Our new coffee table is complete and ready for the living room. No, no, I’m serious.
Because we don’t have a scrap of space in the house (this is said in the shadow of a mountain of “Mouldings in Practice” books in the sunroom), this traveling tool chest is going to become the coffee table in the front room of our house, where I do most of my writing.
When I leave town to teach, I’ll roll the chest to the shop, fill it with tools and head out.
It sounds like a great plan, except I have to come up with something to do with the sea chest that my feet are propped on now.
Yesterday I applied three coats of General’s “Coastal Blue” milk paint to the chest and installed all the hardware. The two sliding tills are complete. Now I just need to make the saw keepers for the lid and add a couple racks for chisels, drivers and dividers.
Those can come a little later. I’ve got to finish up a couple more urgent projects, including getting some coffee in my gullet.
— Christopher Schwarz
I’m digging the blue…
You need to be careful leaving it in the living room Chris, I did that with a box I made for my chainsaw and Mrs Phil filled it with blankets, love the blue by the way.
Chris,
I have several pieces from Peter and they are all amazing, but THIS, well I may have to get one and build a chest to show it off.
Very cool chest as well.
Michael
Chris looks like the crab lock limits how far the tray can slide. On my chest the ring pulls limited how far over the trays could go, and reduced access to my planes on the bottom.
Kevin,
The tool racks will be to either side of the lock. So the trays wouldn’t go there anyway. Plus, there are only two trays. So there is plenty of room in the chest to get at everything in the trays and racks simultaneously.
After having built one of these myself and living with it for a while I’ve come to the conclusion that the smaller version requires a few compromises when it comes to space/efficiency.
http://brownellfurniture.com/2012/02/13/completed-traveling-anarchists-tool-chest/
The sliding tills on mine were positioned higher on the sides and keeps the space at the bottom deep enough to store a L-N No. 7 upright. Neither upper or lower tills slide from front to back on the one I built, but it’s not particularly necessary. Anyone interested in checking it out, I’ll have it at WIA this year at the Gorilla Glue Booth. Always open to ideas on optimal tool storage in the TATC.
I opted not to place a lock on mine, but am considering some sort of handle. I’ll wait for Mr. Schwarz to discover some custom low-profile forged handle for the front of the lid that will work I suppose. 😉
Fan-flapjack-tastic. I love the color and the use of iron in this chest.
It looks great Chris. Nice job!
That is one seriously cool shipping crate.
Very nice. I too like the color and love the look of milk paint finished with oil and wax.
Nice! Looking forward to seeing pics of the saw keepers, chisel racks and the whole thing loaded with tools.
The best yet Chris. Love the blue, all the iron and I am glad you finally found a good home for those handles. This is almost identical in size to the one in my shop. I do not travel so what I cannot easily fit in the chest goes in the wall cabinet close by. I’m glad I filled it with tools before my wife read your coffee table comment !
I second this: The best yet, Chris. Your work is always nice, but this… dang, it’s nice.
Handsome, and great timing (in more ways than one).
That lock is hot.
That is an amazing project and I really need to try the blue and iron look on a project soon! I think this is a project I need to make time for 2 one for the wife and linens and one for a toolbox.
Really great job Chris, and love the crab lock from Peter.
Just for a change of pace, here’s a link to the tool chest of Adam Savage, of Mythbusters fame:
http://www.wired.com/design/2012/08/inside-adam-savages-toolbox/
first order retrieveability is a concept worth further exploration with regards to tool storage. Just don’t define it with pegboard.
Scissors lifts would be cool.
So you are the designer for pottery barn. I thought their coffee table on page 45 of the latest catalogue looked familiar(carpenter’s tool chest with iron banding) It went nicely with the english style slant leg work bench desk (complete with leg vise) they had on page 56.
AFR
OK … That’s a little scary.
Hey Chris,
Fantastic job on the chest! I too am a fan of General Finishes milk paint. I recently used the Basil Green on a Benchcrafted designed Shaker bench for a customer in Houston. I finished it off with a coat of light brown wax. Looked fantastic. You will be seeing a video of this bench soon.
Jon Fiant
Christopher, what most I like in this chest are the wheels: they are not only aesthetically beautiful, but they are also historically correct. Even the idea of using a surface lock is brilliant: in this way it does not take space inside and is not an impediment when you move your hands inside. But the icing on the cake are the 3 coats of paint that totally cover the natural beauty of the wood. Next time why do not you use automotive gas cylinder to hold the lid open? Best regards, Andrea
Auguste,
You are going too easy on me. Casters, paint and the lock are all well-established and traditional details on chests in North America.
If you really wanted to give me a hard time, you would have pointed out how I didn’t mortise in the plates for the chest lifts. Lazy American. And I didn’t bend the metal brackets at the corners of the chest – I just filed them. Again, lazy American syndrome. I neglected to paint the rear seal (already pointed out by the gentleman in Denmark). And I used zinc-coated screws to install the lock. I also deserve grief for using mahogany on the inside of the chest (not very anarchistic of me), and pulls from Lee Valley that were made in Italy.
There also are a variety of small gaps at one corner and things you cannot see in the photos. Some obvious tear-out on the plinth on the front (from the guy who wrote “Handplane Essentials”). One of the bottom boards is coming loose because I used too big a pilot hole for the cut nails. And one of the screws in the lid’s right hinge is cross-threaded and won’t fricking tighten.
I could go on, but it’s past my bedtime.
***chuckle***
It’s comforting to know that all the little imperfections and gremlins that plague my work (and most other people’s, I suspect) afflict yours too. We’re all human, after all.
That said, the chest looks like it will transport and protect a kit of tools very effectively; which was, after all, the main purpose of the exercise.
Nice job Chris.
Shoudn’t the back near the hinges be painted as well?
Yes. Dammit. I did this on my black chest as well.
You could also try to fit a strip of leather about 1.5″ wide in the whole length. Tack it on with some small nails.
My theory is that it will help to keep the dust out. Afterall there is no real dust seal on the back. I have no idea if this is historically correct, but if you had a little left over from the Rorkhee chair, thenI think it would look good.
Brgds
Jonas
I painted my toolchest coastal blue as well. I was worried that the milk paint would bond to well to have the red show through over time. Well after two weeks I have noticed a few areas of red showing through and it looks great. Of course mine gets banged up since is in the studio and not a blanket chest in the house.
Love the color. But I would not be caught with my feet up on that one! Mom would box my ears.
How is General milk paint vs. Old Fashioned milk paint? I know Old Fashioned is shipped dry, but it appears that General’s paint is already pre-mixed. Is there a shelflife limitation with General?
You can’t put your feet under it and you can not install a glass top to protect from water marks. Are you single? 😉
David Mililani, Hi
Sent from my HTC smartphone on the Now Network from Sprint!
How about a Sketchup? Or, at least, what are the approximate dimensions?
D’oh – looked back a bit further – found the Sketchup. Nevermind!
Not to be critical (really, I do like it) – is it just me, or does the chest resemble a small casket? I’m just sayin….
I guess it could work as both. It reminds me of something I heard from Gary Rogowski, “When I die someday far in the future, you may touch my tools. If you wish to die today, then you may touch them now.”