NBSS Tool Chest Build

[Christopher Charles]

Mike, I really don't like sheetrock either. I do really like the brightness of the white walls...

Don,

Those boxes look great. How do you like them in use? Would you change the size of the drawers? I'm committed to the drawer depths, but have been wondering about the bottom drawers sticking/racking since they are wider than long and it would not be too add vertical dividers and more drawers.

[Don Coffman]

Mike, I really don't like sheetrock either. I do really like the brightness of the white walls...

Don,

Those boxes look great. How do you like them in use? Would you change the size of the drawers? I'm committed to the drawer depths, but have been wondering about the bottom drawers sticking/racking since they are wider than long and it would not be too add vertical dividers and more drawers.

The drawers are so close fitting I haven't noticed any racking, although I always use a liberal amount of paraffin on these type drawers. The upper drawers work well for small items as designed, if height wasn't a concern I would increase the uppers. Personally I prefer to build drawers with thicker sides and cut a dado with the guide on the case, but I didn't deviate from Tommy Mac's design.

[Christopher Charles]

Thanks Don. I also plan to stick to the traditional drawer design for these.

The drawer dividers have bridle joints which are hidden, a great chance to practice that won't be seen. I've cut lots of dovetails but not so many tenons by hand, so I decided to do some practice.

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Nice white wood--no blue tape needed, but I did trace the gaged lines with a 0.3 mm pencil.

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Start on a diagonal, working to saw right up to the line.

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The first one was not too hot...

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But did better on later corners. Discovered my new favorite chisel.

In the end, the practice piece will get turned into a photo frame...

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And the divider pieces squared, cut to length and ready to mark:

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[Christopher Charles]

Over the past couple weeks, I have made some progress on the drawer dividers. My sawing has been improving, though a bit of paring has been needed as I've tended towards being a bit conservative to avoid the need for scabbing on shims. However, the paring and fitting was only taking a couple minute for each corner by the end and was becoming second-nature for a couple reasons. Key has been using deep knife lines, which I trace with a 0.3 mm pencil (no blue tape here since the wood is nice and light). This made the fat spots easily visible.

I left one side of all the pieces rough off the bandsaw and this was helpful for keeping track of the reference face.

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And easily pared, going cross-grain with my new (to me) secret weapon.

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This was an ebay find, along with another paring chisel and is quickly becoming a favorite. Anyone know the manufacturer? (Boy, do I miss having Stan around!).

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And here are the three dividers ready to glue up. Hope they are patient because I'll not be back in the shop for more than a week...stay tuned.

Best,
Chris

[ken hatch]

Thanks Don. I also plan to stick to the traditional drawer design for these.

The drawer dividers have bridle joints which are hidden, a great chance to practice that won't be seen. I've cut lots of dovetails but not so many tenons by hand, so I decided to do some practice.


Nice white wood--no blue tape needed, but I did trace the gaged lines with a 0.3 mm pencil.


Start on a diagonal, working to saw right up to the line.

IMG_6641.jpg
The first one was not too hot...


But did better on later corners. Discovered my new favorite chisel.

In the end, the practice piece will get turned into a photo frame...



And the divider pieces squared, cut to length and ready to mark:

Chris, you the man. Thanks for the not so good photo.

The bridle joint while easier than a M/T to make because it is open, is much more difficult than a M/T to make well. Yours look good.

ken

[Christopher Charles]

Thanks Ken, I agree since only the shoulders matter on a tenon, while these need a good shoulder and everything under the hood shows as well. These bridle joints are great for practice because they get buried in the case. If they were for doors, I'd have been hesitant to do by hand. But having done just a few for this project, I would probably just go for it.

Best,
Chris

[Christopher Charles]

Hi all,

Anybody remember this project? It languished through the summer (and the building of two sheds plus yet more shop renovation and rearrangements).

I have completed the carcass and am currently milling stock for the drawers. I was definitely rusty, with one mistake inviting another....

The last tasks for finishing the drawer dividers and carcass was to add walnut facing, dovetail the ends into the carcass and fit a vertical partition. I cut dovetails into the frames, cut the sockets after directly marking them, and then to my horror discovered that I failed to account for the fact that the base of the dovetails are inset into the carcass sides, leaving a ~1/8" square gap

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OK, so hiding mistakes is the sign of a good craftsperson, right? I ripped the frames down ~1/4" and added a new face and tried again. My marking was _still_ rusty, but not too bad by the third one. More opportunity to become a better craftsman with some 'make pretty' work at the end...

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The good news is the vertical partition went well.

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And of course there was glue-up drama. As I was pounding the frames into the dovetail sockets, I fortunately noticed that I didn't account for the fact that the new faces were thicker than the amount I had ripped off. The back of the frames were sticking proud into the space that had already been rabbeted for the back panel. I was able to knock the dividers so they were all flush in the back but proud in the front. And I was grateful for hand tool skills because flushing the front would have been a puzzling fix for powertools (unless I had access to 15" resaw on a bandsaw). 15 minutes with hand planes with the carcass on a box and held with a holdfast to the bench side (hidden in the carcass) and all is good.

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As this is my first attempt at a complex carcass, getting to this point was a big relief because I know how to do drawers

Best,
Chris

[Ben Ellenberger]

That’s looking good! Getting to the point where you start making drawers always feels like a milestone to me.

[Christopher Charles]

Thanks Ben.

Moved the bench under the window and rearranged the shop yet again. Has gone cold here with a couple inches of the white stuff on the ground, even though the leaves on the maple in back haven't come off. Shop is nice and bright and warm-the pain of the insulation and sheetrock and paint are wearing off

Have finished up the carcass, here from the back showing the innards:

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All the drawer stock is rough milled and I have the fronts fitted. I decided a practice drawer would be a good idea. The practice drawer was indeed a good idea as I was rusty in marking, sawing and chopping. A few covered tracks visible in the practice drawer on top if you squint.

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And starting to look like the real thing with the practice drawer in place:

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Starting to think about pulls. Would like small knobs, but don't have a lathe. So perhaps brass. Any specific suggestions?

Best,
Chris

[Jerry Olexa]

Nice project..Good progress

[Richard Hutchings]

Enjoying your progress, nice work. Why not make rectangular wood pulls with a simple groove in the bottom?

[Ben Ellenberger]

That’s coming along nicely! I’ve made wooden pulls that are dovetailed into the top of the drawer. Then you end up with a narrow rectangular pull. I’ll put a little hollow in the bottom with a gouge to give a better grip. You can shape them any way you like.

I also like Paul Seller’s design where he makes multi-part pulls with a stem that is dovetailed into the body of the pull. The stem goes through a small mortise in the face of the drawer. That design would let you place the pull in the center of the drawer. I’m pretty sure you can find the YouTube video where he shows how he makes them.

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[Derek Cohen]

This may give you some ideas: http://www.inthewoodshop.com/Furnitu...awerPulls.html

Use a variation of the design. The link is how to make them ...



Regards from Perth

Derek

[Don Coffman]

Beautiful chest Christopher!

[Christopher Charles]

Thanks all. Richard, Ben and Derek, thanks for the nudge toward some wooden pulls. Derek, I had missed that post on your website, so thank you for that. I'll likely mock up some wooden ones.