49 - Cabinet Maker's Tool Chest, страница 16

FEATURE PROJECT

Cabinetmaker's

Tool Chest

Recently, there's been quite a bit of talk around here about a "treasure chest" in the shop. One look at this cabinetmaker's tool chest makes it easy to see why.

With its figured wood and solid brass hardware, the chest provides safekeeping for your fine hand tools. Perhaps it will even become an heirloom that gets handed down from one generation to the next

But the real treasure isn't the chest, or even the tools inside. It's all the interesting woodworldng challenges that building a chest like this presents.

FRAME & PANEL. The main case is made up of several frame and panel assemblies, see Exploded View on page 17. The frames are solid wood. (I used curly maple for the frames and drawer fronts.) But the panels only appear to be solid wood. They're actually pieces of hardboard covered with veneer on both sides. (I used bird's-eye maple veneer.)

BEADS. Another interesting part of building this chest is making two types of decorative beads, see photos at right. One bead is routed on the drawer fronts. The other is a strip of bead molding that's applied to the panels.

HARDWARE. Of course, a beautiful tool chest deserves some special hardware. The solid brass drawer knobs have a wood plug that's "turned" to shape on a drill press, see photo A' below. Also, heavy-duty handles allow you to get a good grip when carrying the chest, see photo 'B.'

This classic tool chest is designed to hold your favorite hand tools for generations to come.

Drawer Bead

Bead Molding

LOCK SYSTEM. I should mention the neat, two-part system used to lock the drawers and lid. To "lock" the drawers, simply slide a brass rod down through the chest, see photo 'C.' And a full-mortise lock and key secure the lid. There's even an old-fashioned brass escutcheon (keyhole) mortised into the chest.

B. Chest Handle. To avoid pinching your fingers against the case, there's a built-in stop on the ends of the handles.

A. Knob. A solid brass knob with an ebony plug highlights the drawers.

C. Lock System. When closing up shop, slide a brass rod down through the chest (left) to lock the drawers. Then secure the lid with a full-mortise lock and key, see photo at right.

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ShopNotes

No. 49