Every woodworker that is worth his salt HAS to make a Tool Chest!! That is just the law of woodworking. Well, I have put it off for several years, but finally got around to doing it recently. Recently meaning doing this project over a period of two months or so. I used regular Red Oak to trim out the Oak plywood.
Some of the glue ups were quite involved so I ended up using hide glue which gave me a great deal more open air time. The plans I used called for using regular plywood with veneer over the top. I am not a veneer guy so I used 1/2” Oak plywood for the exterior and 3/8” regular plywood for the drawer construction. This Tool Chest took quite a while to build, but finally got it done.
I finished the Tool Chest with Cherry oil based stain and used wipe-on polyurethane to finish it off. I think it came out pretty well, all in all.
It has a great deal more room for tools compared to my old, beat up metal craftsman tool box. I bought the drawer pulls and side handles online at Lee Valley Tools. The lifts up. I am going to put a magnetized strip inside the lid to hold my chisels.
This was a fun project. There are tons of tool chest plans out there. If you don’t have your own tool chest yet, it may be about time. Be sure and check out the photo gallery of the production process.
Doug
