Bruce Haugen
05-24-2006, 9:38 AM
About a year ago my brother-in-law asked me to make a toolchest for his gun reloading supplies. I tossed around several ideas and came up with nothing new. My final version takes some methods from each of the classic designs out there and this is what I've done with my free time this spring.
The sides and drawer fronts are QS red oak, drawer parts and slides are maple. Drawer bottoms and case back are 1/4" oak plywood. The top is probably black locust, a board that was given to my BIL by his FIL. The locust top is a floating panel, glued only in the middle to split the seasonal movement. The joint is very similar to a locking joint used in a drawer. The credit belongs to Woodsmith Magazine.
I stuck everything together with liquid hide glue. It was the only kind I could find that would allow me the extended assembly time I needed to put the case together. The bottom and two horizontal dividers connect to the sides with sliding dovetails. It was sure nice to have the time to position everything properly. I really like liquid hide glue and will use it in a lot of indoor furniture from now own. Next time I'll get the good stuff from Patrick Edwards.
I made jigs to hold sides and drawers square while they were clamped. They made life a LOT easier.
Everything is finished with Minwax Antique Oil Finish. Lots of coats, applied with 600 wet or dry paper. Babies will wish that their butts are as smooth as parts of this chest.
My brother-in-law got a toolchest, but I got a great opportunity to learn an enormous amount that the project afforded me. Primarily, I learned two things: Extremely accurate layout is everything and practice cuts (especially on the sliding dovetails) on scrap pieces takes the headaches out of cutting the real parts.
My own toolchest will be coming later this summer. I have a stack of air dried walnut just for this.
I want to say a very special thanks to John D Watson, who provided a lot of inspiration and help throughout this project. Thanks, John!
Enjoy.
Bruce
The sides and drawer fronts are QS red oak, drawer parts and slides are maple. Drawer bottoms and case back are 1/4" oak plywood. The top is probably black locust, a board that was given to my BIL by his FIL. The locust top is a floating panel, glued only in the middle to split the seasonal movement. The joint is very similar to a locking joint used in a drawer. The credit belongs to Woodsmith Magazine.
I stuck everything together with liquid hide glue. It was the only kind I could find that would allow me the extended assembly time I needed to put the case together. The bottom and two horizontal dividers connect to the sides with sliding dovetails. It was sure nice to have the time to position everything properly. I really like liquid hide glue and will use it in a lot of indoor furniture from now own. Next time I'll get the good stuff from Patrick Edwards.
I made jigs to hold sides and drawers square while they were clamped. They made life a LOT easier.
Everything is finished with Minwax Antique Oil Finish. Lots of coats, applied with 600 wet or dry paper. Babies will wish that their butts are as smooth as parts of this chest.
My brother-in-law got a toolchest, but I got a great opportunity to learn an enormous amount that the project afforded me. Primarily, I learned two things: Extremely accurate layout is everything and practice cuts (especially on the sliding dovetails) on scrap pieces takes the headaches out of cutting the real parts.
My own toolchest will be coming later this summer. I have a stack of air dried walnut just for this.
I want to say a very special thanks to John D Watson, who provided a lot of inspiration and help throughout this project. Thanks, John!
Enjoy.
Bruce