My first hand made project - a toolbox

[Anchor Sarslow]

Here is a pic of my first, full hand made project.. NO I have not made this, this is the idea. I dont have the plans link off hand but will attach it when I find it again.

My differences are that I will not be using cherry.

It will have Red Oak frame and drawer sides.
The drawer faces will be walnut. The side panels will be some form of veneered panel. and the top will be oak with some kind of marquetry. Likely an Anchor of some kind.

As I intend to make this a first piece, I am going to try to incorporate as many different forms of joinery in it as I can.

The drawers, for instance, will each have the faces attached with half blind joints.

6 Drawers, 6 different joints.

1. Lap and pinned 2" H
2. box 2"h
3. single large dovetail 2"h
4 2 dovetails 2.5" h
5 3 dovetails 2.5"h
6 sliding dovetail 3" h :confused:

the case will be all mortise and tennon. Unfortunately I dont have any hand planes right now. so I am doing the best I can with mixing dimensioned and un dimensioned parts. SOme I have to buy retail and pre-sized.. some stuff I can do with a saw and scraper and a ton of sanding.

RIght now I think the first thing I am going to do is to find a hand plane or two.. Any suggestions for smoothing (a smoother) and some dimensioning? DO I want a jack or a block for dimensioning?

The hunt for tools begins in earnest now.:D

[Fred Washam]

Anchor, That is a very ambitious first project, in fact it is an ambitious project,period. It is certainly not my intention to discourage you, but you might want to start with something a bit simpler. It sounds like you are using this piece to practice your joinery skills on,which is, in my opinion, probably a mistake. The joints that you mention using in your tool box take time and practice to master, and there is really no substitute for experience in making them sucessfully. Get some cheap wood,scrap is fine, and spend some time just making the joints you mention. You'll find it much easier to live with the mistakes you will invariably make as a begginner when they are not part of a project that you will have to live with for a long time.Don't ask me how I know this.;) As far as the plane situation goes, I would get a good old #5 and learn how to tune it, sharpen it and use it. Good luck to you,
Fred

[Zahid Naqvi]

Anchor, one of the things I enjoyed when I got the hand tool bug was completed projects. It may have something to do with my attention span :eek: but I just didn't have patience at that time to wait on a long project evolving over a period of several months (that's how long it takes me for major projects). I got the most pleasure out of small stuff that I could knock off in 2-3 weekends, such as boxes. I was still able to practice some joinery, dovetails on boxes and M&T on large picture frames. Planing can always be incorporated no matter what you are doing.

I don't know how skilled you are, but if anyone starting off asked me I would suggest start with small projects so that you are able to finish things which gives an immense sense of satisfaction.

Do a search on handpanes on SMC and you will see a lot of posts on their usage and selection. Ideally you would want something like a #7 or 8 for dimensioning, although the jack is very versatile and can be used for smoothing as well as dimensioning. A block plane is used for end grain or other small areas, it is not the best tool for smoothing large surfaces.

I have always found TJ's site (http://workshop.tjmahaffey.com/workshop/planes1.php#planes1_anchor4) a very good reference for hand planes and their usage.

[Anchor Sarslow]

Anchor, That is a very ambitious first project, in fact it is an ambitious project,period. It is certainly not my intention to discourage you, but you might want to start with something a bit simpler. It sounds like you are using this piece to practice your joinery skills on,which is, in my opinion, probably a mistake. The joints that you mention using in your tool box take time and practice to master, and there is really no substitute for experience in making them sucessfully. Get some cheap wood,scrap is fine, and spend some time just making the joints you mention. You'll find it much easier to live with the mistakes you will invariably make as a begginner when they are not part of a project that you will have to live with for a long time.Don't ask me how I know this.;) As far as the plane situation goes, I would get a good old #5 and learn how to tune it, sharpen it and use it. Good luck to you,
Fred


Fred SIr,

All of what you said are definite concerns and I have been preparing for this since some 2 weeks ago when I found the plan for the chest. I have so far done 30 sets of dovetails in aspen and pine and another 10 in Oak.. Still not perfect but I think I can live with the results. The very first one I tried was on walnut. I kept it so I can post a pic to show you how far I have come.. I will do another set on Oak to compare with before I get started. The only joint I have not done thus far is the slider. I am not sure how to approach it with my set of chisels.

SO far I have all of the pieces cut for this. I need to decide on what veneer I want to use ( I have pearwood, Mapa Burl and the other one I think is an elm burl. I will post em and let everyone help me decide. ALl of these are are at least 8 inches wide by a min 16 inches for the height of the panels . I like all 3 but cant decide. ( the framing is all in Oak) I wont have to buy any wood for this as I will be making it all out of old scrap stuff.

One thing I have not been able to find is Deer or moose antler. I would like to make the drawer pulls out of that. I have toyed with getting some of those . tagua? nuts from ecuador and making em out of that ( sort of an ivory substitute?.). but I cant find small enough quantities.. I might just get some to have around anyway.

I am not a total rookie by the way, I have been making boxes and stuff and some of my own furniture with the power method for a few years. I love veneers, it can really make a project wonderful without so much expense. What got me into looking at doing more hand work was finally going through all of the stuff I inherited from my father. I came to realize that almost everythng he did was with hand tools. He got several power tools in the 60's from Mongomery Wards (PowerKraft) but said he was afraid of them.. I usally ended up doing most of his table saw work after awhile.

ANyway, any comments on my 3 veneers would be a help.. I just can't decide. THe marquetry for the top will be a first too.. :)

The veneers.. The first is the Elm? the second is the Mappa and the third is a section of the Pearwood with some natural stain on it that shows some of the figuring a bit better. The Mappa has that.. western dead animal leather look.. the Elm has a lot of figuring and that opalescent look to it.