2017-11-23T14-37-17

I have been concerned about rust appearing on my tools, although not as much as during the Summer, so I started looking into storage solutions. I do not want to embark into a year-long project, so I was happy to discover Chris Schwarz’s #DutchToolChest. I will make mine 2” longer than the original; my two panel saws and flush cut saw will go in the lid; the back saws, longer bench planes and chisels in the top; small planes, shooting plane and miter plane in the middle; joinery planes at the bottom. I will also have space for a 14”x7” tool tote above the bench planes and another 27-1/2”x8” tray above the small planes in the middle section. That means putting most of my tools in a 29”x12-3/4”x25-1/2” (at the front) to 32” (at the back end) space and still have quick access to all of them! #ToolChest #HandToolsOnly #Woodworking

2017-11-23T14-37-48

I have been concerned about rust appearing on my tools, although not as much as during the Summer, so I started looking into storage solutions. I do not want to embark into a year-long project, so I was happy to discover Chris Schwarz’s #DutchToolChest. I will make mine 2” longer than the original; my two panel saws and flush cut saw will go in the lid; the back saws, longer bench planes and chisels in the top; small planes, shooting plane and miter plane in the middle; joinery planes at the bottom. I will also have space for a 14”x7” tool tote above the bench planes and another 27-1/2”x8” tray above the small planes in the middle section. That means putting most of my tools in a 29”x12-3/4”x25-1/2” (at the front) to 32” (at the back end) space and still have quick access to all of them! #ToolChest #HandToolsOnly #Woodworking

2017-11-27T17-06-05

I went to my lumberyard looking for stock for my upcoming #DutchToolChest and found this nice, wide, and straight 4/4 Yellow Poplar that was fresh out of the kiln. Now I just have to hold my horses for a bit before jumping into the construction. #ToolChest #HandToolsOnly #Woodworking

2018-01-02T10-46-16

Now that the latest wave of workbench appliances is done, I can finally start working on my Dutch tool chest. I am making it out of five 8’ planks of rough 4/4 Poplar. I am using my Krenov-style wooden plane as a fore plane, followed by the bevel-up Jack and jointer with 38°-bevel irons. This Poplar is planing really well even where the grain changes direction. I am going to be swimming in a sea of shavings! #DutchToolChest #ToolChest #HandToolsOnly #Poplar

2018-01-03T10-06-49

In the end, I decided to go with the big version of Schwarz’s Dutch tool chest. I thought I would make the small version so it could fit in the car, but even that one would be a bit too tall. So, I adjusted the measurements to fit my big chisels on top and various planes in the bottom and middle and made a full scale drawing of the profile. #DutchToolChest #ToolChest #HandToolsOnly #Woodworking

2018-01-03T16-33-44

I am floating in a sea of Poplar shavings! I spent hours hand planing the side pieces and shelves of the Dutch tool chest starting from 4/4 rough stock. Luckily, Poplar planes so nicely you can even go against the grain! #DutchToolChest #ToolChest #HandToolsOnly #Woodworking

2018-01-05T12-27-45

I could not clean up the slanted saw cut on the side pieces of the Dutch tool chest using my shooting board, but I still used my miter plane to do the job and it worked like a charm. I also appreciated the big apron of #TheEnglishWorkbench to clamp down the piece in a few seconds. #DutchToolChest #ToolChest #HandToolsOnly #Woodworking

2018-01-05T12-45-44

Time to cut the dovetails for the Dutch tool chest. I am always afraid of cutting my dovetails out of square, so this time I took a half an hour to build myself a little guide that I can hold on the edge of my board and that provides a kerf to guide my tenon saw. I did a quick test on a leftover piece of Poplar and in a few seconds I had three dovetails with nice straight and square cuts. I am happy. Paul Sellers’ dovetail template guide (for marking only) and the jig he used in his “A Paul Sellers Dovetail Technique” video provided the inspiration for my own design. #DutchToolChest #ToolChest #WorkbenchAppliance #HandToolsOnly #Woodworking

2018-01-05T13-00-01

In order to clean up the slanted saw cut on the end of my piece, I first went all around it with a chisel along the knife line I had already made and defined a clear border; that gave me really clean edges, helped avoid splintering at the end of the planing stroke and provided an easy visual signal to know when to stop planing. #DutchToolChest #ToolChest #HandToolsOnly #Woodworking

2018-01-05T13-00-28

In order to clean up the slanted saw cut on the end of my piece, I first went all around it with a chisel along the knife line I had already made and defined a clear border; that gave me really clean edges, helped avoid splintering at the end of the planing stroke and provided an easy visual signal to know when to stop planing. #DutchToolChest #ToolChest #HandToolsOnly #Woodworking

2018-01-05T13-10-12

In order to clean up the slanted saw cut on the end of my piece, I first went all around it with a chisel along the knife line I had already made and defined a clear border; that gave me really clean edges, helped avoid splintering at the end of the planing stroke and provided an easy visual signal to know when to stop planing. #DutchToolChest #ToolChest #HandToolsOnly #Woodworking

2018-01-05T15-22-16

So I decided to go ahead and try my dovetail cutting guide on the sides of the Dutch tool chest; and I decided to gang them up and cut the two sets in one go. I am happy with the result, but there is still a bit of play in the guide and a couple of my cuts are not as perfectly squared as I would have liked; perhaps I will try making the guide a bit more accurately and using hardwood. #DutchToolChest #ToolChest #Poplar #HandToolsOnly #Woodworking

2018-01-05T16-31-44

I normally use a coping saw to remove the waste between dovetails, but this time I decided to chop it off similarly to chopping a mortise; I am liking it; it is very precise and leaving the end of the waste attached helps support the waste piece when flipping the board and chopping from the other side so that the end grain fibers are not as easily crushed. #DutchToolChest #ToolChest #HandToolsOnly #Poplar #Woodworking

2018-01-09T12-22-26

Just finished fitting the dovetails for the Dutch tool chest; I made a homemade guide to cut the tails, but I changed strategy entirely for the pins and sawed a row of 20 pins for practice before going for the real ones; the result is never perfect, but I am very happy with it. #DutchToolChest #ToolChest #HandToolsOnly #Poplar #Dovetail #Woodworking

2018-01-09T12-23-07

Just finished fitting the dovetails for the Dutch tool chest; I made a homemade guide to cut the tails, but I changed strategy entirely for the pins and sawed a row of 20 pins for practice before going for the real ones; the result is never perfect, but I am very happy with it. #DutchToolChest #ToolChest #HandToolsOnly #Poplar #Dovetail #Woodworking

2018-01-09T12-24-20

Just finished fitting the dovetails for the Dutch tool chest; I made a homemade guide to cut the tails, but I changed strategy entirely for the pins and sawed a row of 20 pins for practice before going for the real ones; the result is never perfect, but I am very happy with it. #DutchToolChest #ToolChest #HandToolsOnly #Poplar #Dovetail #Woodworking

2018-01-10T12-21-48

Making dadoes in the sides of the Dutch tool chest to support the middle and top shelves. I am really glad I switched to using this long paring chisel; before that, I always ended up with bleeding knuckles from bumping into my piece. As a bonus, I now sharpen my bench chisels to a 30° bevel which seems to last noticeably longer than the 25° they came with (but I do keep the 25° bevel on the pairing chisels). #DutchToolChest #ToolChest #HandToolsOnly #Poplar #Woodworking

2018-01-10T13-09-59

Making dadoes in the sides of the Dutch tool chest to support the middle and top shelves. I am really glad I switched to using this long paring chisel; before that, I always ended up with bleeding knuckles from bumping into my piece. As a bonus, I now sharpen my bench chisels to a 30° bevel which seems to last noticeably longer than the 25° they came with (but I do keep the 25° bevel on the pairing chisels). #DutchToolChest #ToolChest #HandToolsOnly #Poplar #Woodworking

2018-01-10T13-11-55

Making dadoes in the sides of the Dutch tool chest to support the middle and top shelves. I am really glad I switched to using this long paring chisel; before that, I always ended up with bleeding knuckles from bumping into my piece. As a bonus, I now sharpen my bench chisels to a 30° bevel which seems to last noticeably longer than the 25° they came with (but I do keep the 25° bevel on the pairing chisels). #DutchToolChest #ToolChest #HandToolsOnly #Poplar #Woodworking

2018-01-11T15-12-15

The shelves of the Dutch tool chest have notches in the front to make space for the battens that hold the drop front. I am being especially careful with the middle shelf since its edge will be visible. #DutchToolChest #ToolChest #HandToolsOnly #Poplar #Woodworking

2018-01-12T12-30-32

Did I mention that glue-ups stress me out? A lot. For the Dutch tool chest, I had to pull out all my long clamps. Because the pins of the bottom dovetailed joints protrude a bit, I had to fabricate some cauls using a Forstner bit to make hollows for the pins. Everything worked out tight and square in the end, but I spent a panicky 15 minutes hammering the pieces in place and having to admit that once again I made my joinery way too tight. #DutchToolChest #ToolChest #HandToolsOnly #Poplar #Woodworking

2018-01-12T12-31-08

Did I mention that glue-ups stress me out? A lot. For the Dutch tool chest, I had to pull out all my long clamps. Because the pins of the bottom dovetailed joints protrude a bit, I had to fabricate some cauls using a Forstner bit to make hollows for the pins. Everything worked out tight and square in the end, but I spent a panicky 15 minutes hammering the pieces in place and having to admit that once again I made my joinery way too tight. #DutchToolChest #ToolChest #HandToolsOnly #Poplar #Woodworking

2018-01-12T12-31-38

Did I mention that glue-ups stress me out? A lot. For the Dutch tool chest, I had to pull out all my long clamps. Because the pins of the bottom dovetailed joints protrude a bit, I had to fabricate some cauls using a Forstner bit to make hollows for the pins. Everything worked out tight and square in the end, but I spent a panicky 15 minutes hammering the pieces in place and having to admit that once again I made my joinery way too tight. #DutchToolChest #ToolChest #HandToolsOnly #Poplar #Woodworking

2018-01-12T12-31-57

Did I mention that glue-ups stress me out? A lot. For the Dutch tool chest, I had to pull out all my long clamps. Because the pins of the bottom dovetailed joints protrude a bit, I had to fabricate some cauls using a Forstner bit to make hollows for the pins. Everything worked out tight and square in the end, but I spent a panicky 15 minutes hammering the pieces in place and having to admit that once again I made my joinery way too tight. #DutchToolChest #ToolChest #HandToolsOnly #Poplar #Woodworking

2018-01-15T11-30-23

Finding new ways of using my saw bench and workbench as I try to hold the carcass of the Dutch tool chest while I trim the dovetails with a block plane. To trim the tails, I ended up propping the carcass on my Japanese small horses and again pushing it against the apron of the workbench. #DutchToolChest #ToolChest #HandToolsOnly #Poplar #Woodworking #SawBench #TheEnglishWorkbench

2018-01-15T16-53-10

I am mostly following Schwarz’s design for the Dutch tool chest and am putting 1/4” beads on the front pieces framing the drop front. I only have a left-handed beading blade, so I marked the two edges that could be beaded with the right grain orientation and then went with the better one. #DutchToolChest #ToolChest #HandToolsOnly #Poplar #Woodworking

2018-01-16T13-37-15

I am using dowels to register the position of the front pieces of the Dutch tool chest; it is an extra step, but I am convinced they more than make up for that time. I can shoot the ends of the pieces and plane the bevel and easily come back to check how they fit; finally, the dowels are great when glueing pieces that have no other joinery, so they do not slide around while I apply pressure with the clamps. #DutchToolChest #ToolChest #HandToolsOnly #Poplar #Woodworking

2018-01-16T14-02-37

I am using the scrub plane to rough out the 30° bevel on the front piece of the Dutch tool chest; it gets the job done really fast and when I get close to my line, I switch to the jointer to finish it up. #DutchToolChest #ToolChest #HandToolsOnly #Poplar #Woodworking

2018-01-17T15-11-33

Slowly making progress on the Dutch tool chest. The front pieces are up; they have a 1/4” bead framing the future drop front and a 30° bevel at the top to accomodate the lid. Now it is time to plane a board of rough Poplar to dimension the pieces for the back. #DutchToolChest #ToolChest #HandToolsOnly #Poplar #Woodworking

2018-01-17T15-12-34

Slowly making progress on the Dutch tool chest. The front pieces are up; they have a 1/4” bead framing the future drop front and a 30° bevel at the top to accomodate the lid. Now it is time to plane a board of rough Poplar to dimension the pieces for the back. #DutchToolChest #ToolChest #HandToolsOnly #Poplar #Woodworking

2018-01-17T15-13-06

Slowly making progress on the Dutch tool chest. The front pieces are up; they have a 1/4” bead framing the future drop front and a 30° bevel at the top to accomodate the lid. Now it is time to plane a board of rough Poplar to dimension the pieces for the back. #DutchToolChest #ToolChest #HandToolsOnly #Poplar #Woodworking

2018-01-19T17-06-59

Plans are made to be broken. I had planned to use four boards for the back panel of the Dutch tool chest, but when I realized that with some careful dimensioning I could use three, I went for it. I had planned to use tongue-and-groove, but when I tried it on a scrap piece my 1/4” tongue looked so small and flimsy on my 15/16” boards that I went with ship-lapped panels with a 1/2” rabbet and a 1/4” bead. I only used glue on 1/3 of the width of each board to allow for wood movement and used spacers to leave about 1/8” gap between the boards. I will nail the back and front to the carcass, but am thinking of doing that after painting the chest. #DutchToolChest #ToolChest #HandToolsOnly #Poplar #Woodworking

2018-01-19T17-07-44

Plans are made to be broken. I had planned to use four boards for the back panel of the Dutch tool chest, but when I realized that with some careful dimensioning I could use three, I went for it. I had planned to use tongue-and-groove, but when I tried it on a scrap piece my 1/4” tongue looked so small and flimsy on my 15/16” boards that I went with ship-lapped panels with a 1/2” rabbet and a 1/4” bead. I only used glue on 1/3 of the width of each board to allow for wood movement and used spacers to leave about 1/8” gap between the boards. I will nail the back and front to the carcass, but am thinking of doing that after painting the chest. #DutchToolChest #ToolChest #HandToolsOnly #Poplar #Woodworking

2018-01-19T17-08-24

Plans are made to be broken. I had planned to use four boards for the back panel of the Dutch tool chest, but when I realized that with some careful dimensioning I could use three, I went for it. I had planned to use tongue-and-groove, but when I tried it on a scrap piece my 1/4” tongue looked so small and flimsy on my 15/16” boards that I went with ship-lapped panels with a 1/2” rabbet and a 1/4” bead. I only used glue on 1/3 of the width of each board to allow for wood movement and used spacers to leave about 1/8” gap between the boards. I will nail the back and front to the carcass, but am thinking of doing that after painting the chest. #DutchToolChest #ToolChest #HandToolsOnly #Poplar #Woodworking

2018-01-23T13-39-11

These are my first ever jointed boards :-) They are going to be the drop front for the Dutch tool chest. I decided to go with a spring joint so I started by planing the edges with my jointer plane, going just a bit heavy in the middle so that when I balanced one board on top of the other I could see just a little light go through in the middle; I then refined the edges with a couple light passes of my miter plane using my edge-joining board, first board reference face up, second board reference face down to compensate for any deviation from 90°; then I did a dry run in the clamps; in theory, I could have used a single clamp, but I have never done this before and felt more comfortable with three clamps to get a little help with balancing and aligning the two boards. Finally, I glued the thing up and of course things started sliding around a bit, but I cannot see any gaps and once the clamps are off and I do a little bit of planing (the thickness of the two boards was not identical and I was not able to align them perfectly anyway), I think I will be happy with the result. #DutchToolChest #ToolChest #HandToolsOnly #Poplar #Woodworking

2018-01-23T13-41-52

These are my first ever jointed boards :-) They are going to be the drop front for the Dutch tool chest. I decided to go with a spring joint so I started by planing the edges with my jointer plane, going just a bit heavy in the middle so that when I balanced one board on top of the other I could see just a little light go through in the middle; I then refined the edges with a couple light passes of my miter plane using my edge-joining board, first board reference face up, second board reference face down to compensate for any deviation from 90°; then I did a dry run in the clamps; in theory, I could have used a single clamp, but I have never done this before and felt more comfortable with three clamps to get a little help with balancing and aligning the two boards. Finally, I glued the thing up and of course things started sliding around a bit, but I cannot see any gaps and once the clamps are off and I do a little bit of planing (the thickness of the two boards was not identical and I was not able to align them perfectly anyway), I think I will be happy with the result. #DutchToolChest #ToolChest #HandToolsOnly #Poplar #Woodworking

2018-01-23T13-47-30

These are my first ever jointed boards :-) They are going to be the drop front for the Dutch tool chest. I decided to go with a spring joint so I started by planing the edges with my jointer plane, going just a bit heavy in the middle so that when I balanced one board on top of the other I could see just a little light go through in the middle; I then refined the edges with a couple light passes of my miter plane using my edge-joining board, first board reference face up, second board reference face down to compensate for any deviation from 90°; then I did a dry run in the clamps; in theory, I could have used a single clamp, but I have never done this before and felt more comfortable with three clamps to get a little help with balancing and aligning the two boards. Finally, I glued the thing up and of course things started sliding around a bit, but I cannot see any gaps and once the clamps are off and I do a little bit of planing (the thickness of the two boards was not identical and I was not able to align them perfectly anyway), I think I will be happy with the result. #DutchToolChest #ToolChest #HandToolsOnly #Poplar #Woodworking

2018-01-23T13-55-30

These are my first ever jointed boards :-) They are going to be the drop front for the Dutch tool chest. I decided to go with a spring joint so I started by planing the edges with my jointer plane, going just a bit heavy in the middle so that when I balanced one board on top of the other I could see just a little light go through in the middle; I then refined the edges with a couple light passes of my miter plane using my edge-joining board, first board reference face up, second board reference face down to compensate for any deviation from 90°; then I did a dry run in the clamps; in theory, I could have used a single clamp, but I have never done this before and felt more comfortable with three clamps to get a little help with balancing and aligning the two boards. Finally, I glued the thing up and of course things started sliding around a bit, but I cannot see any gaps and once the clamps are off and I do a little bit of planing (the thickness of the two boards was not identical and I was not able to align them perfectly anyway), I think I will be happy with the result. #DutchToolChest #ToolChest #HandToolsOnly #Poplar #Woodworking

2018-01-23T14-20-12

These are my first ever jointed boards :-) They are going to be the drop front for the Dutch tool chest. I decided to go with a spring joint so I started by planing the edges with my jointer plane, going just a bit heavy in the middle so that when I balanced one board on top of the other I could see just a little light go through in the middle; I then refined the edges with a couple light passes of my miter plane using my edge-joining board, first board reference face up, second board reference face down to compensate for any deviation from 90°; then I did a dry run in the clamps; in theory, I could have used a single clamp, but I have never done this before and felt more comfortable with three clamps to get a little help with balancing and aligning the two boards. Finally, I glued the thing up and of course things started sliding around a bit, but I cannot see any gaps and once the clamps are off and I do a little bit of planing (the thickness of the two boards was not identical and I was not able to align them perfectly anyway), I think I will be happy with the result. #DutchToolChest #ToolChest #HandToolsOnly #Poplar #Woodworking

2018-01-24T16-05-52

Resawing a piece of Anigre to prepare the two battens used to lock the drop front of the Dutch tool chest. I started the cuts from all four “corners” with my tenon saw and finished off with the Ryoba. The wood tended to close the kerf so I put a stick in it to avoid binding. #DutchToolChest #ToolChest #HandToolsOnly #Anigre #Woodworking

2018-01-26T12-40-40

The battens that lock the drop front of the Dutch tool chest are ready. Perhaps the holes are a bit too big, but… too late now :-) #DutchToolChest #ToolChest #HandToolsOnly #Anigre #Woodworking

2018-01-26T14-44-07

I followed Schwarz’s design by memory and added a very slanted bevel all around the feet for the Dutch tool chest. I used the Jack plane for the long grain and the block plane for the end grain. Anigre wood seems to plane very nicely and I was getting nice shavings even on the end grain. #DutchToolChest #ToolChest #HandToolsOnly #Anigre #Woodworking

2018-01-29T10-37-54

I decided to model the cleats that hold the locking bars for the drop front after a photo of an original Dutch tool chest in Jim Tolpin’s The Toolbox Book. I played a bit with a set of French curves to find something I liked and drew the profile on both sides of my piece. I was not sure how to hold such a small piece and I ended up using four drops of hot glue to attach it to a scrap piece that I could hold in the front vise. After a minute I was working away with a cabinet rasp and a Nicholson file and the setup held up wonderfully; once I was finished shaping, I cut the piece in two to get my two cleats. I then used a heat gun to soften the glue and detach the pieces; I was surprised it only took a few seconds. #DutchToolChest #ToolChest #HandToolsOnly #Anigre #Woodworking

2018-01-29T11-54-14

I decided to model the cleats that hold the locking bars for the drop front after a photo of an original Dutch tool chest in Jim Tolpin’s The Toolbox Book. I played a bit with a set of French curves to find something I liked and drew the profile on both sides of my piece. I was not sure how to hold such a small piece and I ended up using four drops of hot glue to attach it to a scrap piece that I could hold in the front vise. After a minute I was working away with a cabinet rasp and a Nicholson file and the setup held up wonderfully; once I was finished shaping, I cut the piece in two to get my two cleats. I then used a heat gun to soften the glue and detach the pieces; I was surprised it only took a few seconds. #DutchToolChest #ToolChest #HandToolsOnly #Anigre #Woodworking

2018-01-30T10-16-11

Putting a decorative rabbet around the drop front of the Dutch tool chest turned out to be an easy job for the skew rabbet plane; it left a great finish across the grain and even when I went against the grain on one of the long edges. Too bad that then I went over it with my router plane to remove some of the markings left on the corners and that did not leave a very good surface when going across the grain. #DutchToolChest #ToolChest #HandToolsOnly #Poplar #Woodworking