John's Plane Cabinet#

Here are pics of the completed Plane cabinet.  I haven’t forgot the issue that was raised in the comments section related to “ramping” the mortis  I will get back to that when I have something intelligent to say.  Here are some “learning points” I got from finishing this project. 

I had a problem installing the molding around the lid.  The problem started when I discovered that the lid was a hair too narrow in width, meaning the molding would not go over the box.   As with most of my mistakes I have no idea how this happened.   No problem, I figured I would plane a shallow rabbet into the area of the molding  that went over the box.  This worked.  Great , on my way to my next mistake.

When making the molding for the lid of the plane cabinet, I thought it would look cool to angle the outside edge of the molding. Not a big deal, just run a plane on half of the molding along it's length. The result, the molding is thick where it is nailed to the lid and tapered where it covers the box.  Being very proud of my use of my planes I cut the mitres for the corners and put my new shooting board to work.

That's when my next mistake appeared.  When trying to plane the mitre I could not get a perfect 45 degree joint.  I would run the plane on the mitre and it made a nice cut.  I put the two pieces together which did not result in a tight joint.  I continued to repeat this process getting the same result.  As much as I tried to get a straight mitre, and as much as I checked and rechecked the trueness of the shooting board I could not get the damn thing right!  Then I realized that I had created a compound mitre by tapering the molding before making the mitres.   The molding sat on the shooting board at a non 45 degree angle causing the problem.  I am sure there are a number of  people saying “no kidding” or some variation…  I should have waited until the molding was attached to the box then used the plane to taper. Once again a time consuming mistake but lesson learned.  And once again, it wasn't the tools.

I got cast iron handles from Lee Valley that came with wood screws. I was concerned that the weight of the cabinet full of planes could be too much for the screws.  I consulted Chris who said "since they are not my planes...Go for it!" I chose instead to use brass machine bolts with nuts and washers.

Oh, one last thing. The raised panel moved inside the lid frame. To solve this issue, I shot a brad into the center bottom area of the inside side of the lid, stopping this movement. I put a coat of oil onto the walnut then took 600 grit sandpaper and sanded a second coat of oil into the walnut. This leaves a touch-ably smooth surface.  When the oil is completely dry I will add two coats of varnish.













-John
Friday, July 18, 2008 9:21:56 PM (Eastern Standard Time, UTC-05:00) #    Comments [7]  | 

 

Saturday, July 19, 2008 6:46:33 AM (Eastern Standard Time, UTC-05:00)

John,

It turned out great. Thanks for sharing.

Steve

Steve Spear
Saturday, July 19, 2008 9:36:43 AM (Eastern Standard Time, UTC-05:00)
Thanks Steve,

Did you see the pins on the top of the box? You can tell they are hand cut since the sides of the pin has differen angles. Oops! Can't make that kind of mistake with a machine!

Regards
John
Saturday, July 19, 2008 9:38:14 AM (Eastern Standard Time, UTC-05:00)
Very nice result, though I think you may find that you've made one, bigger mistake that all of us have made when hand-making a tool box or cabinet. You didn't make it big enough! I can almost guarantee that if you keep your interest in hand-tool woodworking, those will not be the last planes you aquire - ALWAYS make a tool cabinet with a couple of extra slots....
David
Saturday, July 19, 2008 2:28:34 PM (Eastern Standard Time, UTC-05:00)
Nice looking cabinet I really like the dovetails. I think with my growing collection of planes I need to build me some sort of cabinet, since my wife mentioned yesterday that my planes are taking over the living room.
Joey
http://sleepydogwoodworking.blogspot.com/
Monday, July 21, 2008 10:49:01 AM (Eastern Standard Time, UTC-05:00)
Is that attached to a wall or am I seeing it wrong? If it's on the wall, what keeps the planes from falling out?
John
Monday, July 21, 2008 2:17:42 PM (Eastern Standard Time, UTC-05:00)
It is indeed! I used a French Cleat. I attached the back of the box in a manner that left a 3/4 space on all four sides. I cut a piece of 3/4 think oak and fit it into that space. I then cut the oak down the middle at a 45% bevel and attached one piece to the wall and one to the box. This way I can lift the cabinet off (empty of planes) and take it with me!

Hope I am not confusing...it is Monday.

Regards
John
Monday, August 04, 2008 12:41:14 PM (Eastern Standard Time, UTC-05:00)
John,

Hey, nice work. There is nothing like finishing a project because no matter how it looks to others or ourselves, if we are honest about the mistakes that we made (even if we are the only ones who know where they are)then we have a chance to improve our skills when we build the next project.

Take care,

Michael
Michael Rogen
Comments are closed.
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Jeff Skiver is a hi-flipping-larious woodworker. If your humor trends to the darker side, you'll like Jeff.
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