It seems advisable to make clear at the outset the fact that this is not a book telling how to transform some object that is no longer wanted into some other object that has even less excuse for existence. In its pages will be found no formula or design for making a goldfish tank out of an orange crate, or a Turkish tabouret out of a sardine tin and two broomsticks. What it does attempt is to bring back something of the self-reliant craftsman of early America, when a man’s chief pride and satisfaction lay in his ability to practice any or all of the common crafts.
— Henry H. Saylor, “Tinkering with Tools” (1924, Little, Brown & Co.)
The thing that stinks about studying lots of chests is that you want to try out a lot of different interior arrangements and details. And so you build more chests (see also: bench-building syndrome).
On the traveling chest I’m working on this week I’ve been trying out some details that I’ve gathered in my notebook while doing research for “The Anarchist’s Tool Chest.” On both the lower skirt and upper skirt I’ve added a 5/8” x 1” bevel, which reduces the visual bulk of the skirts.
At first I thought the lower skirt was too wide, and that’s one of the things that stalled me on this project. I kept looking at it and thinking: Ugh, how am I going to fix that or take it off?
With the addition of the bevels, I’m happy.
Other details I’m considering:
1. Binding the edges of the top with 1/16” x 3/4” iron plate that is attached with screws. I’ve seen many old chests bound in iron. It looks cool and it protects the corners. This chest is going to get messed with on the road.
2. Store some backsaws on the lid. I have a sawtill on the English-style chest I built in the 1990s, which I don’t like. It eats saw totes for breakfast. This till will prevent the saws from scooting left and right and into the hungry jaws of the lid.
3. A tool rack on the inside of the front wall.
4. Iron chest lifts (I have a pair of lifts around here somewhere).
5. Mahogany fronts on the tills. I probably won’t do this, but I have so much mahogany sitting around from my campaign furniture projects that it is tempting.
6. A hinged lid on the chest’s top till. Again, I probably won’t do this, but it is a fairly common feature on old chests.
7. Some veneering on the top edge of the case. Some chests have this feature. I might do this, again, because I have a lot of thin mahogany stacked up in the shop.
For the last six months, an unfinished version of the Traveling Anarchist’s Tool Chest (download a free SketchUp drawing here) has been sitting in the corner of my shop – mocking me.
No more.
Today I dragged its sorry carcase to the bench and fixed its plinth, which has been bugging me since the day I glued it on. The bevel on the plinth was 1/2” x 1/2”, and it just looked wrong. Too abrupt. Too router bit-y.
So I changed the slope to a 5/8”-wide x 1”-tall bevel, and what a huge visual difference it made. So I cleaned up the rest of the plinth and am headed back to the shop to work on the upper skirt.
Typically, we don’t accept a shipment of books at Lost Art Press unless there is a tornado in the area – or at least a thunderstorm or torrential rain.
But this morning a truck dropped off the fourth printing of “The Anarchist’s Tool Chest” in my driveway. The sun is shining. My tarps are all put away. My insides are unsettled.
We have now printed 12,000 copies of “The Anarchist’s Tool Chest,” and – thanks to our customers – this book has made quitting my job at Popular Woodworking Magazine an easy transition. So thank you.
We should be getting our shipment of “Mouldings in Practice” next Monday. The forecast shows only a 10 percent chance of rain. Weird.
A quick reminder: Free shipping for “Mouldings in Practice” ends at midnight Wednesday. So if you want to save $6, order before then.
