Narayan Nayar has revived his long-slumbering blog, etherfarm.com. Narayan is a frequent contributor to Lost Art Press products – he’s photographing the H.O. Studley chest, he created the chapter-opening photos for “The Anarchist’s Tool Chest” and has helped me gain 10 pounds.
Narayan’s blog will surely cover woodworking, food and photography. So if you like any of those things, check it out.
— Christopher Schwarz
Yesterday I put the finishing touches on my traveling Dutch tool chest: strap hinges and a hasp made by John Switzer of Black Bear Forge.
Of course, the metalwork looks fantastic and correct on this old-style piece. But beyond the outward appearance, these hinges reminded me of why it’s always nice to work with a blacksmith on a furniture project.
First, I was able to get straps and a hasp that were perfectly scaled to the piece. I couldn’t find manufactured straps that had leaves where both were the lengths I wanted.
Also, Switzer was able to make the hinges and hasp so they worked perfectly with my lid, which is at a 30° slope. The hasp comes down at 30° and stops just where it should. The hinges lift up just past 90° and stop – I don’t need a chain or leather strap to prevent the lid from flipping back.
Switzer also supplies slot-head screws that are exactly the same color as the hardware. So installing all the hardware on this chest took about 30 minutes – instead of a whole day of stripping, cleaning, grinding, filing and tweaking to get commercial stuff to fit and suit my (admittedly) picky tastes.
And the price was fair for this level of work – $260 delivered for the two hinges and hasp.
Having this chest complete is a huge relief – I drive to Highland Hardware in Atlanta on Thursday for the Lie-Nielsen Hand Tool Event and to teach a one-day class. If you’re in the area, come by and check out the chest and hardware – plus I’ll bring my Milkman’s Workbench.
And if you need some custom iron hardware, I can highly recommend Switzer. I’ll be knocking on his digital door again real soon.
— Christopher Schwarz
P.S. Before I forget: This Dutch chest – fully loaded – tips the scales at 98 pounds, or about 44-1/2 kilograms for our metric friends.
I finished painting my downsized Dutch chest last night (yes, this one fits in my car thanks for asking), filled it up with tools and started work with it today.
As you can see I made some small changes to the interior. And I have one more thing I might add, if I can hold my nose hard enough. More on that in a moment.
Some changes:
1. Low-profile iron chest lifts instead of mahogany handles. The mahogany handles (and casters) are what got me in trouble in the first place. These iron lifts are new old stock (NOS) iron handles off eBay – $5 each. They are bolted through the case to make them stronger.
2. Leather accessories. My shop assistant, Ty Black, sewed up some pockets for my block plane and marking tools. These were made from scraps from our Roorkhee chair adventure. (If you would like to hire Ty to make you anything except bondage apparel, send him an e-mail at ty.black@gmail.com.)
3. Slightly different dividers for the handplanes, and a smaller holder thingy for the backsaws.
4. A more capacious (Megan word) tool rack. The 1/2”-diameter holes are now on 1-1/8” centers instead of 1-1/2” centers. It makes a huge difference.
The biggest change is there is only one compartment behind the removable front. Surprisingly, I can get the same amount of tools in this smaller chest thanks to some nip and tuck action.
Finally, I left just enough space at the top of this lower compartment to put… a … (gags a bit) drawer.
Or, as I like to call it, a shallow sliding tray. This will be to hold all the flipping drill bits I have to travel with to build benches and furniture. I really dislike drawers on principle because I tend to fill them with random junk so I can hide it away. But several original Dutch chests feature a drawer in this position and so I am (probably) going to try one.
Anyway, if you want to see this chest and the miniature bench I just finished, be sure to stop by Highland Hardware in Atlanta next weekend. I’ll be there for the free Lie-Nielsen Hand Tool Event and then teaching a class next Sunday on building wooden layout tools.
Details are here.
— Christopher Schwarz
When measuring my car and drawing up the plans for my first Dutch chest, I forgot two things: the handles and the caster assembly.
Which means, as you probably can guess, that the chest does not fit in my car.
After considering all the options – remake the handles, saw the chest in two like a lady at a magic show, going to Home Depot and buying tool bags – I concluded it would be faster (and more fun) to build a smaller Dutch chest.
This one is a mix between the first chest, some other historical examples and one that Roy Underhill owns that I examined last year (read about that chest here).
I also took the opportunity to try some different things in this chest.
1. The top has clamps (breadboard ends). I did this – instead of battens – to make a sawtill that was lower in profile.
2. The removable front panel has battens that extend beyond the bottom edge of the panel. These allow me to use a simpler locking mechanism (more on this later).
3. I used wrought nails from blacksmith Peter Ross. My one-word review: Dang.
Anyway, I’m going to paint this sucker today and will talk more about it in a bit.
— Christopher Schwarz
P.S. Also, I’m going to build a lower unit for this chest – a la campaign furniture – after a suggestion from a reader.
It turns out that the Dutch Tool Chest I recently finished is a little larger than I needed.
Fully loaded with the tools I take on the road, it still had room for more. And it weighs only 116 pounds. That’s easy for two people to lift, and it is something I can lift with only a grunt or two.
The chest can also take a hard knock – the fully loaded chest tool a spill off the sawhorses today during weigh-in. The tools and chest took the hit with a lot of grace (yay, ductile iron!).
The top bin of the chest is where I’m sure most of you will be looking. The bench planes are separated by 3/8”-thick dividers. The till for the backsaws creates three compartments at the rear of the top bin. The left compartment is for tools you need all the time (pencils, knives, mallet etc.). The other two bins are for tools that might not see action every few minutes (feather files, dovetail markers, extra small drill bits etc.).
On the two shelves below are the rest of the tools – all the moulders and joinery planes, augers, hammer, carving tools, rasps, hand drill, brace and so forth. The delicate tools are protected by tool rolls. The other tools are cushioned by the tool rolls.
I’d rather have every tool have a discrete spot – wouldn’t we all? – but I know that the open architecture will be to my advantage until… whenever.
Also worth noting: Ty Black (my shop assistant) sewed up a canvas cover for the chest. I got that idea from my research into campaign furniture – chests would often have a fitted canvas cover. My cover is designed to protect both the chest and my car from damage.
The hinges are from Lee Valley and are temporary – I’ll replace them when some blacksmith-made ones arrive. I had to install these so the chest could make a trip to Columbus on Saturday morning to talk to the central Ohio woodworkers’ club. If you want to see the chest in person and are a member of the club, please stop by. I’ll have a special guest with me (it’s not Ty – he already has an obligation that day).
— Christopher Schwarz