Tool Chest

[Stanley Covington]

Thanks for sharing Stan. Enjoyed watching the video. Just goes to show you, you don't need a lot of sophisticated tools to do great work...just a LOT OF SKILL. Particularly enjoyed seeing him "eyeball" flat. True master.

By the way, I do climb up on my bench to saw, but like Ken, if I sat like that for long, I wouldn't be getting up!

You are welcome Phil. Just goes to show how a guy can get pretty good after 60 years of practice.

I suppose Kees and I will need to collaborate on a tutorial on how to properly use the traditional butt clamp while sitting on one's workbench... The world is starving for great literature!

[Mike Holbrook]

I am in the process of doing projects to make my tools more mobile too. The wife and I are making plans to move to a North, Ga mountain setting. My objectives are two fold. I am getting all my tools ready to move, at the same time I do not know what kind of work space I will have in the new location. My second objective has become to purge my tool collection making those remain essential tools as organized and mobile as I can. This is not an easy task for me as organization is not my long suit. I am more of a keep everything in a nice neat pile kind of guy.

I have some Festool tools and Festools come in their own cases, plus there are cases/boxes called systainers and sortainers that are very light, clamp to other Festool boxes...They even stack in a special hand truck made to carry them. Unfortunately these devices are not cheap so I intend to use them for smaller tools and the Festool tools. My bandsaw is on a mobility base and I just built a mobile base for my lunch box planer. All my electron eaters are relatively mobile. I am working on the mobility of my hand tools, particularly the larger ones.

One of my current projects is a project plan that was in Popular Woodworking called a German Work Box. It is a rolling tool carrying device that opens up at the top to provide easy access to a large array of tools actually in use. I am also planing to reinforce several wood cabinets I am currently using to house tools, putting them on casters too. My idea is to be able to move all my stored tools, in cabinets, around whatever space I wind up with.

I am very interested in this project and the other suggestions in this thread having to do with making tools more mobile.

I have started butt exercises and wait anxiously to hear more about employing the butt clamp. I have long been a fan of sitting on the floor, my reasoning has always been that it is very hard to fall off the floor. On the other hand, as I have added a few years, I am starting to have difficulty, once I am on the floor, in picking myself up off it. Maybe I need to resume a little Tai Chi to further improve my balance and flexibility.

[Stanley Covington]

Mike:

I sympathize with your predicament. I have moved many times over the years, much of it internationally, so I agree strongly with your plan to keep things mobile. KD is also helpful.

The German Work Box looks like it would do the job.I will stick with my toolchest and smaller toolboxes.

I am encouraged to hear you are working on your butt exercises. Please post pictures (not!)

Regarding clutter, I tend to be very organized in the work I do for others, but not so much for myself. But neat piles are the sign of neat guy. No piles is a sign of mental frailty IMO. The most intelligent men I have ever known in the academic world lived in mountains of books and papers with no discernible order, but they could find exactly what was needed in the pile with little effort.

Keep us posted on the solutions you develop for your move. I am always eager to learn new methods.

Stan

[Mike Holbrook]

Thanks for your kind words of encouragement Stan. Around 20 years ago, within a single year, I moved everything from my wife's house and my house into a rental house while our home was being constructed then moved the sum of both houses into the "new" house. I was younger then, I don't care to do that again, even if I could. Moving 10 or so dogs adds a few interesting twists, especially if most of them are German Shepherds.

I found a supplier of tongue & groove cypress near me. I bought some plain boards too. One of the things I like about cypress is it is a light wood. I plan to make cabinet doors and cabinet trim with the cypress in an effort to keep things as light as possible. I also found something at Lowe's that I have never seen before 5/4 clear SYP, which is heavier but tougher. I bought 12 boards for projects and to encourage the stocking of 5/4 wood. I hope to make a few similar boxes to the one in this thread and Brian's thread too. I am trying not to make things that when loaded are heavier than I can carry. I have my doubts about many of the boxes I have seen. If I think I can't carry something I am trying to put it on casters.

Ken, how do you like using the TFWW bowsaw for joinery? The picture implies you used it to cut out the dovetails. I never can decide which saw to use. I have western, Japanese and bow saws. I seem to prefer which ever one I have in my hand and I am trying to reduce how many I have to move.

[ken hatch]

...

Ken, how do you like using the TFWW bowsaw for joinery? The picture implies you used it to cut out the dovetails. I never can decide which saw to use. I have western, Japanese and bow saws. I seem to prefer which ever one I have in my hand and I am trying to reduce how many I have to move.

Mike,

About all I use it for is to saw out dovetail waste. I find it easier to use than either a standard coping or fret saw. It's about the same price as that space age coping/fret saw (which I have and never use) and works much better. Most of the time I just chop, I make fewer mistakes chopping and paring than sawing and then paring and it is almost as fast. On big panels like these sawing cuts down on the number of times I have to reposition the panel vs. chopping and paring. At least that's my story, as always YMMV.

I managed to clean up one set of tails this morning before work, The Cypress is nice to work, a little softer than what I normally use but so far it is cleaning up very nicely. That said, I'm glad this is a tool box and not a piece of furniture, it dents very easily.

ken

[Mike Holbrook]

Good info. Ken, thanks for the input. I have the fancy fret saw too. I think I have a relatively light touch, but I seem to break blades way too often. So maybe I keep the bowsaw and find another home for the fancy saw. I think I may find the bowsaw more useful for the work I do. Then I just have to decide if I need the bowsaw and two dovetail saws, probably not. I am anxious to try my new Gennou with my chisels too. If I can just finish up my sawhorse so I can make handles. I think I can get rid of a 16 oz carpenters hammer or two. A couple of the US hammers with metal & plastic shafts tend to send too much shock down the shafts anyway.

Good to know about the Cypress denting. Maybe I will try some WATCO on a piece. I have had some luck with it helping old soft/dry apple wood handles on old tools and it seems to penetrate just about anything well. Should be good to practice cutting dovetails etc. in. Maybe a good way to try out the lighter Gennou.

[Mike Allen1010]

Thanks for posting Ken– I'm really enjoying the thread and looking forward to the rest of the build.

I'm really interested to hear about your experience working in your "portable" shop. It would be great to be able to work in the sunshine and fresh air, but clearly the key benefit is the ability to maintain uninterrupted beer, whiskey and tacos, while still enjoying woodworking! I'm pretty sure that's what heaven must be like?

I also appreciate the pictures/description of Steve's planes. I've heard lots of good things about how fun his planes are to work with and at least one of those is definitely on my list. My last few projects have been with hand tool friendly woods (Pine, walnut), but I'm currently building a chest out of Birdseye Maple, which is not nearly as much fun to plane - really hard with plenty of tearout. However the maple does really highlight the benefits of well tuned hand planes– easily quantified based on my daily Advil intake.

Cheers, Mike

[Matt Lau]

I have to say that this thread reminds me of why I love you guys.


Mike, one thing that I plan to be doing is making a lightweight/smaller version of stan's bench to fit in my Corolla. I'll be using it as is, or propped on some Hideaway horses (no financial affiliation, except that they have my money). I was also thinking of doing a small torsion box (like the smallest version of the Blum horse), but the traditional Japanese bench is much purtier.

[Frederick Skelly]

There is only so much beer, whisky and tacos a man can enjoy at one time.

No. That's not physically possible. You're not tellin' us the whole story here, Ken. Come on, you can tell US - did you get drunk and vomit tacos all over the RV? Is that why she'd rather have you bring tools and a bench?

Just teasing Sir. Seriously, having your tools along could be way cool. Look forward to seeing more pics of your bench as it develops.

Best regards,
Fred

[ken hatch]

Ken

I have watched this very interesting thread develop, and remembered that you need the toolchest so you can bring your tools along when RV'ing with SWMBO. A cruel taskmaster, I fear.

I assume this means that you anticipate doing some woodworking out in the field, or RV park, as the case may be. I also assume this activity will occur before, after, and during the process of consuming massive quantities of beer, tacos, and whiskey. Sounds like a helluva good time!

Assuming the consumption of massive quantities leaves you conscious, what kind of woodworking will you undertake, and how will you use the tools stored in your excellent toolchest when it is completed? Is this going to be accomplished on a picnic table, or are you going to bring along a folding workbench? Or use a B&D Workmate-type bench?

If you use Japanese saws and planes, there are a host of techniques that can make a portable outdoor workshop very enjoyable and productive with a minimum of equipment. I worked out of the side of a VW van parked behind customer's houses and businesses, and even in asphalt parking lots, for 6 years or so with good results. Some of my fondest memories are of making itado and shoji outdoors under the quaking aspens in the mountains of Northern Utah. Interested?

Stan

Stan,

Small stuff because of space constraints, I expect boxes, stools, small chairs and tables. While I have a few Japanese planes I haven't mastered them so my planes will likely be wood stock, mostly ECE I like using their "horned" planes. I'm most comfortable with western saws, and I expect a mix of western and Japanese chisels. For the bench I'm planing on a knock down English style though if I could figure out a way to get it to an old man's working level a planing plank would be ideal. What ever I end up with will need a cup holder for the beer .

Keep the stories coming,

ken

[ken hatch]

No. That's not physically possible. You're not tellin' us the whole story here, Ken. Come on, you can tell US - did you get drunk and vomit tacos all over the RV? Is that why she'd rather have you bring tools and a bench?

Just teasing Sir. Seriously, having your tools along could be way cool. Look forward to seeing more pics of your bench as it develops.

Best regards,
Fred

Fred,

As with most stories, your version is better than the truth . While I enjoy my food and booze I can't sit and do nothing for long. When traveling, after about the second day in one place I'm ready to load up and move 600 to a 1000 miles down the road. I've lived my life seeing what was around the next bend in the road or over the next hill. If I'm not at home it works great for me. Needless to say not so much for SWMBO.

It could end up being the best of worlds. I get to have my shop, MsBubba gets to be somewhere other than the desert.

ken

[ken hatch]

Thanks for posting Ken– I'm really enjoying the thread and looking forward to the rest of the build.

I'm really interested to hear about your experience working in your "portable" shop. It would be great to be able to work in the sunshine and fresh air, but clearly the key benefit is the ability to maintain uninterrupted beer, whiskey and tacos, while still enjoying woodworking! I'm pretty sure that's what heaven must be like?

I also appreciate the pictures/description of Steve's planes. I've heard lots of good things about how fun his planes are to work with and at least one of those is definitely on my list. My last few projects have been with hand tool friendly woods (Pine, walnut), but I'm currently building a chest out of Birdseye Maple, which is not nearly as much fun to plane - really hard with plenty of tearout. However the maple does really highlight the benefits of well tuned hand planes– easily quantified based on my daily Advil intake.

Cheers, Mike

Thanks Mike,

Anymore my wood choose tends to be something easy to work but I can feel your pain.

I may have a couple of days off in a row coming up, if I do, the saws are calling "I'm ready for my close up Mr. DeMille".

ken

[ken hatch]

Slowly the box is coming together. I'm in the middle of chopping and paring the pin waste from the tail boards. Because of size it is a PITA but what's new.



I'm not sure which is giving the break, paring or cleaning the shop but I'm trying to do both. The cleaning part is long overdue. I'm making three piles as I go, one junk that no one would want, a second of stuff to put on Craig's List, and a third for eBay/SMC. Some of the eBay/SMC stuff will be things like a complete Tormek T-7 system. Anyway it may take weeks to sort out all the junk.

Once the box is finished I need to make a small bench or repurpose my sharpening bench once more. the sharping bench was the first woodworking bench I built and it has been many thing in the shop. If I did, repurpose the sharpening bench, then I'd have an excuse to build an English bench for my second bench and move the old Roubo over to the sharpening bench side of the shop. Could be win win. Then again I expect sanity will kick in and I will just build a small English bench for travel.

Back to the shop,

ken

[ken hatch]

The sucker is glued up.

When it has been awhile since the last big box glue up you forget just how much work it is to do without a helper. Everything is too far away, falls off, or slips. Anyway here is my basic set up for solo glue up:



Checking the position and making sure things fit:



Glued up and square for now. We will see when the clamps come off, as you can see I had to pull it square....Never a good sign:



Other than being very soft the Cypress was nice to work with hand tools but.....At least this batch, never stopped doing stupid wood tricks. I finally gave up and figured the dovetails will pull it straight enough for a tool box or it will make a nice fire. Once out of the clamps what will it be, firewood and I start over or I make a lid and some trays. Either way works for me.

ken

[Brian Holcombe]

My experience with cypress was a pretty good one, but it definetly dents easily. My lot was relatively well behaved otherwise.

The dovetails look good!

Ken, the obvious answer is that you need a roubo affixed with a small block Chevy and a chop screw that can operate a steering linkage.