under the bench tool cabinet build.

[John A. Callaway]

I have been working on this when I have time for the past month or so.... I just haven't gotten around to putting pics up. So, I will post them all up now.

with the exception of cutting dadoes and a few cross cuts, and drilling some holes, This will be a neander build, especially when I get to building all of those drawers....

The walnut cabinet is 16 inches high, 16 inches deep and about 35.5 inches long. The drawers are 2.5 , 3, 3.5, and 4 inches high. The height and width of the the top two rows of drawers are laid out using the golden ratio....thanks sketchup!

So here we go.



this is the workbench it will fit into, and the lumber planed to thickness stacked up next to it. The padauk and purpleheart are for the drawer faces. I still have to track down some maple or birch or something to do the drawer sides and backs with.... and a piece of walnut ply for the back of the cabinet.



here the top and bottom have been glued up, and had some pocket hole screws added for a little extra support, and I am gluing up on of the side panels. The other boards stacked up are for the other side.





after all the panels were glued up, I planed them smooth with # 3 ... It did a okay job, still learning how to fettle a plane and get it planing good and with out tracks.... I will delay finishing the cabinet until I can get it planed to a point I am happy with....

and yes, I use a shop vac about every twenty minutes...





more pics to come in a minute.....

[John A. Callaway]

here are the two side panels planed smooth, and ready for tails....





starting the dovetails...





two sets of tails cut, the lower set still needed to be chiseled out.... I left the corners on so it would be easier to cut the dadoes on the table saw....



both side panels done... dadoes cut, pocket hole plugs installed, time to cut pins in the top and bottom.....

[John A. Callaway]

I didnt do too many pics of the pins... The night I cut the first set of pins on the top panel, I hit a small snag. I cut the pins and chiseled them out on the left side, and then moved to the other end.... cut them out , took the fret saw to them, and started with the chisel. The pins have pretty good amount of space between them, a little over an inch.... so I was using a one inch chisel to give a clean edge along the marking gauge line.... I was a few sections into the joint, and I some how managed to catch one corner of the chisel with the inside of my left hand. I was holding it at an angle to get the edge clean close to the narrow side of the pin, and with pressure from my right hand, I guided the chisel with my left hand.... and I pushed the upper corner of the blade into my palm... between my index and middle finger.....right where the callus line is along the bottom of the fingers where they join the hand... so, we went to the hospital.... 5 stitches and a clean wound ..... and no woodworking for about a week. The doc said if it cut any deeper it would opened the top of my hand.....and she thanked me for using a sharp tool.... which I had sharpened that very afternoon. No nerve damage, no tendon damage, just a clean puncture and cut.

so those pins......


( I took the block plane to those saw blade marks before I cut that top board )



after all the pins were done and my stitches out..... It was time to put the case together.....








here you can see where I cut a rabbet for the plywood back to drop into. I still need to go back with a chisel and finish the corner where I stopped with the dado blade....

[John A. Callaway]

you might notice only one dado is cut along the bottom panel, I decided to go with two drawers along the bottom instead of three, because at some point I will acquire a number 8 plane, and it needs to fit on a drawer..... the missing drawer along the bottom throws off the symmetry a little bit, but the argument of function over form has to come into play sometimes....

test fitting the case into the bench...





next up it was time to start the drawer frames. I wanted to do solid panels for each horizontal divider, just to add more weight under the bench, but the purchasing department didnt buy enough lumber for that, so I went with frames.



here everything is cut and mocked up for a test fit...



cut the necessary daoes, and secured the cross pieces to the front frames with glue and pocket hole screws.



some how I cut a few unnecessary dadoes, but they wont be seen, so it's just a goof up.... and the back of the frames are still unattached at this point....

[John A. Callaway]

After all of the horizontal pieces were cut to correct size, it was time to do the verticals. I sorta went at them all at once and didnt take any pictures during the process.... so what you see here is everything installed and glued up .... so except for some planing and sanding to the dovetails and the face frames, along with just some general clean up work to the whole case, and of course a walnut plywood back ... the case is done. I have absolutely no idea what sort of finish I am gonna use yet.... and I am not in much of a hurry to decide just yet....











oddly enough, the color variation you see in these pics is from the flash on, and off. all of it done with the same camera. it seems like it shows a dramatic difference in the color of the wood.

any way. up next ... Lots of drawer building.

[Sean Hughto]

Wow, it's nicer than most dressers I've built! Great work. Thanks for posting the pics.

As for the chisel injury, I think that's a right of passage. I had mine several years back. It instilled what I already should have known: - don't use your left hand as a workholding device; don't push through bites that are too large; and always try to imagine where the tool would go if the wood disappeared! Glad it wasn't serious. My ER nurse complimented the scalpel like precision of my cut too. ;-)

[Jeff Hamilton Jr.]

Very nice looking build. Good job on the dovetails as well.

Looks like a useful (and good looking) addition.

One Q:

Did you leave enough room between the top of your case and the bottom of your bench to use holdfasts?

[John A. Callaway]

I only left room for the dog holes that are already there. It was a toss up on what to do. there is maybe four or five inches overhanging bench top in front of the edge of the cabinet. If I woulda shortened the cabinet any lower it wouldnt have been sizable enough to hold any substantial amount of tools.... the bench top is only 21 inches wide including the tool tray.... so I can hold work along the edges with clamps....

[Andrew Gibson]

looks great!
I can't wait to see the finished product, it looks like it will help solid up the bench as well as add some good weight.

[Jim Koepke]

Looks great.

I have thought of doing this a few times, but then it just remains a thought.

Good to see someone actually making progress.

jim

[Michael Peet]

Those dovetails look great, John. I remember your posts when you were first learning them. Excellent job!

Mike

[John A. Callaway]

thanks. there are a few errors..... but most are only visible inside. But I am very pleased with how they look myself.

[jerry nazard]

John,

Looking good - an organized workplace makes woodworking so much more fun! As to the chisel, I ran a 1/8" through my left hand about 30 years ago. I'll never forget the pain.....

-Jerry

[Rick Erickson]

John, great project and excellent execution! I have the larger version of the same bench. I built a similar tool chest underneath and it has prevented me from using holdfasts or other bench clamps in my bench. However, if you drop your front and back stretchers you get the room you need. I just haven't done mine yet because the tool chest is full of tools and I'm too lazy to empty it. I'm building a wall tool chest and when done most of the tools will transfer to that. I will then drop the stretchers.

I can't wait to see the drawers. Thanks for the tour and all the great pictures. Nothing like a dining room table playing the roll of an assembly table. I think I would find all my tools thrown in the front yard if I tried that one. Thanks again and keep the post alive.

[John A. Callaway]

Rick... I remember us talking about that in another thread. so far, in working on this cabinet, I have been able to secure any piece anywhere with F clamps and a few scrap wood cauls. If I were to have a bench of any greater width, middle of the bench holdfasts would most certainly be a necessity. But for now, this is seeming to work really good. Eventually, when a full on shop presents itself in a bigger home, I will build a full size bench, and the bottom will remain open and empty, with this bench up against a wall somewhere, as a back up bench / sharpening station...