Tool Chest Project

[LETZRIDE]

Well, with the pandemic going on and having to stay inside I have been doing 101 things that I never seem to have the time to do (and go figure I still don't have enough hours in a day).

Anyways, I finally started on the wooden tool chest that I have wanted to build since last year. This is as far as I got today, hopefully I'll be able to start the top tomorrow.

I need to wait for Amazon to deliver my hardware before I can get any of my drawers in, but I can start designing and making them now.

I am trying to "build it like furniture" but it is just plywood and milled down 2x4 into a nice uniform thick board. I then routered grooves so that everything slots together nicely. In retrospect I suppose I could have just but ended the plywood, drilled it and then put a decorative frame covering the screws after, but this let me learn some of my tools a little better.

[ssms5411]

Looking good.

[LETZRIDE]

Made some more progress on this. Forgot that I didn’t update this thread.

Tried my hand planing down some pine and glueing them up to make a table top and I am pretty pleased with the outcome. I plan on staining it a darker color when stores open back up:

[LETZRIDE]

I am waiting on some figure 8 clips to come in that I ordered so I can fasten the top down and not have to worry about expansion and contraction cracking the wood.

In the meantime my drawer slides came in. I ordered 100lb ball bearing drawer slides. They aren’t too bad, I thought they would roll easier than they do, but they are still pretty smooth. They seem to get smoother with more weight added to them, but I guess I was expecting the same quality that I see in store bought tool chests. I would say the quality is 75-80% of the way there. I will double check to make sure my drawers are not binding ever so slightly. All in all they do work quite nice, I am just being anal.

I got most of my drawers built, just need some more nice weather to assemble the last 3.

[LETZRIDE]

Don’t mind the garage, it is currently a mess.

Once the last drawers are in I plan on making decorative front drawer faces out of solid wood and routering in a nice profile to them. I just need to wait for stores to open back up so I can hand pick some rough wood.

This whole project has been me learning a lot of new skills that were a result of me drafting this tool chest up on paper myself. I couldn’t find any kind of plans online.

I figured since it is social distancing time, on my time off I have no reason to rush and can take my time working through figuring out how to best use certain tools and techniques. It’s been a blast... Already if I had to do it over again there tons I could do to save time and energy, but it’s all part of learning!

[ssms5411]

Looking good.

[Namrepus28]

Looks pretty cool so far! Don't forget a nice layer(s) of some kind of clear coat so you don't end up messing up the wood it with dirty hands/gloves.

[LETZRIDE]

Thanks- ya I will probably hit it with a urethane or a varnish. Need to read up on a few things.

here are a few more photos. Thinking of doing a redish wood insert into the sides to add a little contrast.

Some more hardware showed up yesterday too!

[ssms5411]

Looks great Mike.

[ssms5411]

How’s this coming along Mike? Any progress?

[LETZRIDE]

It’s coming along great! I hope to Varnish it tomorrow.

Here are a few sneak peaks of where I am at...

[ssms5411]

Nice, that’s good.

[Lightspeed]

This looks great! What are you doing to protect it? Did you use an indoor or outdoor stain on it?

[LETZRIDE]

I have hit it with one coat of Varnish so far. I'll likely hit it with 2-3 coats to get a nice hard surface to try and avoid getting some of the dings I'll likely get in it.

We'll see how well it stands up. I used an indoor stain with an outdoor Varnish...

[ssms5411]

Cool Mike, post some final pics when done.