Best wood for a tool box?

[James Jayko]

Hi All -

I think my winter project is likely to be Mike Pekovich's hand tool toolbox that was in FWW a few years back. In the article, he built it out of butternut because its "as light as pine but a whole lot prettier." We've got a great hardwood supplier here in Philly (Hearne Hardwoods), but even they have VERY little butternut available. So my question is...if you're building a toolbox that you'd like to be both relatively pretty AND light, what sort of woods would you consider besides poplar and pine?

[Mark Bolton]

If I were building a box like that I would ditch "light" and go for Beech. Maybe some pretty woods for face accents but Beech is pretty much bullet proof and for the interior and components that will see wear.. it would be Beech.

[Thomas Wilson]

White pine with mahogany veneer on the interior. This would be consistent with the classic Phyffe and Seaton tool chests.

[James Jayko]

I do get that. I did a first run of this toolbox last year in soft maple and that seemed fine, but about half the weight of beech IIRC. I messed up the dimensions so now its just a pretty (albeit basically unusable) shelving unit in my garage. Seems like if "durable" and "portable" were the two characteristics, soft maple would still be a decent choice?

[Jay Michaels]

Several years ago, I made a couple small toolboxes out of some tightgrained hemlock. The dovetails were tough, because the wood liked to splinter, but overall, it has held up well and is decently hard while also being relatively light.

[Malcolm McLeod]

... both relatively pretty AND light, ...

You might take a look at (Bald) Cypress if available? I've built a couple of tool storage units out of it. It is certainly lighter than typical N.Amer. hardwoods, but I find it is still durable. Pretty? I like it, but I'm blind in one eye and can't see out of the other.

[Mel Fulks]

Beech was often used ,and the fact that there was plenty of it was a big incentive. There is no best wood for a tool box. Best place to GET a
tool box is Restore store suitcase room. Now , for your dueling pistols , make a case with worn surfaces !

[Richard Coers]

Catalpa is nearly as light as butternut and can have brilliant chatoyance. Butternut is 27lbs/cu ft, vs 29 for catalpa.

[John Jardin]

James, I am in the beginning of building that same tool chest with some variations.
If you use another contrasting wood like walnut for the draw fronts, back and top panels, then you won't need as much butternut. You are lucky to be close to Hearne Hardwoods. They have been my source for European pear. Combined with beech as suggested by Garrett Hack it makes for a great contrasting combination.

[Jim Becker]

Since you're in Hearne's neighborhood, spend some time in the "shorts" room and see what you can find that's attractive to you. They are also pretty good coming up with suggestions if you describe what you want to do...they have so many species available that there may be things that might not jump out to you not knowing about them. If the toolbox is going to be used a lot in a "portable" manner (I'm not familiar with the specific project you mention) then weight is going to be more of a consideration than if it will be moved around only occasionally.

Butternut is indeed hard to come by...I think that was mentioned not long ago in Woodshop News, if my memory is sound.