Hand Tool Cabinet Finished

[Kurt Loup]

Finished hanging the hand tool cabinet over the weekend. Not sure what I will be hanging on the left. Likely will be my layout tools such as combination squares and marking gauges. Next in line are a saw till and a cabinet for my lathe tools.

Kurt



More Photos

[Ted Shrader]

Kurt -

Nice work. The drown molding indicates the outside is finished very well. What does the cabinet look like closed up?

Ted

[Jon Olson]

Great project, what types of wood were used and is that a balck dye finish or paint??

The layout is pleasing to the eye and fully functional. I little large 4'x4'x 11.5" (but I have a small shop)

Excellent work.

Jon

[Marc Hills]

Kurt:

Very nice; a veritable shrine to some beautiful hand tools. Is that a #8 over on the left?

Lots of room for new acquisitions too. Are you going to add doors so you can close things up and keep the dust out?

[Kurt Loup]

Marc,

From left to right: 8,7, 6, 5 1/2, Sargent 5, top 5 1/4 used as scrub, bot 5 1/4, top Sargent 4 equivalent (actually wider than Stanley 4, narrower than 4 1/2), bot 4 1/2, 4, 3. No doors planned. I had a miter saw built into the bench below the cabinet, but I have removed it. I use a dust collector on my other tools, so I'm not too worried about dust.

Jon,

The cabinet was made from 2 sheets of ply from Home Depot. The backs are oak ply and the sides and shelves are maple ply. The cleats and spacers are solid oak. The cove moulding came out of the trash at a house under construction. The sides are painted. The color is a very dark green that appears black. It may be a mistake painting it that color as it easily shows dust. I didn't want to repaint the walls of my shop and not much goes with the color of the walls. That paint was another freebie.

Ted,

There are no doors on the cabinet. I could have built it with doors, but it would have stood too far from the wall with the doors closed. I have a long bench underneath the cabinet and the cabinet would get in the way of work if it was much deeper. To maximize space and to clear the electrical outlet, I had to hang it higher than I would have liked. I have to get on my toes to reach the two planes at the top.

Kurt

[Dan Moening]

The crown molding is an elegant touch.

And at 4x4 you have plenty of room for future "renovations"...that's a smart design element many of us forget to include.

Interesting that 11* is enough tilt to hold the planes...certainly allows for a shallow cabinet design.

[Kurt Loup]

Dan,

Approximately 11* is just enough to keep the planes from falling. I wouldn't trust this angle without the cleats. I used a 2x4 as a French cleat to hang the cabinet to the wall, so using a different method of attachment could save about 1.5" in depth. Yep, the moulding adds a lot without much work. Without the cove moulding, it would be a plywood box.

Kurt

[Robert Weber]

Beautiful work, Kurt. Having recently cut some cleats for my ongoing tool cabinet project, I appreciate yours all the more. I had to resort to a neanderbuddy since I don't have a bow or turning saw yet (on the project list). They look pretty rough.

Yours are sweet. How did you go about laying them out and cutting them?

[Kurt Loup]

Rob,

I ripped the cleats to width on a tablesaw. I traced the curved ends of the planes onto the cleats and used a bandsaw to cut out the curved ends and the undercut on the bottom. On the smaller planes it was necessary to cut out fingers in the cleats. I used a forsner bit in my drill press to cut the rear section and the bandsaw to remove the waste. Each smaller plane required a custom fit. It wasn't hard to do, just took some time to fit each piece.

Kurt

[Ellen Benkin]

Beautiful work! And a great idea to build in extra room for expansion. My experience has been that I build a cabinet for what I have and then immediately buy a new tool. Kudos!

[Tyler Howell]

Nice set up with room to expand.

[Mark Singer]

Really Nice work!!!

[Jim Becker]

Oy, Veh! That's wonderful...the crown and contrast really work.

[Kurt Loup]

Thanks for the compliments. I appreciate it.

Kurt