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Nice result Erich. Of course you should have built it bigger, but that rule always holds I believe and you have to cut it off somewhere. And I like the color/paint look combined with the black hardware. Looking at the finished product, I do see what you mean about perhaps a cabinet below this chest one day. Wheels underneath it for easy move around? Thanks for sharing the journey.
David
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2020-07-18 13.36.37.jpg Not as much room as I'd like. I was hoping to get my #6 in here as well, but if I'm going to do a backsaw till, there will only be enough room for two rows of planes. Row 1: #8, Row 2: #4 & #5.
2020-07-19 17.33.52.jpg 2020-07-19 17.52.07.jpg Making the holes for the tool rack. These are 1/2" holes, bit & brace did fine without a pilot hole.
On some scrap, I tried various combinations of no pilot, 3/16" - 1/4" pilot holes. In the case of no pilot and 3/16 the auger screw spilts the wood (I'm so glad I tested on scrap first). With the 1/4" pilot the screw doesn't bite enough to pull the auger in. It stops cutting after about a quarter inch.
I need to make a few bigger holes for some tools... I may just have to use a multi-spur bit.
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Now to get the interior fit out figured out.
So my panel saws, though both 22" in length (turns out this is the plate length), one doesn't have a hope of fitting in a lid saw till. Different model Disston saw. Due to where the handle/plate are attached... different overall length. Dumb on me for not measuring them both before the build.
2020-07-20 16.22.18.jpg
Also, if I put two rows of tool racks to get my chisels and misc. in... not enough room for the planes and a back saw till. I keep having to remind myself that unlike Mr. Schwarz I'm not building a travelling tool chest for jobsite/road show work. This is just to get my shop more organized and my tools more accessible. So I guess I need to focus on the chisels/misc. and planes.
I can still do the panel saws on the lid if I want to put a saw till there.
2020-07-21 00.05.23.jpg... The goal: Get rid of these wire shelves to make way for a new bench, and to be able to get to all my tools easily.
2020-07-20 16.25.32.jpg The sizing template for stuff that doesn't fit in 1/2" holes. (Since this isn't part of my project, I cheated and used a cordless drill and multi-spur bits... the auger kept splitting the wood).
2020-07-20 20.29.44.jpg Tool Chest Tetris, Act I.
2020-07-20 20.39.46.jpg All the other guys that wouldn't fit into the main box... The Island of Misfit Planes?
2020-07-20 20.39.34.jpg These guys I can't even reach due to the dust collector, air compressor, and table saw. Who knows where I'll put them. (The Kunz rabbet plane may just get donated... now that I have a Veritas Skew Rabbet).
2020-07-20 16.25.51.jpg The Tool rack Mk. I. There is enough room for a second offset row of holes... Or I can just cut it shorter to make more space in the chest... don't know which yet.
2020-07-20 21.47.30.jpg The Tool Rack Mk. II in its formative stage. This will have a single row of holes, but sized at 3/4" and 7/8" for my pig-sticker/English mortise chisels.
Last edited by Erich Weidner; 07-21-2020 at 1:28 AM. Reason: 'nother pic
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Lots of fiddling with these racks. I'm glad I followed the advice of another on the web about making some scrap wood pillars to test out the height of the tool trays.
I had to make 3 height adjustments before I was able to get the lid to close.
What started out as a tiered arrangement ended up flush after finally getting the lid to close.
2020-07-22 12.32.56.jpg 2020-07-22 17.22.26.jpg 2020-07-22 18.58.47.jpg
Also, in hindsight I initially just drilled the author recommended 1/2" holes for the tool rack. But my tools don't fit well in them. Many need a 3/4" hole to seat well.
At this point, I'm fitting each tool to its place and the hole or slot is dictated by the tool. Very time consuming. But it'll be a better result in the end.
2020-07-22 20.31.41.jpg I was puzzled as to how I was going to cut out the slots for the combination square blades to fit in as none of my hand saws had a wide enough kerf. Then my brain came back online and I realized this is just a thin mortise. (Previously I'd have tried to somehow do it with a circular saw or the tablesaw... not likely a safe operation either way).
2020-07-22 21.16.32.jpg
Contributor
You might try acorn nuts:Originally Posted by Erich Weidner
Various Acorn Nuts.png
These should be available at any hardware store or Big Box Store. You might have to cut some length off of the bolts.
jtk
"A pessimist sees the difficulty in every opportunity; an optimist sees the opportunity in every difficulty."
- Sir Winston Churchill (1874-1965)
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More fiddling... The combination squares (12") wouldn't both fit without wedging. Had to pull the racks back out to widen the mortises for them three times before I got them with enough slop to fit once the rack was screwed in place.
Also, I solved my issue with the exposed steel nuts by fitting a cover (nailed in place) with a slot to hold more stuff. Given the minimal clearance between the case sides and the Jointer plane this might affect the ultimate plane layout. (Thanks for the acorn nut suggestion Jim, but I think this will mean I can safely ding the plane on the block of wood). I used a forestner-ish bit to cut out the hole for the nut/bolt to be hidden in.
This I did on the drill press.
2020-07-24 19.10.20.jpg 2020-07-24 19.10.25.jpg 2020-07-24 19.10.29.jpg
I already am really liking just being able to grab a plane out of the box and use it, vs. the old way (reach across my bench to the wall shelf, fish it out of the plane sack, toss the plane sack back on the shelf.)
Only thing is I'm so used to the old places where the tools where (which were in 3 places in the shop) I am still automatically walking over to the Craftsman tool chest for example (which is on the other side of the garage) before I remember that tool isn't there anymore.
Next is plane Tetris and some dividers. Then to decide If I'm going to try to mount my backsaws to the lid, or just plan on building a saw till on the wall... I kind of like all the saws to be together.
PS The 1" and 3/4" bit and brace kept splitting the test boards, if I got the pilot hole big enough to prevent the split, the lead screw would stop advancing about 1/3 into the hole. I ended up using the cordless drill with multi-spur bit for them.
I guess I've lost the hand tool purity of the project. I'm now only 99.5% neander on this one. Oh the shame!
PPS I know it doesn't really matter if I used a few power tools, but forcing myself to use hand tools for every operation definitely pushed skill development and forced me to think about the approach to solving problems.
I know if I was just doing a power/hand mix, I'd probably have missed out on the hand sawing skill development. I was so predisposed to view hand sawing (especially ripping) as supremely painful to do by hand, that I doubt I'd have done more than one or two then given up and went back to the tablesaw. As it is, I did easily three dozen rips if not 50. First time ripping on the tablesaw, looks as good as the 1,000th. 1st time ripping by hand was horrid. Number 30 is multitudes better.
I still am not good at ripping, but I'm discovering that it really doesn't take that much time to do. I think I want some more rip saws. Especially one setup for pine.
Last edited by Erich Weidner; 07-24-2020 at 11:49 PM.
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I got the internal dividers put in today. (Nailing inside the case was not easy).
2020-07-26 21.58.51.jpg
I loaded up all but my hinge mortise and shooting plane into the lower compartment (all in plane socks), they are just stacked up in there. (No photo)
But this did allow me to dismantle most of the Elfa wire shelving I had on that wall, which is one of the goals of this project. Now the bench can get closer to the wall, and I can continue to carve out space in the shop (garage) for the big 8' bench I want to build.
Now, I need to start craigslisting/ebaying all the stuff I no longer want.
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