Next little project??

[steven c newman]

Now that the box for the Stanley 45 is "done".....trying to decide on the next item.

I also have a Wards (Stanley) No. 78 and a Stanley No. 39 3/8"

Maybe build a build to house them both? Or just a box for each?

The 78 would be the first one to get done, as I can always stash the 39 back into the tool chests....

Need to get the Single Brain Cell Sketch Up back on line.......without giving me a headache...

[lowell holmes]

Now that the box for the Stanley 45 is "done".....trying to decide on the next item.

I also have a Wards (Stanley) No. 78 and a Stanley No. 39 3/8"

Maybe build a build to house them both? Or just a box for each?

The 78 would be the first one to get done, . . . . . .

I keep my 78 in a plastic shoe box from Target.

[steven c newman]

Hmmm, well, that MIGHT work for your shop...

I think the 78 needs a little bit better home than a shoe box, and I think I can build a better box than some plastic container that used to hold footwear.

Going through my scrap pile now.......have some white oak? NOT with cast iron touching it. Poplar? maybe..... Not enough Cherry for the box....I do have some Black Walnut I could add to it.....a bit showy, though.
Might go to the Blue Borg later, as they sell thin "Project" boards, was where the Poplar for the 45 came from. Might see what they have, this time..

A plastic shoe box? Really????

[Stew Denton]

Hi Steven,

Just a thought, and your boxes are nice, but have you thought about building one big box, like the Anarchists Tool Chest instead of smaller ones? I hope to do that some day. I know there are reason for going the individual box route, such as storage set up, being able to tote the tool to a job site without needing a truck and 4 guys to help move the thing, etc., but I was thinking that building one big tool chest might be less time consuming, and handier than several small ones.

By the way if you haven't read "The Anarchists Tool Chest" by Schwarz, it is a great read, and I am reading some of it for the 3rd time, maybe the 4th.

Anyway, please don't take the above as a criticism, and I am enjoying the pictures and notes about your projects, but I was just had the thought about a big tool chest, and wondered what your thoughts on it might be since you are building individual boxes instead?

Thanks and regards,

Stew

[steven c newman]

Happen to have two such tool boxes in the shop..
.IMAG0019.jpg
Tool chest No. 1.....and
tool chest #2 opened.jpg
Tool chest No. 2

I found out that being in a basement shop, things tend to rust, sitting on the bottom of the chest. Working on sealing the bottoms a little better...

Of course, I could always stack these individual boxes inside the chests....

[Stew Denton]

Steven,

Thanks for the reply. After I read it and looked at the pictures, I was thinking that a while back, someone had a post about making a box that looks a lot like the one in the bottom picture. Was that you?

By the way, nice job on the chests. I am likely moving to Oklahoma after retiring, (SWMBO wants to move there), and the humidity is much worse where we are going than it is in this dry climate here. Keeping things from rusting is something I will have to seriously consider.

Stew

[steven c newman]

The second chest started out in life as a bed frame I found sitting out on the curb. Recycled most of the parts into that chest. Yep, that was me....

[lowell holmes]

Hmmm, well, that MIGHT work for your shop...

I think the 78 needs a little bit better home than a shoe box, and I think I can build a better box than some plastic container that used to hold footwear.

Going through my scrap pile now.......have some white oak? NOT with cast iron touching it. Poplar? maybe..... Not enough Cherry for the box....I do have some Black Walnut I could add to it.....a bit showy, though.
Might go to the Blue Borg later, as they sell thin "Project" boards, was where the Poplar for the 45 came from. Might see what they have, this time..

A plastic shoe box? Really????

Well, it is protected in a soft enclosure, dust and moisture are kept out, and I can see what's in the shoe box. Besides that, I have two Lee Valley Skew Rabbet Planes.

After all, it is an orphan you know.

[James Pallas]

Steven you build the coolest things. Find a need build it and move on. The tool chests are nice. It looks as if that 78 might fit in the corner of box #2.
Jim

[steven c newman]

There was a sliding tray that held it...and the 39....would prefer the 78 out where I can access it faster....

Lowell: I do take in orphans in my shop....

[steven c newman]

Back from Lowes on a cold and rainy afternoon. Now have some 3/8" x 5-1/2" Clear Pine boards, one is 24" long the other is 36" long. Should be able to make a box out of that amount of "timber"?? Amounts to four sides, and at least one top panel. We'll see IF there is enough for the bottom panel as well. Single Brain Cell Sketch Up is working on a cut list now. Letting the boards dry out a bit, before I start in.

Maybe redo the one tool chest, to hold the boxes being made. Maybe some "runners" to slide them around in the chest? Maybe get a bag of Desicant packets for the local drugstrore, and throw a few inside the chests?

[steven c newman]

Handsaw to cut things to length
IMAG0009.jpg
No, it is not a D-23. The etch says Craftsman/ special saw. Decent crosscut saw, though..
IMAG0010.jpg
A Millers Falls No.56B to clean up the ends..
IMAG0012.jpg
There is two sides, and two end pieces. After I'd figured out just how much room those two planes needed.
Corner joints? Maybe a repeat of the last one?
IMAG0015.jpg
Used a chisel to layout the spacing, a marking gauge for the depth, and a small square to bring the lines round.

Currently on a short break, then a bit of saw work can be done......Not sure how tall this box will wind up...still figuring things a bit. And, nothing on paper, either.

[Stew Denton]

Hi Steven,

The desiccant packets won't have the capacity to help for very long. Wish they did, but they don't. I think the keys are keeping the tools clean and free of sawdust, and coating the tools with an oil, or wax, or some other material to protect the metal. I know some guys use some sort of mild heating to keep the tools inside a tool cabinet a little warmer than the air outside of the cabinet.

Stew

Stew

[steven c newman]

About need a Dehumidifier for the whole basement...

Got enough done tonight, I could mock up the box..
IMAG0006.jpg
And was able to sit the planes inside, to see how they would fit..
IMAG0007.jpg
Still need to split off the top. Need to work on the bottom, maybe two levels, one for each plane, and a place for the 78's parts.

More finger joints, maybe IF I do enough of them...I might get good ones?

[David Eisenhauer]

This is causing guilt feelings I don't need. My 45 and 78 both live sitting nakedly on a bench shelf. The 45 cutters are in a couple of the old OEM cutter boxes, but the planes themselves are not boxed. And I have always liked finger joints since seeing the old wooden, finger-jointed .22 ammo boxes my grandfather had at his farm house when I was very young. The list seems to always grow faster at the bottom than it gets scratched off at the top.