Hand tool cabinet in progress

[Jim Matthews]

I dunno about this design - I can only find tools when they're buried under shavings.

It's nicer than my kitchen cabinets.
I think I'll take up knitting, now.

[Ron Kellison]

Igor,
Nice cabinet. Beautiful walnut. I think piano hinges would work well. They will support quite a bit of weight and they are much less noticeable mounted on the inside of the door. They come in long lengths and are cut to length with a hacksaw.

How is the shoulder plane held in place? We need more pictures and closeups so we can get ideas to steal from you! I too, like your router setup.
Paul

Most folks associate knife hinges with Krenov, and the ones he used are relatively small. I have closely examined a couple of his cabinets and they are somewhat smaller than you would expect from just looking at photos. I would not use such small knife hinges on this particular cabinet. However, larger hinges are readily available from good suppliers such as LV that will carry a much heavier load. Looking at the door in question it is required to hold a few light saws and whatever Igor decides to put in those nicely made small drawers. I'm confident that larger knife hinges would do the job nicely with no sagging. That said, good quality knife hinges aren't cheap!

Ron

[Jessica Pierce-LaRose]

Ron - would knife hinges necessitate reworking the cabinet design, or is there a way to mount one for this "clam-shell" type cabinet? I'm used to seeing knife hinges in applications where there's at least some inset to the door, and I'm scratching my head as to whether you could make one work with this with style of cabinet. The wheels are turning on an idea here, I think, for a little supplemental cabinet for my shop. (Though I guess I should finish the one I'm working on first)

[Sean Richards]

I think this is a drop-dead gorgeous cabinet, and the panels just seal the deal. That said, I would have used knife hinges rather than the ones chosen. This standard of work should have hinges that don't detract from the beauty of the wood. Your mileage may vary...

Regards,

Ron

How would you use knife hinges with this cabinet design? I wouldn't have thought that was possible ...

[Paul Saffold]

Ron, I recommended piano hinges for their ability to carry a heavier load. I did not recommend knife hinges.

Paul Saffold

[Ron Kellison]

Paul, Joshua, Sean;

I've gone back and looked at the cabinet again. I don't know how I missed the depth of the front section. Mea culpa, mea culpa...Knife hinges are definitely out! Piano hinges would certainly handle the load and work well for this application.

[Igor Petrenko]

Sorry for delay, had vacation away from internet and woodworking.
Still looking for inset ring pulls in stainless steel that are high quality and not too overpriced. For some reason they are hard to find comparing to those made of brass. Good ones for furniture applications are mostly in brass or brass in nickel/ss finish(???). Kind of upset that good practical stainless steel is so unpopular. Probably will go with marine ones in SS, not sure what quality they are going to be.
I was planning to use piano hinges at start but then had recalled reading somewhere that they are not as strong as most people think so considering big depth and potential weight of the door I've chose regular 4"x4" door hinges that are designed to support heavy weight.
The dimensions of each half are about 40"x20"x5".
Shoulder plane is hanging on little piece of wood that is tapered making the plane stay in place.
Same thing for router plane. Little wooden fork has carved out recessions to hold it well in place.
Plough plane is placed by inserting rods into round holes that are drilled with angle which maked it pretty stable too. Knife holder wooden box thingy behind is removable.
I really hate mounting strips for chisels. For seldom used back row it's ok but everyday chisels in front row are too hard to remove and place back. Maybe I'll try to come up with something that uses magnet strip.


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[Ron Bontz]

Igor, I was just looking at this cabinet for the maybe 6th time. Stunning. I have built cabinets like this for lathe tools and noticed the weight of the doors can and will sag a bit with piano hinges. So good choice on the hinges. What size is this cabinet, closed?

[Jessica Pierce-LaRose]

I've been thinking about using magnetic strips for my chisels as well, mostly because I think we're going to replace our Benchcrafted mag-blok in the kitchen with a longer one. I'm curious if it leads to magnetization of the tools, and if that becomes an issue in sharpening - (i.e., does the swarf stick to the tool, and if so is this actually an issue) Curious to hear your experience if you go that way!

All in all, looks really great, though.

What'd you end up using to keep the cabinet closed? I thought you had addressed this, but I don't see it now. I'll have to reread a little closer.

For my cabinet, I'm thinking of use these pulls on the drawers. No the finish you're looking for, and you have a lot less space to work with than I do (Recessed would still probably be a better choice for mine, but a lower profile would work - looks like your layout would really need recessed) but I bet you could make up something similar from stainless rings and a little DIYing. Could probably even recess them. For my purpose, I'm thinking these might be nice because with a little planning, a more expensive pull I'd prefer could be mounted over the original pretty seamlessly.

Good call on the marine ones - the custom boat market has lots of cool hardware once you start looking.

[Bobby O'Neal]

Beautiful cabinet. Very nicely done.

[Igor Petrenko]

Igor, I was just looking at this cabinet for the maybe 6th time. Stunning. I have built cabinets like this for lathe tools and noticed the weight of the doors can and will sag a bit with piano hinges. So good choice on the hinges. What size is this cabinet, closed?

It's 20x38x11.5 when closed

What'd you end up using to keep the cabinet closed? I thought you had addressed this, but I don't see it now. I'll have to reread a little closer.

Nothing yet. It stays closed by itself so far. I was planning to add door support from the bottom that would have slight lip connection to keep it closed and unload some weight from hinges.

[Igor Petrenko]

Finally found cheap inset ring pulls. They are from marine website, made from brass with chrome finish and under $2.5 each. Pretty good price considering that they are cast and not stamped.
Also converted front chisel rack to magnet one. Now grabbing chisels and placing them back is almost effortless. At first magnet strip was a bit too strong but layers of electrical tape made it just right.

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[Matthew N. Masail]

that is an awesome tool cabinet

[Chris Griggs]

I just had to say again how much I love your cabinet. The craftsmanship is simply top notch, the wood selection is beautiful, and the creativity/functionality of the design is truly inspirational. Thank you for updating this thread with the added hinges etc. and please post a thread of your next handtool build as well.

[Adam Cruea]

Absolutely awesome looking. Those half-blind dovetails are very nicely done.