Category: The Anarchist’s Tool Chest

Though some books decry the act, the archaeological record is clear: Woodworkers used their tool chests as sawbenches.

Many tool chests I’ve examined have edges that have been scarred by saw teeth. And as a woodworker, I’ve also felt the urge to saw upon the lid of my tool chest. OK, confession time: I’ve done it.

The only real problem with using your chest as a sawbench comes if your lid has a traditional raised-panel lid, such as the one on my current tool chest. The problem is that the raised field of the panel leaves some portion of your work unsupported, hanging out and vibrating like crazy when you saw.

The solution, according to Australian woodworker Phil Spencer, is the “Spratling Bead.”

This feature, named after Spencer’s grandfather, Lindsay Spratling, adds a raised bead between the lid and the dust seal that helps support work when you saw it on top of the chest. It also will help support work when you clamp it on top of the chest – something I do all the time.

Spratling was a carpenter and later a woodwork teacher at the former Caulfield Tech in Melbourne.

“I remember when he had his apprentices building their tool boxes he would have them incorporate two raised hardwood strips into the lids running along the edges of the lid,” Spencer wrote in an e-mail. “The idea of the strips was to sit proud of the raised panel and gave the owner something solid to rest a plank on so it could be cut, if the plank was rested on the raised panel it would usually rock.”

I must admit that the Spratling beads are quite clever. And if you think you might saw anything on the top of your tool chest, they would make an excellent addition.

— Christopher Schwarz

Most of the historical sources I have in my library say that joiners should dovetail the corners of their tool chests. In my heart, I agree. But in reality, the archaeological record paints a different picture.

There are lots of dovetailed tool chests out there – I see them all the time. But I also see lots of chests that violate all the joinery rules of traditional tool chests, and yet they are still together after decades of abuse.

Many tool chests are simply nailed together – I own a few of these myself. They don’t look as tidy as a dovetailed chest, but they can last a long time – especially if the joints are tight and the skirts around the chest are made well and tightly nailed.

If you are unsure about your dovetailing skills, my first reaction is to tell you to get over it and give dovetails a try – the joint’s difficulty is usually all in your head. But if you aren’t willing to cut dovetails, then consider joining your chest using rabbets and cut nails. Or dowels, screws, Dominoes or biscuits.

What about the materials for your tool chest? I recommend lightweight pine. But what if you don’t have access to clear pine? Or you don’t have the tools (or skills) to glue up the panels required for your tool chest? You know what else is lightweight and strong? Plywood. Don’t like plywood? Buy ready-made pine panels from the home center. These are as ugly as snot because of all the little bits of finger-jointed boards, but a couple coats of paint will make the panels look world-class. They usually come in 24” widths, so you will have a head start on the construction process.

Can’t make a bottom of shiplapped boards? Consider a nailed-on plywood bottom.

Don’t want to dovetail the skirts and dust seal around the carcase? Use simple miters instead – just make sure to spline or nail them to give them extra strength.

How about the chest’s top? What if you don’t have the tools or skills to make a frame-and-panel top? Again, plywood can be your friend – or use one of the ready-made pine panels and apply a smaller panel on the top to make it look like a frame-and-panel top. This applied “raised panel” is not just decoration – it adds thickness and strength.

How about those sliding trays inside? Nail them together if you cannot use dovetails. Just be smart about it – angle the nails like the slope of dovetail joints and nail through the ends of the trays and into the fronts to add strength.

There are lots of other shortcuts you can take. Use strap hinges or a piano hinge, which are easier to install. Use an external hasp instead of a half-mortise lock. Reinforce the corners of your chest with iron or steel plates – I see those all the time on old chests. These can look very cool.

In other words, disobey me.

In “The Anarchist’s Tool Chest” I made a case for using the best joinery, materials and hardware available to build your chest. For some woodworkers, that might not be dovetails, clear Eastern white pine and Horton brasses. It might be nails, plywood and Hillman fasteners. So be it. Do the best job that you can with the skills that you have, and you’ll do fine.

You might want to upgrade your tool chest in 10 years once you have the skills to dovetail Jell-O. Or perhaps your chest will be sturdy and meet all your needs. Either way, you win.

— Christopher Schwarz

P.S. The photos in this post are of a chest made by Mike Russo, who had to put one together in a weekend for an upcoming move. Thanks Mike for the inspiring work.

This post has nothing to do with woodworking. But it has everything to do with the way that I approach life. So if you are one of the people who appreciated “The Anarchist’s Tool Chest,” read on. Otherwise, there’s nothing to see here.

I don’t buy a lot of stuff. Basically, I wear stuff until it falls off of me or breaks. I still have sweatshirts, jackets and vests from high school – and I graduated in 1986. So durability is important to me. Here are some of the things I really like.

Pointer Jeans: I wear blue jeans every day. I hope to be buried in them. While there are lots of stupidly expensive domestic blue jeans out there, you can’t beat Pointer jeans. This company is almost 100 years old, operates out of Tennessee and produces outstanding jeans at the same price as the imported stuff.

I have their slim cut jeans and carpenter’s jeans. Awesome stuff. Fits great. Looks great. Wears like iron.

Red Wing shoes: You can still get good shoes that are made in the United States and are designed for real work. I have a pair of Red Wing boots that are simply awesome. The Maine company has a less-expensive Chinese line of shoes, but those don’t interest me.

American Apparel: For me, this is the Lie-Nielsen of the T-shirt world. This California company defies every stereotypical business model and produces fantastic clothing at reasonable prices. Half of my clothing – T-shirts, sweatshirts, underwear – is American Apparel. We have a retail store here in Cincinnati, and it amuses me greatly to shop there. All the employees and customers are college hipsters, except me. I don’t care. It’s comfortable, made well and well-priced.

Orient watches: Confession time. I’m a watch whore. I love mechanical watches, as opposed to the quartz battery-powered stuff. I have some old 1960s-era Hamilton watches that I love, but nothing – nothing – beats an Orient watch. These Japanese-made mechanical watches are durable, priced well and beat the pants off all the European stuff. I think they are better than the Swiss movements. Orient has a long history of making mechanical movements, and the company weathered the quartz movement while other makers shuttered their doors or switched to making digital crap.

Saddleback Leather: Pretty much everything I want in a commercial good is embodied by the Saddleback Leather company. This family-run operation makes incredible leather goods of the highest quality and at reasonable prices. My wallet, shoulder bag, laptop case and suitcase are all Saddleback. They know how to make stuff. They know how to treat customers. Enough said.

— Christopher Schwarz

Just because I prefer to use hand tools doesn’t mean I don’t like high technology. The Internet is one of the most decentralized ways to communicate outside the corporate channels.

So Robert Justiana’s version of “The Anarchist’s Tool Chest” is pretty cool in my book. It looks pretty standard from the outside, but when you open the lid….

I’ll let Robert tell the story instead.

“I was pleased to be invited to submit pictures of my Anarchist’s Tool Chest, but needed to include a short (?) letter.

“First, I would like to thank (Lost Art Press) all for the work you are doing to preserve our craft.  A special thanks to Christopher for writing the book, which has had what is best described as a profound effect on me.

“When posting that I was on my third reading of “The Anarchist’s Tool Chest,” I was not exaggerating. My first read was educational and eye-opening. The book gave voice to the way I felt about both modern woodworking and our disposable, consumer society. Moreover, by the time I had finished it, I was determined to build the chest and change the way I work with wood. Before that, I would not have even considered building a project of this scope with mostly hand tools.

“I began working with wood about 25 years ago, but always lusted more for Norm’s arsenal of machines than for Roy’s collection of vintage tools. Until starting my chest, my experience with hand-cut dovetails ranged from terrifying to miserable. Now I actually enjoy them, finding reasons to cut more and trying to make each successive one fit better than the last.

“The second reading of the book was my guide while building the chest, and the third (and ongoing) is as I sell off my extraneous tools and round out the contents of my chest.

“Finally, I must confess one tiny bit of heresy. I was so inspired by your blog entries about painted and decorated chests, and by Peter Follansbee’s carvings that I wanted to embellish my chest.  As a nod to my other skill set and to the limits of my carving, I used my small C.N.C. to carve the inside of my lid panel and to pay tribute to the book that inspired me.  Thank you again.”

— Robert Justiana