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?