tool cabinet strength, or I would prefer not to throw my tools on the floor

[Anthony Tony Ennis]

Like many of us, I find the Studley tool cabinet fascinating. They Say that it has 300 tools in it and that it takes 2 or 3 men to move it. Now, I don't have 300 tools worthy of being in a tool cabinet but I do have a bunch of planes that need a nicer home. And not at your house. At my house, in a cabinet. The planes are large-ish and heavy, so mounting them on the inside back of a cabinet is called for.

I'm probably overthinking this, a lot. It's what happens when I plan too much and plane too little. How much weight could be in a cabinet before the back and sides of the cabinet parted? How did Studley make the cabinet back and attach it to the sides and mounting hardware?

One way to make a cabinet is to make the back from 3/4" plywood and glue it into a groove running around the sides. That'll work. But Studley didn't have plywood. He used salvaged planks that moved when the humidity changed. I would prefer to use white oak since I have a bunch that needs to be used.

I'm in total analysis paralysis, so throw me a bone please. The shop is unheated so seasonal wood movement here in the Midwest is a thing. I've had a chessboard split and a bedside table top shrink by a 1/4" due to humidity changes.

How would you make a solid wood back that could bear a lot of weight over time, survive wood movement, and not disrupt the tools on the inside when the weather changed?

[steven c newman]

The Plane Til.JPG
Of course, you would want to be able to look at them, right?
Plane Til, project post, both doors opened.JPG
And yet, IF you need a plane, just open a door and grab one?
Plane Til rework, start up.JPG
At least it is better than this Dust Magnet..

[Richard Coers]

You could literally put a ton of tools in a cabinet if you build it right. Your furniture failures are a result of poor construction methods or lack of movement data and NOT because you used solid wood. A solid wood chess board is rarely a good idea. Different species, different expansion rates. After I discovered the data on wood movement in the late 70s, I've never had a piece of work crack.

[Cameron Wood]

A plain kitchen cabinet could hold 100 lbs of dishes or canned goods, and they are nothing special.

"The mammoth piece weights 72 lbs when empty and 156 lbs when open, meaning a full squad is needed to move it."

This shelf is holding probably 150 lbs. A few pine boards and a few screws.

IMG_4382.jpg

[Richard Line]

A wood panel, attached to the wall, can hold a great deal of weight that is attached close to the panel. I would suggest that for either a solid wood panel or plywood that is connected to the wall (studs) with a French cleat at the top and spacer near the bottom. The French cleat can support a good deal of weight if it is built strongly and long enough to spread the load and have good attachment(s) to the wall. If you use solid wood for either the panel and/or the cleat, you will need to allow for wood movement (particularly cross grain movement). If you use plywood, then movement is much less of an issue. Of course you can directly connect to the wall, but the same concerns exist for wood movement.

The shelves or brackets used to hold the 'display' of fine tools should be fastened to the back, not the sides of the cabinet - need the load to connect directly to the back panel. Depending upon how many planes you want to put on a shelf, you will probably need to use buttresses to help support the shelf as will as direct fastening to the back.

For the cabinet top, bottom, and sides normal provisions for wood movement need to be used. One way is to make the cabinet pieces a unit and then attach to the back with allowances for wood movement. Remember that wood movement parallel with the grain is a lot less than movement across the grain.

I hope this gives you some ideas on how you could proceed. I suspect you'll get some other suggestions.

[Jim Koepke]

Hi Tony and welcome to the Creek.

As Richard mentioned, a French cleat can do the heavy lifting. Just attach it well to studs in the wall.

My washroom cabinets are held in place by a 2X6 underneath and a piece of 2X4 at the top. There are bolts through the floor of the cabinet into the 2X6 and through the top into the 2X4.

Washroom Cabinet.jpg

This image shows the dovetails more than the support.

Living on the west coast we fasten things well due to the possibility of an earthquake. Though it would likely take a big one to knock a cabinet off of a French cleat.

jtk

[Ray Newman]

This may provide some ideas. Part 1 of 6: https://www.rpwoodwork.com/blog/2012...abinet-part-1/

Also:

https://thewoodwhisperer.com/viewer-...-tool-cabinet/

https://www.finewoodworking.com/clas...hand-tools-813

https://www.woodstore.net/Mobile-Too...p/gr-00260.htm

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uyNFhAR6GhA

[Rafael Herrera]

Anthony,
Frame and panel construction is designed to allow for the seasonal changes of the panels. The frame is what holds the weight, not the panels.

[David Carroll]

I have thought about this for some years. I purchased an old wall mounted, book fold type piano-maker's chest many years ago. If the Studley chest had a very ugly, third cousin, this was it. It is solid chestnut with mitered corners and both the front and the back panels are rabbeted to fit tightly into the sides and top. I used the chest for years, just as it came. It was mounted to the wall with two sheet metal straps screwed into the back at the ends of the top, and sat on two bent brackets made of steel (16ga) at the bottom. These four mounting points were to be screwed into the wall, on one side, the other side opened and must've rested on a block or a bracket to take the weight off of the hinges. But whatever the bracket might have been it didn't come with the chest. But there were marks that showed where it once rested.

Inside were several hinged panels for small tools like drill bits, and screwdrivers. These tools were all held by commercial fasteners, cup hooks, nails and various hardware store items. It wasn't very satisfactory and not especially well thought out. I did notice that the glued rabbet at the top where the back panel connected to the top of the carcass had failed and the finish nails were all that was held it together.

Given the arrangement, I don't believe that it held nearly the number of tools that the Study Chest did, but at one point I had it pretty well loaded and then noticed the failed joint. So I knocked together a plywood chest and took this one off the wall for reinforcement and refitting the interior. This is a project that waited a decade until last winter to begin. I don't do much woodworking in the summer, because I am working outside, but I will begin again when the snow flies.

So I am thinking along the same lines as you. It's all well and good to do what everybody has suggested, but the joint you need to think about is one that joins the back panel, where it hangs off of French cleats or brackets, to the sides, top and bottom. Or at least to the top if unlike mine, yours will be dovetailed at the corners. The glued and nailed rabbet joint failed on mine. I think I will reinforce this with a brass angle all the way around to tightly connect the whole thing together. I have inlayed brass dovetail keys all around to reinforce the corners. Here is a picture:

Chest.jpg

I like the look of the dovetail keys and I think they will reinforce the sides considerably. But I will also reinforce the back to the sides with the angles. I'll probably also do the front panel as well. The moving half (the one not tied to the wall) will not be as heavy when loaded, and will sit on a bracket when opened. Likely it will always be opened.

This chest is larger in every dimension compared to the Studley chest, so fully loaded will be very heavy. I am likely going overboard on the reinforcement. But better to have and not need than need and not have.

More pics to come in the winter!

DC

[Jim McCue]

You can make your cabinet with a plywood back to help with rigidity and mounting and then put a more decorative ramp or till in front of it.

Kitchen cabinets hold a lot of weight and they're not made from solid oak and are only held in place by 2-4 screws.

[Daniel Culotta]

My mind went to kitchen cabinets too. When I remodeled our kitchen, I think I took 8-10 screws total out of the upper bank of plywood oak cabinets that were holding hundreds of pounds of dishes. Important part was they had mounting cleats that were attached to the carcass, and the screws went into studs.

A cabinet mounted with a french cleat that's attached/integrated to the carcass, plus dovetailed corners, should be able to hold anything.

[Joe A Faulkner]

I used dovetails to make the carcass of my tool cabinet. I used a French cleat to hang it. As others noted, kitchen cabinets are typically installed with pan head screws and carry 100’s of pounds when loaded with dishes. I used #12, 3 inch wood screws to attach the cleat to the wall studs. These screws are rated at over 700 lbs. I used a 3” wide cleat and placed two screws per stud. The hanging rail inside the cabinet sets under the top and is attached to the sides of the carcass with 3/8” dowel pins. I used #8 wood screws to attach the cleat to the hanging rail with one screw every 4”. The cabinet is home to 8 or 9 bench planes and 30 or so chisels and a modest collection of molding planes. After 8 years, no signs of failure. The dovetail joints were glued using tight bond II. I imagine that along with the strength of the dovetail contributes to the cabinet holding up. My shop is well insulated, but not heated or air conditioned, so with Indiana weather, the cabinet is exposed to lots of humidity and temperature swings. YMMV.