden moulders and am going to use my grandad's smaller chest to house those. I am putting some good sized casters on the bottom and four Brusso stop hinges on the top so I don't have to use a chain to hold the top open. I am hanging two handles on each end, which seems more practicable to me. I know, it will be heavy, but if I move it, I plan to roll it into what ever is the transport vehicle.

[Graham Hughes (CA)]

I have three, and don't really have the floor space for all of them, but I'm not willing to live without them. My shop is a one car garage, and I have only the bandsaw for stationary power tools; I could see things being different if I had to fit a table saw inside, too, but I don't actually want or need one. I have also worked out of wall cabinets, wall hung tools, and a machinist's toolchest. The traditional designs are better suited to woodworking, more robust, very easy to work out of, and customizable; I have retrofitted two of mine with fitted chisel racks and am delighted by it. I never move two of the chests and the third (smaller) one only very occasionally; they're not about moving stuff from place to place. I have found that I dislike intensely the "internal till" style of wooden chest, preferring open trays, but that's the biggest limitation I've found for wooden chests.

To dismiss the alternatives I've tried; the big problem with wall hung tools is that they're inefficient on space and so you have to walk all over creation to get the thing you want. The problem with wall cabinets is they are almost universally smaller in size and in holding capacity than floor chests; this is particularly important for me because of my ridiculous wooden plane habit but it is generally important. I do have a wall cabinet for my saws, of which I have too many; it's surprisingly obtrusive considering how much it stores. Tool racks have similar limitations. The machinist's chest of drawers is about a dozen (on my example) stacked drawers all of which are always the wrong size for everything; they are either too thin, designed for wrenches, or too tall for anything and turn into a junk drawer. I used to store my chisels and files in them, but you have to be careful that they don't bang into each other opening (which is a huge problem!), something I don't have to worry about with the chests.

[Andrae Covington]

I am still slowly building my tool chest, so I can't really comment on usability, but so far my tool storage has been haphazard and inconvenient, so I am confident the chest will be an improvement. I am already storing my planes and saws in the chest while I complete the sliding trays.

I believe I was first inspired to build a chest when reading an Adam Cherubini article from 2006 on hand tool shop layout and space requirements, entitled "The 'Ultimate' Hand Tool Shop". On tool storage he noted that pre-industrial shops had frequently-used "bench" tools stored under the bench, hanging on the wall behind the bench, or on a nearby shelf; while the remaining tools were stored in a tool chest, also within easy reach.

I then purchased Jim Tolpin's The Toolbox Book, which has some examples of traditional and re-interpreted tool chests, as well as wall-mounted cabinets, floor-standing cabinets, portable storage to take to jobsites, etc. I considered the various options but returned to the traditional chest as the best choice for me.

So eventually I began drawing up a tool chest design based on some of the drawings in The Toolbox Book as well as a small tool chest that Roy Underhill built on The Woodwright's Shop and wrote about for Popular Woodworking.

Then I watched Chris Schwarz's chest come together on his blog, and bought the book when it was available. His construction methods were simplified in various respects from what I had originally planned. Simple is good. I've ended up building mine fairly close to his design.

As others have said, portability is not really the purpose of a large joiner's chest. I put casters on mine so I can roll it around the floor. I was concerned about reaching down inside to grab tools on the bottom, but it's no big deal at all. I did, however, slightly shrink the height of the walls from Schwarz's dimensions to better accommodate my shorter arms. Humidity is always an issue here in the Northwest, so the tool chest will help keep my tools from rusting; I've had problems occasionally with tools left out (because there was no proper place to store them). I do think that the chest will force me into being more organized and better about returning tools to where they live; I need that. I am not planning on French-fitting, though I will probably specialize the trays just a little bit for chisels. I think the mostly-undivided trays allow for flexibility over time as my tools change or if I end up needing specialty tools for a certain project that otherwise will be deep stored elsewhere.

Besides all that, it has provided me with lots of through-dovetail practice.

[Harlan Barnhart]

I started a 3/4 sized chest several years ago and I'm just now restarting the project. I made mine just small enough that I can pick it up and carry it alone. It's not designed to house a complete set. Many of Chris' ideas are in it, such as simple, open trays rather than purpose built storage, and using cheap, available wood. I envision it as a travelling tool kit.

[Curt Putnam]

After having read ATC, I like the concept, especially because I have little or no wall space. Arthritis, however, keeps me from bending or kneeling. So I am now trying to design something that preforms essentially the same functions as a chest, but which is more vertical. Heavy stuff goes down low and light stuff goes up higher. I'm trying to think about it now in terms of workflow patterns. When trying to flatten freshly glued up panels, one does not generally need carving chisels readily at hand. One pretty small tool set pretty much handles dovetails - and so on. If I had more experience as a hand tool woodworker, I could probably do a better job of design, but I've got to do something. I have 4 tables/benches in my pretty standard # 2 sized no car garage and need to thing the herd. I need a new bench so I trying to integrate tool storage and retrieval patterns with the bench design.

[Jim Matthews]

It would be tragic to expend precious shop time on tools only used in the shop. Too many of us fit out our dream shop rather than make something for others.

These have utility, but building them to furniture quality standards is demented (or fermented). Don't get me started on exotic species inlaid in benchtops - or chrome, for that matter.

It's a tool, not a Faberge egg.

[Jerome Hanby]

Furniture quality in workshop projects might make sense for practice...

[Justin Green]

I like the idea. I actually have about 4 of the full sized antique tool chests in my house. Some with trays, some missing the trays. Might post some photos later on. They're all pretty neat.

I like the unfinished insides, and whether I build a tool chest or a wall cabinet, I plan on lining it with cedar or making the trays of cedar and leaving the cedar unfinished so it can add just another layer of moisture absorbing protection for the tools. Cedar is cheap here.

[george wilson]

I make tools all the time. They will survive to become some future craftsman's tools,just as well as a piece of furniture. Would you rather do without Two Lawyer's Tools,and the like? They are a small,pretty much home shop-spare time little company whose saws are pure delight in quality.

[Bruno Frontera dela Cruz]

The first frame and panel I ever built was on the tool chest lid as well as the first deep mortise and tenon joint so now I have some experience under my belt for when I redo my kitchen cabinets.

Now, I ended up doing it perfectly but certainly you can see the value in learning to do this on a functional shop item with poplar rather than in my kitchen with beautiful cherry.


It would be tragic to expend precious shop time on tools only used in the shop. Too many of us fit out our dream shop rather than make something for others.

These have utility, but building them to furniture quality standards is demented (or fermented). Don't get me started on exotic species inlaid in benchtops - or chrome, for that matter.

It's a tool, not a Faberge egg.

[Jeff L Miller]

Chris Becksvoort (Fine Woodworking Editor) discussed this very topic, and in issue #153 (I think) he builds a wall cabinet in lieu of a tool chest and gives his reasons for doing so.

Personally, I think I will utilize a combination of the two. My first project will be to convert an old southern yellow pine carpenters chest into a tool chest for display of my old vintage collectible tools. Second, I would like a wall unit similar to the one Becksvoort built to hold my current working tools near my bench. Floor space is a premieum in my garage/shop and the wall unit will work best for me.

Here is Chris' cabinet. http://www.finewoodworking.com/FWNPDFfree/011153084.pdf

Jeff

[Maurice Ungaro]

Chris Becksvoort (Fine Woodworking Editor) discussed this very topic, and in issue #153 (I think) he builds a wall cabinet in lieu of a tool chest and gives his reasons for doing so.

Personally, I think I will utilize a combination of the two. My first project will be to convert an old southern yellow pine carpenters chest into a tool chest for display of my old vintage collectible tools. Second, I would like a wall unit similar to the one Becksvoort built to hold my current working tools near my bench. Floor space is a premieum in my garage/shop and the wall unit will work best for me.

Here is Chris' cabinet. http://www.finewoodworking.com/FWNPDFfree/011153084.pdf

Jeff

Jeff, thanks for that link. I'm of the same mindset at this point in my workshop. There is no floor space available, but walls a plenty. I think the aspect that many people miss about the ATC book, is that Schwartz is telling and showing is that all the tools we really NEED can be fit into one of these chests. My take away is that someday I will probably build one of those chests, but for now, logistics dictate storing those tools on the wall.

BTW, a couple of years ago, FWW had another article (No. 188), with a similar plywood box construction.

[Zach Dillinger]

Chris Becksvoort (Fine Woodworking Editor) discussed this very topic, and in issue #153 (I think) he builds a wall cabinet in lieu of a tool chest and gives his reasons for doing so.

Personally, I think I will utilize a combination of the two. My first project will be to convert an old southern yellow pine carpenters chest into a tool chest for display of my old vintage collectible tools. Second, I would like a wall unit similar to the one Becksvoort built to hold my current working tools near my bench. Floor space is a premieum in my garage/shop and the wall unit will work best for me.

Here is Chris' cabinet. http://www.finewoodworking.com/FWNPDFfree/011153084.pdf

Jeff

And that's what its all about, a self-diagnosis of needs and assets. I have limited wall space near my bench (8 foot bank of windows over my bench) and floor space isn't a concern, so chests work better for me. As with most things in woodworking, your mileage may vary. I just hope that people don't only think of large tool chests as either "trendy" or "antiquated and only good to display". Tools are still tools and woodworkers are still woodworkers. They worked in the past and they work now.

[Brandon Craig]

As woodworkers, we are all deeply concerned with aesthetics in some form or another and it's not unreasonable to think that our own shops/garages should reflect that; I'm sure we've all dropped our jaws at some beautiful work benches for example. Of course functionality has to be central to tool storage, but since we invest a lot of money and time in our tools it makes perfect sense why we might want a beautifully constructed tool chest or a nice wall cabinet/till that displays them nicely. Not to mention the whole good-practice-for-later-projects component already discussed.

[Maurice Ungaro]

And that's what its all about, a self-diagnosis of needs and assets.

Well put, Zach.

[Mike Kelsey]

I agree with Maurice about the theme of the ATC book & from a historical perspective the woodworking craftsman (one who makes a living at it) had a chest of required tools when he went somewhere outside the shop to work. That's why the essence of my question was how practical is a chest in this day and age where a lot of wood workers have more than a few in number of certain tools. At my beginning skill level, I'd learn a lot by building one, but it would probably take me a year to figure out size and what tools to put in it. :p To build one out of tradition & the love of woodworking is always enough of a reason, to me, in this day and age of throw-away crap we live in.

So my compliment project right now is building Schwartz's saw bench (actually 2). A good excuse to begin to learn use my LV xmas gifts. I could have built Jim Tolpin's saw bench, or some other simpler version, but I wouldn't be learning, making mistakes, as much. So maybe the ATC is more about the process, the mistakes you make & what you learn from it. Just my guess.



Jeff, thanks for that link. I'm of the same mindset at this point in my workshop. There is no floor space available, but walls a plenty. I think the aspect that many people miss about the ATC book, is that Schwartz is telling and showing is that all the tools we really NEED can be fit into one of these chests. My take away is that someday I will probably build one of those chests, but for now, logistics dictate storing those tools on the wall.

BTW, a couple of years ago, FWW had another article (No. 188), with a similar plywood box construction.

[Zach Dillinger]

That's why the essence of my question was how practical is a chest in this day and age where a lot of wood workers have more than a few in number of certain tools.

Traditional tool chests are as practical now as they ever were for those of us who use traditional tools. And the number of tools doesn't matter. In my two tool chests, I have more than 100 wooden planes, at least 40 chisels, 30 or so gouges, more than a dozen saws, eight marking and mortise gauges, numerous squares, my LN shoulder plane, a couple of block planes, and other assorted stuff I'm not remembering at this point. Obviously my boxes aren't easily moved from site to site but mine, like many traditional chests, were never intended for this type of use. Again, there is a basic misunderstanding about these boxes. As I said earlier, many tool chests were not intended to be transported out of the shop on a regular basis.

Traditional tools haven't changed much, nor has their usage in the shop. Modern sensibilities have changed, and thats fine. But saying that the old tool chest is an anachronism that doesn't work for modern woodworkers is like saying that wooden planes won't work for us either... flat wrong.

[James Owen]

Why build a traditional tool chest? So you can store your tools in something like this:

http://pfollansbee.wordpress.com/

[steven c newman]

Took a few things from the ATC project, and adaptted it to my way of building a chest. Seem to like the Frame & Panel type of chests, and have done quite a few Blanket chests that way. So, here is the nickel tour286988Raise the threeboard Walnut lid, and find a series of trays. The center one even has a handle. Act like a tool tote, to carry tools and such to the bench, the chisel tray sit in a rebate cut into the edge of the tote. The Slider just collects the overflows. Remove the chisel tray286989and discover a saw till below it. Hands four panel saws, and a back saw. Nice shot of the raised panels. Those were some sycamore scraps that were raised using Paul Sellers tip of just a handplane. Ok, remove the trays out of the way286990a few hand planes hiding in the basement? Chest is a bit on the small side, but so is the shop. I do have to walk around this thing, afterall. I also sit on the chest when handsawing dovetails.

Started this out with four Walnut planks. About 16bf of walnut, about the same in Pine. Four Sycamore panels were just sitting around, looking for a home. Lid is about 28 by 18, and the chest is about 20" high. Seems to fit into the space I had for it286991BIG Shop???

[Stanley Covington]

Chris Schwarz wrote a fun book, but there is very little original in it beyond his words. "Nothing new under the sun." I built mine 20 plus years ago. I refinished it after reading Mr. Schwarz's book because the varnish was getting ratty. I work out if it here in Tokyo.

Toolchests take floorspace, as someone else observed, but protect tools from dust, humidity, and rust better than cabinets, which spill out any rust-prevention vapors, and seldom seal tightly. Of course, they work much much better than shelves, and wall mounting, which provide zero protection. Hard to beat.

I have a large tool cabinet on casters too that I use when back in the States. A bit quicker, better organized, and it stores more tools, but it does not protect tools better than my toolchest.

The idea of moving a toolchest around on a daily basis is silly. 4 men can lift and carry mine when full of tools and load it onto a truck with no problem, but 2 guys would get hurt.

To raise it higher to save your back, I recommend building a torsion box base with HD urethane casters. I built mine from 2x4's and .75" plywood with big casters and four carry handle, and finished it with ext latex paint. Even my 80lb Japanese wife can easily push it around on a flat surface.

I especially like the removable saw till feature. I wish I could say I invented the idea, but it too is older than dirt. The drawer on the bottom is original, and works great for Japanese saws.

Stan

287125 287123 287126 287127 287128 287129 287130 287131

[jeff vanek]

Yesterday's woodwright's show was about the anarchists chest

[Chris Fournier]

287141287142287143One of these would not fit in any of my three shops because I use floor space for machines, process and storage. The entire format offers "benfits" that are anything but to me, for others this my not be the case. I know, I've shown the images before but I looked at the way that I used tools and built tool storage under my bench and on the surrounding walls. I have a compact work centre that will move to any foreseeable location even an apartment/condo setting (god help me if that ever happens).

Tools rubbing elbows is not cool.

[Jim Belair]

Nice Chris. I'd need some serious labeling to guide me to what was in which drawer!

[Chris Fournier]

Nice Chris. I'd need some serious labeling to guide me to what was in which drawer!

Ha! After all these years I could work blindfolded at my bench. Of course that wouldn't be safe but my dovetails wouldn't suffer one bit...