got tired of my tools rusting in the humidity - built a wall toolchest

[Richard Shaefer]

Kinda stupid to post just for my toolchest (I remember a thread a while back but forgot what it was called). Still, finally put a coat of poly on it and it looked pretty good, so I thought I'd post a few pics of it. Still have to make the hammer hangers, saw till, and three more drawers, but it's mostly there. I readily admit that I was inspired by a similar chest I saw in the pages FWW.

My goal from the onset was to build this thing strictly out of scraps and leftovers from other comissions, so the door frames and cabinet carcase frame were made from different boards-one was sapele from a trestle table build, the other true mahogony with a lot of defects from a vality build. the boards were quite likely from different centuries. The door infills were striped sapele plywood scraps from a banquette build, and the upper panels are one left over board of birdseye maple that I could never bring myself to throw away and wound up resawing it really, really thin to get the coverage I needed. The inside is just scrap pine except for the drawers, which are sapele face and QS red oak sides dovetailed together.

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[Chris Griggs]

Not stupid at all...I love seeing what folks are building. You clearly know what your doing. I like that you build it entirely out of scraps. Very very cool!

[Joe Bailey]

+1

You can post your stupid projects any time you like as far as I'm concerned -- nice work!

[Jim Koepke]

My only stupid projects are the ones that do not work or do not teach something.

Yours looks nice and useful.

jtk

[Frederick Skelly]

Nice chest. Glad you posted it. FWIW, I love to see what other folks are building.
Fred

[Stanley Covington]

A real beauty! And it looks very useful, too. Thanks. Please post more details with more resolution.
Stan

[Richard Shaefer]

bt if I post higher res pictures, you'll see all the mistakes! ;)
I'll try to get some better shots tonight.
those with a better eye for balance than I will no doubt notice the stiles between the upper panels are larger than they should be. that was me trying to s-t-r-e-t-c-h the width of the narrow board out to fit the width of the doors.

[george wilson]

The tool cabinet looks great!

[Chris Hachet]

+1

You can post your stupid projects any time you like as far as I'm concerned -- nice work!I would agree...need to build one of these for myself....

[Wayne Hendrix]

My only stupid projects are the ones that do not work or do not teach something.

Yours looks nice and useful.

jtk

I would have to argue that at least the first one teaches that it doesn't work and is therefore not stupid at all.

As to the OP, beautiful cabinet.

[george wilson]

Old time machinists(and me,too) used to put lumps of camphor in their tool chests to prevent rusting. They slowly dissolved,producing a gas that excluded oxygen,or put an extremely thin coating of camphor on the steel tools. Not sure which,but it worked. I used to be able to buy little blocks of camphor at the drug store. You's probably have to order them from the internet now. Keep the un used ones tightly wrapped in Saran Wrap until needed. Perhaps also wrap and keep them in the freezer till wanted.

You could instead use a heating rod as used in pianos(a Damp Chaser). I keep one in my gun cabinet year round. They work.

[Mel Fulks]

Those things that LV sells work well,too .In a closed space they last a long time ,I have one that I bought in 2001.the stuff is in a little coffee creamer type package. When you shake it and don't hear anything ....time to get another. Not a desiccant ,it makes an invisible film.

[Peter Pedisich]

Those things that LV sells work well,too .In a closed space they last a long time ,I have one that I bought in 2001.the stuff is in a little coffee creamer type package. When you shake it and don't hear anything ....time to get another. Not a desiccant ,it makes an invisible film. Absolutely! I have had one in my tool chest that was left in my garage all winter with my wifes car beside it and melting snow mixed with road salt all about - zero rust! Worth every penny.

[glenn bradley]

Excellent use of leftovers. Anytime I can make something decent out of stuff I have lying around it makes me feel extra good about getting something done. I save the silica sacks that come packed with various items. Set them out in the sun (or dry them out some other way) and toss them in a drawer or on a shelf near my tools. Every so often I take them out and lay them in the sun while I work and then toss them back in.

[Tom Henderson2]

Looks great. Could you clue us in on approximate overall dimensions (height, width and depth)?

And for rust-prevention, Rustblox (www.brownells.com (http://www.brownells.com)) works pretty well if you have an enclosed area. Many ways to skin that cat!

-Tom in SoCal

[Dave Parkis]

I built one that's not nearly as nice as that for some of my tools. That looks really nice. As for preventing rust, I go to my local drugstore and get all the little dessicant packs from them. They don't have to throw them in the landfill and I don't have to buy dessicant.:D

[Stanley Covington]

Old time machinists(and me,too) used to put lumps of camphor in their tool chests to prevent rusting. They slowly dissolved,producing a gas that excluded oxygen,or put an extremely thin coating of camphor on the steel tools. Not sure which,but it worked.

I have heard that the old timers used camphor in their toolboxes. Mothballs are the modern replacement for camphor. They originally contained naphthalene, but for fire and carcinogenic reasons, most sold today use para-dichlorobenzene. They work very well for not only keeping termites and beetles out of wooden tools and toolchests, they absolutely prevent the growth of mold and mildew in closed containers.

Mothballs are very effective at preventing rust, something I take very seriously now that Japan is heading into the rainy season at 80% humidity. Mothballs worked very well in Guam too where relative humidity is between 75 and 87% year round and tools, and any bare steel (even painted steel) not inside an environmentally controlled building rusts like crazy.

Toilet cakes contain the same chemicals, are a cheaper alternative, and work just as well.

The gas mothballs generate is heavier than air, so the gas migrates down, meaning that they work in any container (even one with an open top for a shorter period of time), including plastic bags or even canvas bags (for a shorter period of time), drawers, cardboard boxes, tool boxes, traditional toolchests, and anywhere the gas will be contained, but they will not work for long in wall cabinets with vertical doors like Richard's (except for inside the drawers) because the gas leaks out the front.

I first heard about using mothballs to prevent rust from an Uncle who used them inside his gun cases. A bit of research taught that the US Navy used (and still uses) the chemical to preserve warships in storage, ergo the term "mothball fleet."

I do not know the mechanism for why they work, and would love to hear from a chemist in the Creek, but I have read theories ranging from displacement of oxygen to coating the metal with a thin vapor like VCI's do.

Give mothballs a try, they work well.

Stan

[Winton Applegate]

Kinda stupid


Just wait it will get smarter. It's still young. Give it a chance. Once the hammer hangers, saw till and three other drawers get there it will be quite "smart" in deed.

I couldn't help saying that.

It is very cool that you used up a bunch of nice wood you have been saving.
For those who are not building their dream tool cabinet or work bench because they shouldn't go buy expensive wood just for that you can stop fretting.

I HERE AND NOW GIVE PERMISSION

(from the powers that be and the universe in general. I was talking to them the other day about you and they said to tell you )

TO GET THE HELL TO THE LUMBER YARD AND BUY IT. IT IS OK TO DO THAT.

There. Now you have no excuse.
PS: Yah they talk like that. Didn't think they swear ? Oh yah dog and worse. They're cool, They"re cool.

[Richard Shaefer]

It's about 30" wide by 12" deep by about 36" tall. At one point, I had fairly detailed shop drawings I put together in Microstation, but I realized that since this thing was going to be built of the scrap pile, I had to be a bit more flexible about the hard numbers. The only really critical dimension was the depth, since I needed a certian slope on the plane till so that the #7 wouldn't fall out and break my face. In truth, the cabinet is really, really roomy. I overbuilt for fear of tool over flow, but I have tons of room left inside.

Rust has pretty much gone away with just keeping the tools in the cabinet. I left the inside unfinished in the hope that any moist air that got past the door gaps would get sucked-up by the bare wood. I don't know if it's working exactly that way, but it works. I do lightly coat my chisels with jojoba oil after using them. Like you said, there are many ways to collet a pelt bounty in Australia.

two confessions: I broke down and bought the T&G pine beadboard backing from the BORG (for $12, I couldn't pass it up!), and I ran out of material for the infill panels on the sides, so I used a 1x12 pine shelf board swiped from my neighbor's garbage pile on bulk pick-up day ;)

[Mike Holbrook]

I just got the Veritas "Rolling Cabinet Plan". My shop is in two different rooms and I have this set of red wheels that will never get used for a power tool station like I was thinking when I bought them. Now I am getting excited about picking up the wood to make it. If all these flash floods would just stop long enough for me to get to the lumber yard and back!!!!

Great pictures and post guys.

[Paul Murphy]

Richard, that has to be the nicest "leftover" project I've seen. Aside from the practical aspect of tool protection, I would find it an inviting addition to any shop.

[Brent Ring]

Looks Great!

[Bob Jones]

Nice cabinet! Posting pics is great for others. When I was planning my cabinet many ideas came from pics right here on the creek. Nice work

[Tony Wilkins]

Looks very attractive and functional Richard, glad you posted it.

[Bernadette Semilla]

Thanks for posting, I love the contrast of the dark frame and light plywood infill!