Above is the full video of our Q&A about Dutch tool chests. WARNING: I made a couple double-entendres during Megan’s demo portion of the video. Apologies – I thought this was Chest Chat™.
– Christopher Schwarz
Category: Dutch Tool Chests
Tool Chest Livestream this Saturday
If you have questions, concerns or declarations to make about the Dutch tool chest, read on.
We have upgraded our video and audio equipment during the last six months and are ready to attempt another livestream. The host will be our own Megan Fitzpatrick. The topic will be “Dutch Tool Chests: Design, Construction & Use.”
The livestream will begin at 3 p.m. Saturday (Oct. 30) and go for about an hour. We are on Eastern time here in Covington, Ky. On Saturday, I will post an entry here where the livestream will be broadcast. You can also go here to watch it: https://vimeo.com/638790876.
If you can’t tune in live, we will post the video here on the blog so you can watch the question-and-answer session.
To submit a question for Megan, send her an email at fitz@lostartpress.com before 5 p.m. Friday. We’ll pick the best questions and provide the answers on the livestream. We’ll also have two or three Dutch chests here in the shop to use as props.
I hope you can join us, and I also hope we can get Bean the three-legged shop cat to make an appearance (he almost has enough screen time for a SAG card).
— Christopher Schwarz
Oct. Woodworking Classes in Beautiful Central Kentucky
If you’ve a hankering to get back in the woodworking classroom – and in as safe a manner as possible – there are a couple openings in two upcoming three-day classes at the Pine Croft School of Woodworking (located in the sylvan setting of Kelly Mehler’s former school in Berea, Ky.).
Aspen Golann is teaching Introduction to Carving – Traditional Techniques & Contemporary Applications, October 8-10, and I am teaching the Dutch Tool Chest, October 15-17.
The Pine Croft school is run by Berea College, which has strict Covid protocols in place. Everyone – instructors and staff included – must show a vaccine card, and masks will be required at all times while inside. (I taught a week-long class recently that had lots of physical activity – several students and I had masks on the entire time, and we had zero issues planing, sawing or chopping.) Also, the shop has lots of lovely, large windows that look out onto rolling hills – I imagine in October we’ll be able to have those wide open. (I, for one, am gasping for cooler weather.)
And if you do come, consider taking an extra day or two to visit Shaker Village of Pleasant Hill, just down the road. It’s what Chris calls “Decompression Village,” and what I call the site of more than a few tantrums when I was a little kid – we went there a lot. These days, I’m delighted by every trip there; I’ll certainly be stopping by while I’m in the neighborhood.
— Fitz
Update: Dutch Tool Chest Book
On Saturday, I sprayed two coats of lacquer on a small Dutch tool chest and its lower chest, then reinstalled the hardware. With that, I am done with the building and picture-taking thereof…I think.
I have a table of contents with chapters that cover the order of operations, and image folders tagged to each of those chapters. The images within each folder serve as a visual outline of what I need to cover in the text, and many of my pictures are simply visual notes – reminders of what I want to write – that won’t make it into the book.
By the end, I’ll have taught readers how to build two sizes of Dutch tools chest (with a choice of three lids), plus a lower chest on which to rest the small one (or the large one, if you’re tall), to make it easy to access the tools (as well as hold more). I’m offering several approaches to each operation when practical, so that no matter what the tool kit or skill set, readers should be able to find a method that appeals.
I’ve outfitted the interiors of both chests to hold chisels, marking knives and other pointy tools on the back wall. One has a saw till on the chest floor, the other has it behind the hanging rack. Both chests have cubbies for a jointer, jack and smooth plane (and suggestions for ways to tuck a block plane on the wall).
But as I wrote months ago, I’ve seen many clever modifications, drawers, racks, lift-out tills and more in similar chests over the years. And because I can’t possibly construct every possibility myself, I plan to feature some of those in a gallery (with credit, of course!) in the book. Many of you who’ve already built Dutch tool chests responded to my initial request for pictures, and I’ll be in touch with you soon (and thanks again!).
But I’d love to have more photos for the book. I’m looking for clever solutions to storing tools – digital images that are at least 300 dpi at 5×7. (Chris has a helpful post on photography here.) In short, I need in-focus pictures that show the relevant features without clutter or visual distractions. I realize not everyone can shoot these kinds of photos, so if quick phone snaps* are the best you can do, I’ll feature some of those in blog posts when the book comes out, which I hope is before the winter holidays. The deadline for photos is June 30, to fitz@lostartpress.com.
I’ll have this book written, designed and to my editor (that would be Chris) by July 30. So I’m signing off now to start writing far too many words, then excising as many adverbs and gerunds as possible.
— Fitz
* Note: If you have a late-model phone, it might be able to take pictures of a quality suitable for print.
Dutch Tool Chest Forged Hardware Kit
Orion Henderson at Horton Brasses was kind enough to work with me on a custom, blacksmith-forged hardware kit for the Dutch tool chest, which includes two strap hinges, two chest lifts and a hasp. And because this iron is so gorgeous, I asked him to reverse the barrel on the hinges so that they attach to the exterior – if you’re using handmade hardware, might as well show it off. (Bonus: no hinge mortises to cut.)
All the pieces feature a “bean” motif; it appears on the end of the long hinge leaf, in the shape of the lifts’ backplates and on the top leaf of the hasp on the underside of the lid.
The lifts come with square-head bolts (and matching washers and nuts) to fit 3/4″-thick material so that you can attach them through the sides, and safely use the lifts to actually lift the chest.
The full kit is $491.09, which is 25 percent less than were you to buy the pieces individually. (You can also pick only the hardware pieces you want, of course, though at no discount). Are there less expensive options? Of course – and I’ll give you lots of those in my forthcoming book on the Dutch tool chest. But I don’t think you’ll find a better price on blacksmith made, hand-forged hardware. And gosh does it look nice!
p.s. If you’re interested in buying this chest, drop me an email.