Finished

[ken hatch]

The almost but not quite traveling tool box is finished. It took several weeks longer than I expected for that sentence to be typed. Whatever, the tool chest is in place with a top and a load of tools. For now it holds most of my wood stock and molding planes, some of the marking and measuring tools along with other misc. stuff. The shop wall cabinets have been moved a couple of times to make a spot for the tool chest where it will be functional and at the same time keep the old tool storage functional as well.


I'm not sure this is the final resting place for both the tool chest and the wall cabinet and tills but for now it seems to work.


On to the tool chest: The inside is unfinished Cypress, the outside is painted with red milk paint and the top is BLO'ed White Oak and Cherry. To my eye it looks pretty good even with all the mistakes and as best I can tell it will fill a shop need.


If it doesn't, the grandpeanut will have a big red toy box. A couple of photos of the chest in its new home:

http://i257.photobucket.com/albums/hh222/VTXAZ/toolBoxLidDown160605_zpsrfip4o9y.jpg

With the top open:

http://i257.photobucket.com/albums/hh222/VTXAZ/toolBoxLidUp160605_zpsbdnoi9sz.jpg

[Normand Leblanc]

Looks very nice!
What is its approx. weight when empty?
Oh! You should buy a broom :)

[Frederick Skelly]

Looks like it came out very well, Ken! So now you've gotta post some pics of work you do while off on an RV trip. Look forward to seeing more!
Fred

[Brian Holcombe]

Looks great Ken!

[ken hatch]

Looks very nice!
What is its approx. weight when empty?
Oh! You should buy a broom :)

I have one but I lost the instructions and haven't been able to figure out how to turn it on.

It is heavy, once I decided it was going to be too big for the RV I quit trying to save weight, An example the top is Oak and Cherry instead of White Pine. A RV chest will follow soon.

ken

[ken hatch]

Looks like it came out very well, Ken! So now you've gotta post some pics of work you do while off on an RV trip. Look forward to seeing more!
Fred


Looks great Ken!

Thanks guys, it is good to get it off the plate so I can move on.

BTW, Brian my new stone from So arrived yesterday. I haven't really had a chance to use it other than on an western O-1 iron. It was silky smooth and gave a beautiful edge on the O-1.

ken

[Brian Holcombe]

Oh cool, the Nakayama asagi?

[Stew Denton]

Looks great Ken, and really functional! Good job!

I really like the underside of the opened lid, and bet the top view is just as good.

The grain of the two types of lumber really work well together. I've never used milk paint, but it is obviously highly regarded by Neanders. If I ever build a tool chest, and such is high on my "to do" list of someday items, I will have to think hard on milk paint. I have always thought if I build one it will be hard not for me to want to go with some sort of stain and varnish, because of being able to see the grain, but your idea of seeing the grain of the lid, and milk paint on the body may be a very good way to go, and may be the best of both worlds of tradition and seeing grain.

It sounds like you've crossed the Rubicon with regards to making a decision whether you will build a chest to take camping. Cool, and I was kind of hoping you would, because your original idea seemed too good not to do.

Now that you have a big chest for your shop, and know how much it weighs, have you modified your original thoughts on a traveling chest, make it smaller and have to think more about what tools you will pack with you?

At any rate congrats on finishing the chest.

One thought on the broom. Years ago when I was running a lab and QC program for a company I used to work for, one of the maintenance guys told me he could not use a wooden handled shovel. He said he had to use a metal handled shovel with cooling water pumping through it so he wouldn't burn the handle off of it. I knew the guy a little bit, and would never have realized that about him, in fact I don't think that anyone who knew him would have had that thought even occur.....

I don't know if the instructions to your broom had anything like an option for a water cooled handle as an add on, but I wouldn't want to take a big chance about accidentally starting the broom handle on fire......

Probably best to not take any unnecessary foolish chances or wild risks on safety.....wait till you find the instructions on the broom so you know how to operate it safely.....

Stew

[Mike Cherry]

I have one but I lost the instructions and haven't been able to figure out how to turn it on.

It is heavy, once I decided it was going to be too big for the RV I quit trying to save weight, An example the top is Oak and Cherry instead of White Pine. A RV chest will follow soon.

ken

Hahaha well done Ken. Looks nice and I like the red.

[ken hatch]

Oh cool, the Nakayama asagi?

Yep, that's the one. It sure is pretty. The Nakayama may be my last stone for awhile unless something comes along I can't live without.

ken

[Brian Holcombe]

Hah, I can appreciate that sentiment, I felt the same way after my asagi. Enjoy it, it will make a razor out of your plane blades and paring chisels.

I don't know if you have watched my planing videos but the most recent one, off camera I took the plane apart, worked the blade with that asagi, then came back and put a mirror on the walnut panel.

[ken hatch]

Looks great Ken, and really functional! Good job!

I really like the underside of the opened lid, and bet the top view is just as good.

The grain of the two types of lumber really work well together. I've never used milk paint, but it is obviously highly regarded by Neanders. If I ever build a tool chest, and such is high on my "to do" list of someday items, I will have to think hard on milk paint. I have always thought if I build one it will be hard not for me to want to go with some sort of stain and varnish, because of being able to see the grain, but your idea of seeing the grain of the lid, and milk paint on the body may be a very good way to go, and may be the best of both worlds of tradition and seeing grain.

It sounds like you've crossed the Rubicon with regards to making a decision whether you will build a chest to take camping. Cool, and I was kind of hoping you would, because your original idea seemed too good not to do.

Now that you have a big chest for your shop, and know how much it weighs, have you modified your original thoughts on a traveling chest, make it smaller and have to think more about what tools you will pack with you?

At any rate congrats on finishing the chest.

One thought on the broom. Years ago when I was running a lab and QC program for a company I used to work for, one of the maintenance guys told me he could not use a wooden handled shovel. He said he had to use a metal handled shovel with cooling water pumping through it so he wouldn't burn the handle off of it. I knew the guy a little bit, and would never have realized that about him, in fact I don't think that anyone who knew him would have had that thought even occur.....

I don't know if the instructions to your broom had anything like an option for a water cooled handle as an add on, but I wouldn't want to take a big chance about accidentally starting the broom handle on fire......

Probably best to not take any unnecessary foolish chances or wild risks on safety.....wait till you find the instructions on the broom so you know how to operate it safely.....

Stew

Thanks Stew,

Here is a photo of the closed lid:

http://i257.photobucket.com/albums/hh222/VTXAZ/toolBoxLidClosed160605_zpsxalcnsr8.jpg

Yep, I'll still make a traveling tool chest and workbench. But it will be much less ambitious, made for a panel saw and a couple of backsaws and a smaller tool kit.

My thoughts exactly on the broom, those things can hurt you if you don't know what you are doing.

ken

[ken hatch]

Hah, I can appreciate that sentiment, I felt the same way after my asagi. Enjoy it, it will make a razor out of your plane blades and paring chisels.

I don't know if you have watched my planing videos but the most recent one, off camera I took the plane apart, worked the blade with that asagi, then came back and put a mirror on the walnut panel.

I noticed a change in apparent effort and figured you had taken a break to sharpen or changed planes. It did put a beautiful finish on the panel.

ken

[ken hatch]

Hahaha well done Ken. Looks nice and I like the red.

Thanks Mike.

[ken hatch]

One more photo, this time how the tool chest fits into the work station. My main bench is just out of the foreground and the photo is of the area just behind the bench:

http://i257.photobucket.com/albums/hh222/VTXAZ/toolBoxLidClosedWorkStation160605_zpsta4jofrn.jpg

My most used tools are stored somewhere in that mess. The sharpening bench is off the left end of the main bench and there is a secondary bench and tool storage off the right end of the main bench. The machines are in front of the bench in their own area. It is compact but works well for my builds and way of working.

I'm not 100% sold on a tool chest vs. tool cabinets but I'll give it a try....As posted before if it doesn't work out the Grandpeanut will have a nice red toy box to play with.

ken

[Mel Fulks]

Always like to see those old style chests. Now you need to stencil on your name and date, and the owners of the future won't mind a bit. Enjoy!

[Stew Denton]

Hi Ken,

Thanks for the photo of the lid from above. The grain does work well together for the top view too. I like the raised panel.

After you have used it for a while let us know your experience, whether it ends up being a good choice, or whether you prefer the wall cabinets.

I have thought for several years that I would like a tool chest to take when I do carpentry for one thing or another. The thought actually started about 30 years ago when I bought a moderate sized tool chest cheap at an auction. It was big enough to hold a couple of panel saws and had two small trays, and would hold a small number of planes, etc. After I had it a while I decided that I really didn't like the design, it was very unhandy to get tools out of, and wasn't well build, so I eventually took it apart for the lumber. The lumber was more valuable than what I paid for the chest.

I don't do much carpentry any more but hope to after I retire, and don't have time anyway, but have worked on my younger daughter and son in laws house, a rental property or two for them, and help out at work days whenever they have them a few days a year at church, but taking tools is a challenge. I have plenty of carpenters tool boxes, but all of them are way too full, so full that they better serve staying in one spot in the garage...way too heavy, and they aren't necessarily very handy designs IMHO, even though they are the traditional design. They are not efficient storage at all, hard to organize, don't protect tools very well, etc., etc., etc. They are hard to travel with in a car, because you can't stack anything on them.

Finally after reading things by Schwarz on tool box designs, I began to think about a better design, and think more about what tools I actually use carpentering, not just take the same ones that set in the box the whole time. It will be a while before I build one, but it will be very high on the priority list, hopefully after I build a shop.

At any rate if you don't mind, let us know what you think, and how the travel chest works out after you have used it for a spell.

Stew

[Mike Allen1010]

One more photo, this time how the tool chest fits into the work station. My main bench is just out of the foreground and the photo is of the area just behind the bench:

http://i257.photobucket.com/albums/hh222/VTXAZ/toolBoxLidClosedWorkStation160605_zpsta4jofrn.jpg

My most used tools are stored somewhere in that mess. The sharpening bench is off the left end of the main bench and there is a secondary bench and tool storage off the right end of the main bench. The machines are in front of the bench in their own area. It is compact but works well for my builds and way of working.

I'm not 100% sold on a tool chest vs. tool cabinets but I'll give it a try....As posted before if it doesn't work out the Grandpeanut will have a nice red toy box to play with.

ken


Ken, There's nothing I like more than workshop pics – A view "behind the curtain" of how the master makes the magic happen.


Best, Mike

[ken hatch]

[/QUOTE]


Ken, There's nothing I like more than workshop pics – A view "behind the curtain" of how the master makes the magic happen.


Best, Mike[/QUOTE]

Mike,

Not so sure about the master part but it usually is magic if something gets finished in the shop :p.

I've threatened for years to rebuild all the shop fixtures with something nicer, You know the kind, better than the ones in my house that you see in some shops. Problem is the biscuit, pocket screw, and plywood scrap ones on the wall work and there is always some other project that is higher on the 'needs" list, in other words requested by MsBubba.

But like you I like to see how other solve their work space problems.

ken