tool cabinet finished *PICS*

[Brent Beelby]

I started a thread last week about my wife wanting something nice for the house instead of for my shop, and that I would post some pics.
Well its finally finished!
The meat of the cabinet is made with baltic birch with black aniline dye. The trim and drawer fronts were done with African Padauk. I used T&T's Danish oil for the finish.

Thanks Per for the help on spray painting the brass. I never would have used 400 grit, I probably would have used 120. The 400 worked great. You can see them on the front of the cabinet on the right of the drawers.

I put locks on all the drawers because I have two boys, 16 and 6 yr old that love to "borrow" tools. Which is totally fine but I hate finding my tools a few days later by running them over with the lawn mower.

Brent

[Jim O'Dell]

Brent, that is SWEET!!! Where did you get the locks? They look like they work like deadbolts, but with a round key, is that right? Regular key locks are so easy to pick ;-)) .
Looks as tough as it looks good. Ii'm sure you will get a lot of years out of it. Jim.

[Corey Hallagan]

Wow, that is a sweet tool chest!! Nice work!
Corey

[mike malone]

[QUOTE=Brent Beelby]I started a thread last week about my wife wanting something nice for the house instead of for my shop, and that I would post/

Super job, Brent...very nice!! Must have been a nightmare alining up the drawers.
mike

[Jim Becker]

Wow! That's a real honey of a cabinet, Brant!! Awesome!

[Bob Marino]

Very nice work-almost too nice for tool!! Any finish for the inside of the drawers?

Bob

[Richard Wolf]

Very nice, is this for the wife or is this the tool box?

Richard

[Wes Baltzell]

Awesome job!

Wes

[Frank Pellow]

I started a thread last week about my wife wanting something nice for the house instead of for my shop, and that I would post some pics.
...
Brent
Very nice cabinet Brent. But I am confused by your opening sentence. Is this tool cabinet for the house or for the shop?

[Brent Beelby]

Brent, that is SWEET!!! Where did you get the locks? They look like they work like deadbolts, but with a round key, is that right? Regular key locks are so easy to pick ;-)) .
Looks as tough as it looks good. Ii'm sure you will get a lot of years out of it. Jim.
Jim,
The chest handles, stainless-steel drawer pulls and the door bolt locks all came from Lee Valley. I couldn't believe how cheap and easy to install they were.
Brent

[Brent Beelby]

Very nice cabinet Brent. But I am confused by your opening sentence. Is this tool cabinet for the house or for the shop?
Frank,
It's for the shop. Last week I started a thread about my "angry" wife comenting on my tool chest. She had said "why don"t you build something nice for the house instead of your shop".
Sorry about the confusion.
Brent

[Brent Beelby]

Very nice work-almost too nice for tool!! Any finish for the inside of the drawers?

Bob
Bob,
No, I didn't finish the inside of the drawers.
I don't like the 'sound' a tool makes when it hits that 1/4" bare wood on the bottom, so I'll just put down some kind of liner.

[Jerry Olexa]

Outstanding work!!! Really cool...

[Effie Lever]

Great looking cabinet Brent, and the workbench is not too shabby either. No wonder the wife is complaining ;)

Effie

[Jeff A. Smith]

At times like this, use words of tenderness with your wife. Here are some suggestions:

1) Yes, honey, I have a nice tool chest, but you did get a washer and dryer, didn't you?

2) Remind her of how when you dated you always paid.

3) And ALWAYS as a last resort, explain to her that she has more pairs of shoes than you.

4) Tell her that when you build the rolling tool chest companion to this one, that she's free to keep some scissors in it.

It's advice like this that you need to soothe her envy.

Seriously, that's an heirloom-quality tool chest. And it just looks stunning!

Jeff Smith
Athens, AL

[Jason Tuinstra]

Simply fantastic! The black sides look great with the overall project as well. Thanks for showing it off.

[Mark Singer]

That is a wonderful design! Wonderful crafstmanship! Great hardware selection! I guess you can tell ....I love it!

[Don Slaughter]

That is one fine heirloom quality toolbox. Great Job!!
Don

[Ron McNeil]

Brent, The Tool Chest looks great. Fantastic work and I really like the locks.

[Dale Rodabaugh]

Beautiful job.That would look good anywhere.:) :) :)

[Jay Knoll]

Wonderful looking job, I especially like the contrast between the woods!

Jay

[John Hart]

Absolutely beautiful!!!! I love the Padauk and the craftsmanship. Really beautiful. Put it in the dining room and reserve a drawer for silverware. That oughta do it.;)

[Frank Pellow]

...
4) Tell her that when you build the rolling tool chest companion to this one, that she's free to keep some scissors in it.
...
Jeff Smith
Athens, AL
When I build a rolling tool chest for my shop earlier this year, my wife liked it so much that I ended up building a similar one for the kitchen. :)

[Ken Weaver]

That is really nice Brent! Almost a shame to put a tool in it - LOYL may want it to hold the family silver!

[Christian Aufreiter]

WOW, great design, wonderful wood and excellent work!
Will it get a special place in the shop?

Regards,

Christian

[Bob Noles]

Brent,


WOW.... that thing has quality and craftsmanship written all over it. Nice job!

[Brent Beelby]

[QUOTE=Brent Beelby]I started a thread last week about my wife wanting something nice for the house instead of for my shop, and that I would post/

Super job, Brent...very nice!! Must have been a nightmare alining up the drawers.
mike

Mike,
Lining up the drawers was incredibly easy. ;) I don't know if I read this method somewhere or if I invented it myself, but here's how I did it.
When I designed the cabinet I first decided on the height of each drawer and then added a 1/16" for space between each drawer. Because there were 8 spaces in total, I built the inside of the cabinet 1/2" taller than the total height of all the drawers.
When it came time to install the drawers I grabbed two pieces of 3/4" D- grade plywood. I cut them so that they just fit in the inside of the cabinet but made sure they hung out the front by about 6 inches. I also ripped one peice of plywood 1/8" wide ( I"ll get to that in a second).
Next I measured the total height of the inside of the cabinet and then subtracted the height of the top drawer plus 1/16" for a space between the drawer and the cabinet. I took that measurement and ripped both pieces of plywood and placed them inside the cabinet. One on each side.
The beauty of using 3/4" ply is that the full extention slides are 1/2" wide, so I layed the slides on top of the ply and then temporairly placed the drawer on top as well to check my fit. Because I always use a marking Knife my cut is usually spot on.
Next, I pulled the drawer back out and added that 1/8" piece of 3/4" ply under the slide just to give me a little clearance in case I had to readjust the drawer later. I then screwed both slides to the cabinet. Once they were in I removed the 1/8" piece of ply and put the drawer back in (still resting on the 3/4" ply)
Here's the best part, ;) because the plywood hangs out about 6 inches you just pull the drawer out 6 inches, it is still sitting flat and level and you just add the first screw on both sides and then you pull it out another 6 inches and add the next screws. Vvvwwwalla the first drawer is in, and you just keep repeating the steps, ripping the plywood to each drawer height all the way down.

P.S. full extention slides come with these elongated holes so that you can readjust your drawers and with this method not once did I have to readjust. :p
Brent

[Byron Trantham]

Brent, what can I say? The chest is just too cool! :D

[Steve Ash]

Brent,
That chest is beautiful, I love the idea of locks....reminds me of all the "misplaced tools" my kids borrowed.

[John Miliunas]

OK Brent, now that you have the heirloom silverware chest done, when are you gonna' start on your tool cabinet???:D :confused: Beautiful. Just B-A-Youtiful!:) :cool:

[Ken Fitzgerald]

Brent....I can see why TLOYL was upset! She'll have that in the house shortly! Fantastic design and execution! Bravo!

[Christopher Stahl]

What can I say that everyone hasn't already said. Simply beautiful!

chris

[Brent Beelby]

Thanks for all the complements,
It's nice to have a place where I can share my own projects and get the opportunity to see others.
Thanks again,
Brent