Tool cabinet design and build

[Robert McNaull]

I acquired some new tools at Christmas and have determined my random storage I have been maintaining the last few years is no longer sufficient. Jerry Olexa's thread on storage ideas provided some great starter material as well as several searches through the archives here.

I started out by getting all my current hand tools out on the workbench and grouping them similar to my storage desires. My plan is to build oversized to not have to package things too tightly, I admire the Studley tool chest, but I would rather spend my time building rather than designing for the next month. My arsenal of tools is at a stable point, but is not complete so I want the extra space for future tools.

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The case is going to be 36" x 42" tall, and 11" deep total. The case frame will be poplar and the back will be 3/4 Baltic birch with a set of drawers at the bottom and a shelf with the gap space at 7" of height clearance for smothers, rabbet, shoulder, and other small wood bodied planes. Some Vertical spacers will be added for separation after some more layout with tools. The main case will be assembled with through dovetails and the shelves rabetted in (sliding dovetail would be nice but lack skills I think for this). The cabinet is going to be hung on a false wall in the shop on French cleats.

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The doors are going to be about 3" deep to accommodate chisels and marking tools. I haven't quite figured out how to attach the face of the doors to the door cases yet, so if anyone has good suggestions I would love to hear them.

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I cut the parts for the main case tonight so I can get the large panels glued up and hopefully start hand cutting dovetails by the weekend. Once the main case is assembled I will work on better laying tool storage as I find it easier to be able to physically arrange the items into their spaces to create the best and cleanest fit.

Thanks for looking,

Bob

[Jim Belair]

Sounds like you've got a good plan in place Bob.

[David Eisenhauer]

Go Bob. Good start. Question: I am unclear about your question of how to "attach the face of the doors to the door cases yet". Do you mean how to attach a door panel to the door frame (that will be 3" deep)?

[Joe A Faulkner]

I think you are safe to glue the door styles and rails to the carcass of the door frame. If you are going to make the face frame a little proud of the door carcass you could put a shallow dado (3/16 ths) in the styles and rails of your face frame, but I don't think that is necessary.

[Robert McNaull]

Thanks Jim.


David - the doors will be framed similar to the case with poplar and dovetailed. I am planning on rabetting in 1/2" birch plywood for the back of the door/ face of the cabinet and then facing the front with the frames, but was unsure of how to attach them or if there is a better assembly method. I want the structure of the birch plywood for mounting tool holders in the doors, otherwise I might try paneling the doors instead.

Joe - this was a thought as well as screwing them from the inside of the door. Also was trying to think through a potential joinery type method over fasteners.

Bob

[Chris Schoenthal]

I've been planning on building a cabinet as well and saw this tandem door hinge set from Rockler. http://www.rockler.com/rockler-tandem-door-hinge-set
It lets you have two doors that are 2" apart.

[Andy Nichols]

Glued mine, thought about adding dowels, but read about so many builds that were also glued, decided I was over analyzing the design.

One change I'd make to mine, would like to add a small panel on hinges, that hangs/opens independently from the cabinet doors...that's where I would hang all my drawing/layout tools and other small stuff, but alas, did not design with that in mind. Occurred to me after using mine for a while.

Best of luck with the build,
Andy

[Joe A Faulkner]

I have a bookshelf that I made over 30 years ago where the face frame was simply glued to the side panels. It is showing no signs of joint failure. How are you going to join your door styles to the rails?

[Robert McNaull]

I have a bookshelf that I made over 30 years ago where the face frame was simply glued to the side panels. It is showing no signs of joint failure. How are you going to join your door styles to the rails?

I was going to mortise and tenon them together. That way they would be solid complete frames.

Bob

[Robert Engel]

If the doors have a thickness to them, its best to make the doors and carcase all one piece then cut the doors loose this make alignment much easier.Toolcab4.JPG

[Jerry Olexa]

Robert, looks like good plan..And It'll be fun to build and later enjoy storing/safeguarding your tools

[Robert McNaull]

If the doors have a thickness to them, its best to make the doors and carcase all one piece then cut the doors loose this make alignment much easier.Toolcab4.JPG

Did you glue the case together before cutting and if so, how did you cut your slots for the shelves after? Also was wondering if you had a picture of your door fronts?

Thanks,

Bob

[Joe A Faulkner]

Bob, my guess is that Robert Engel did assemble his cabinet as an enclosed box (technically a rectangular prism) and then sliced off the lid (front) and converted the front into two doors. This is an approach that is frequently used, but others also build the doors separately from the carcass. Of course if you want the sides of your doors to match the grain of the sides of the cabinet you could at least glue up your side panels wide enough so that you can cut the outside parts of your doors off of the side panels. Robert could have cut stopped dados in his cabinet sides. Hopefully he will chime in and share some details on his build.

Have you settled on how you are going to join the top and bottom of the cabinet to the sides? Also, what is your design for your door fronts? Solid 3/4" material or a five piece front with a floating panel? Here's another cabinet that looks similar to your design:

http://www.sawmillcreek.org/showthre...g-Tool-Cabinet