# Tool Cabinet - FINISHED



## Waka

Up nice and early Monday and started the tool cabinet. First thing was to sort out some Indonesian Rosewood for the main frame.
Four nice big chunks should do to start with.







Having been supplied all the dimentions from Chris (Waterhead37) it was just a matter of slicing through on the table saw and doing the final trim on the PT

The styles are 2 3/4" X 2" with the base being 36" long and the top section 44" long. The top is slightly shorter than Chris's because I don't have the head room.

The 2 3/4" x 2" might seem a little chunky, but I can assure you it doesn't look out of proportion when you see the real thing.
The rails are 2 3/4" X 1 3/4", this allows for a 1/4" reveal on the outside, this is another thing that looks right on the real thing.





Spent today making out the styles for the mortises, then did the upper and lower side panels. Once the machine was set up it didn't really take all that long.






All in all a good days work.






Hopefully tomorrow I can size the upper and lower stretchers and get the mortises done for them. The plan for next week is to concentrate on the tenons.


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## wizer

Wow that rosewood looks lovely. Would it be rude to ask what is cost?


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## Paul Chapman

That wood looks very tasty, Waka - should be a very gloatworthy cabinet 8) 

Cheers :wink: 

Paul


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## shim20

crikey bet that rosewood wasent cheap :shock: and must have been hard to find that much? looking good


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## Waka

wizer":o0kvvxqd said:


> Wow that rosewood looks lovely. Would it be rude to ask what is cost?



The rosewood wasn't all that expensive. I was lucky (through Mahking) to meet a cabinet maker who was giving up work, therefore he wanted to get shot of his wood stock. He had approximately 8 cuft of the rosewood and I paid £300 for the lot, the nice thing was that he'd had it for 30 years and it still had the original prices on it.

When I bought it I had the tool cabinet in mind and I really think this is a fitting project for such beautiful wood.


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## Lord Nibbo

Waka I'm watching with interest, now if I recall correctly your design is based on Chris's now his is wall mounted from the length of the rosewood yours appears to be floor standing am I right? If so any chance of showing us some plans or dimension cos I want to do one :lol:


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## Mr Ed

Looking good Waka. I'm interested to watch this as one day when I have the time I'd like to do a similar cabinet.

Cheers, Ed

NB - nice stealth gloat on the Festool collection, although I suspect its appeared previously...


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## joiner_sim

The timber looks so good!


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## Waka

Lord Nibbo":2ac4cjni said:


> Waka I'm watching with interest, now if I recall correctly your design is based on Chris's now his is wall mounted from the length of the rosewood yours appears to be floor standing am I right? If so any chance of showing us some plans or dimension cos I want to do one :lol:



LN

Sorry to disappoint but Chris's is floor standing


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## Lord Nibbo

Waka":3smlb97u said:


> Lord Nibbo":3smlb97u said:
> 
> 
> 
> Waka I'm watching with interest, now if I recall correctly your design is based on Chris's now his is wall mounted from the length of the rosewood yours appears to be floor standing am I right? If so any chance of showing us some plans or dimension cos I want to do one :lol:
> 
> 
> 
> 
> LN
> 
> Sorry to disappoint but Chris's is floor standing
Click to expand...


Thats what I want but I want to put it on wheels :lol:


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## Corset

The big question is whether that will prove to big enough for all the tools in the future :wink:


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## Waka

Lord Nibbo":lvn0epst said:


> Waka":lvn0epst said:
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> Lord Nibbo":lvn0epst said:
> 
> 
> 
> Waka I'm watching with interest, now if I recall correctly your design is based on Chris's now his is wall mounted from the length of the rosewood yours appears to be floor standing am I right? If so any chance of showing us some plans or dimension cos I want to do one :lol:
> 
> 
> 
> 
> LN
> 
> Sorry to disappoint but Chris's is floor standing
> 
> Click to expand...
> 
> 
> Thats what I want but I want to put it on wheels :lol:
Click to expand...


Chris's is on wheels but I'm not to, sure I will do that because I have a dedicated location for it, but the option always remains.


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## Waka

Corset":105wue72 said:


> The big question is whether that will prove to big enough for all the tools in the future :wink:



I've thought of that and will build in additional drawer space.


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## Jake

Waka":unz76gja said:


> Corset":unz76gja said:
> 
> 
> 
> The big question is whether that will prove to big enough for all the tools in the future :wink:
> 
> 
> 
> 
> I've thought of that and will build it like the tardis.
Click to expand...


Clever stuff.

That rosewood is a major gloat - it's going to be stunning.


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## Racers

Hi,

Oooo, I bet your workshop smelled great, I love the smell of Rosewood in the morning :lol: 

Pete


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## lurker

Racers":s3gnmbza said:


> Hi,
> 
> Oooo, I bet your workshop smelled great, I love the smell of Rosewood in the morning :lol:
> 
> Pete



I would not like to be in your shoes when your wife finds out about this Rose Wood you are sniffing in the morning.


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## Waka

Rosewood and and good bottle of red is the perfect combination :wink:


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## Ironballs

That pile of rosewood must have cost as much as one of your planes


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## BradNaylor

Never mind the tools, I'd be making a cabinet for these babies:








Seriously nice wood, Waka. 

I'd have snapped it up and then waited for someone to commission a piece in rosewood.

Then, when I was retiring in around 2035, I'd be flogging it to some bloke who wanted to make a tool cabinet! 

:lol: 

Dan


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## Waka

Another good day in the workshop and some significant progress made. I mentioned in the last post that I wouldn't start the tenon's until next week, well I thought I'd do them today so I could dry fit the side panels, thereby giving myself a better idea of the stretcher sizes and length.

I adjusted the SCMS to give me the required depth, this way I could ensure of a nice clean cut on the cheeks of the tenon. 
Notice I have made a very crude jig and clamped it to the SCMS, this ensure that the tenons are all the same length.

I have to say that the set up of both machines probably took longer than doing the actual job.






Same sort of set up with the Delta tenoning jig, I've had this jig for a couple of years and never actually used it, nice piece of kit






Same here for the side cheeks.












Always a telling time when you come to do the first dry fit, wondering if you've got it spot on. I always tend to make the tenon a tad bigger that the mortise, then resize by hand, this ensures a nice snug fit.






Both side panels are in the dry fit state, so the next job will be to make the stretchers.


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## Chris Knight

Looking good!


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## wizer

Indeed, I just love that Rosewood.


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## Mattty

That rosewood is looooooovely. Nice work sir!


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## mailee

WhoooHoo! Your workshop looks like an advert for Festool Waka. :lol: I do like that Rosewood one of my favourites. Project is looking really nice keep the pics coming.


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## joiner_sim

Looking good, and I must add, you do exactly the same as me. Once a joint is right it's labelled up so that it fits exactly the same come the glue up time!


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## Waka

joiner_sim":g6k1zziw said:


> Looking good, and I must add, you do exactly the same as me. Once a joint is right it's labelled up so that it fits exactly the same come the glue up time!



I've made the mistake in the past where I've not marked them up and got into all sorts of difficulty. As this final fitting together is going to be like a jigsaw puzzles its essential, yo mark everything.


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## Ironballs

Coming along nicely, some suitable inspiration for getting off my buttocks and spending all day in the garage


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## Lord Nibbo

Waka":onxcdamn said:


> joiner_sim":onxcdamn said:
> 
> 
> 
> Looking good, and I must add, you do exactly the same as me. Once a joint is right it's labelled up so that it fits exactly the same come the glue up time!
> 
> 
> 
> 
> I've made the mistake in the past where I've not marked them up and got into all sorts of difficulty. As this final fitting together is going to be like a jigsaw puzzles its essential, yo mark everything.
Click to expand...


Although I've used numbers in the past I found you can run out of numbers :lol: I found it easier just to run a line or maybe several lines through the work piece then if the several lines don't line up it's not the correct pieces for any one joint.

In this piece the marks were put on as soon after it was planed up and matched for best faces to show, then the slot was cut and the two pieces glued back together using my marks to align them.






Sorry for this big pic but you can't see the marks on a small pic





I'm looking forward to how your going to position your tools within the cabinet such as *those planes* :lol: are any of your chisels going in it? if so I'm waiting to see that as well


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## Waka

LN

I'm planning to put all my hand tools in the cabinet. The plan is instead of having cupboards underneath I will have graduated drawers, these will take the bigger plans. Small plans and the odd chisel will be in the upper cabinet which will have drawers behind doors.
I'm trying to design the size so that I have some vacant space for further hand tool purchases.

Watch this space as I hope I can show a couple of Birdseye Maple panels sometime this week.


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## Imperial

Waka, do you have more of the Rosewood? as it seems a shame to make a tool cabinet from it, even though it'll be a beautiful one? I know 2 guys who made items from it recently and the colour was amazing( and the smell) the got it with tenons already made on it, think to get round import problems.


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## Waka

Bloonose

I do have a nice little stash and to be honest I could think of nothing more fitting than to make a top quality tool cabinet from it.
Not sure how easy it is to get now, or where to get it, also I wouldn't like to pay the price.


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## Imperial

I'd be glad to take some off your hands if you have no further ideas for uses :twisted: Looking forward to seeing the finished item :wink:


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## woodbloke

Waka":ejfe2qc0 said:


> joiner_sim":ejfe2qc0 said:
> 
> 
> 
> Looking good, and I must add, you do exactly the same as me. Once a joint is right it's labelled up so that it fits exactly the same come the glue up time!
> 
> 
> 
> 
> I've made the mistake in the past where I've not marked them up and got into all sorts of difficulty. As this final fitting together is going to be like a jigsaw puzzles its essential, yo mark everything.
Click to expand...


The foolproof way to mark joints is to use a 3 or 6mm chisel to deeply mark the joints in Roman numerals, so the tenon is marked for one half of the joint and the mortise shoulder (in a smaller chisel) is marked for the other half...just remember that 'nine' is IX not VIIII  - Rob


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## Waka

It seems like I've been doing M&T's forever, today I finally managed to do most of then all the styles, rails and stretchers have now been done. 

This shows one side of the upper and lower side.





At last I'm starting to make some constructive progress with a few of the birdseye maple panels.






I think this gives a better view of what its going to look like, I think it looks stunning.





Here I've just dry fitted one of the bottom side panels, didn't really get close enough to bring out the figuring, but you saw that in the previous pic.





And here are the two lower side dry fitted.





Tomorrow I'm going to start assembling the lower section and start thinking about the drawers.

Hope you enjoy.


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## Paul Chapman

Those panels look nice, Waka - should look lovely when it's finished.

Cheers :wink: 

Paul


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## wizer

Oooh that maple looks lovely. There is a finishing technique that the WoodWhisperer does on figured maple to pronounce the figured grain.

This is the link:
http://thewoodwhisperer.com/episode-32- ... the-maple/

I have considered doing it with black dye which would be very dramatic.


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## Chris Knight

It's going to be fabulous!


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## Waka

Wizer

That finishing technique looks really good, I'll certainly give it a try on the Mapel.


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## noddy67

Waka looking great. Can I ask you did you buy the maple panels already veneered or did you do it yourself? If so did you use a vacuum bag to do it?
Thanks


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## Waka

noddy67":1cqa6jlb said:


> Waka looking great. Can I ask you did you buy the maple panels already veneered or did you do it yourself? If so did you use a vacuum bag to do it?
> Thanks



Noddy

I have to confess that I had the panels made, I did this for two reasons, the first being that I didn't have the vacuum press, and my skills at veneering are zero.
The second being that after buying all the kit, then the substrate and birdseye veneer it probably would have worked out more costly than having it made professionally.

So there you have it, I've come clean on the panels, all the rest I am doing myself honestly.


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## noddy67

Very wise I would think. My farcical attempts at veneering have not gone according to plan at all. 

Can I ask you where you had them made up and roughly what they charge for doing it as this could well be an option I'll explore in the coming future?


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## Waka

Noddy PM sent


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## Mr Ed

Looking great so far Waka.

I am quite envious of having the time to work on this - with my current shoptime I'd be on it for years!

Cheers, Ed


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## paulm

Looking great Waka, inspirational stuff.

Cheers, Paul


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## devonwoody

No spare time left in your rtetirement I see Waka, the workshop extension was obviously worthwhile. 
Nice looking timber on this job to.


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## woodbloke

Waka wrote:


> I have to confess that I had the panels made, I did this for two reasons, the first being that I didn't have the vacuum press, and my skills at veneering are zero.



Seems to be coming along well Waka. I think in your shop there may not be space for a vacuum press unless you kept the bag and board on a vertical stand like wot I've got in my 'shop - Rob


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## wizer

Have you thought about security? I assume your workshop is already like Fort Knox with all those drool worthy tools. But might be an idea to add another 'layer', to delay more than anything. I realise that Mr Average-Burglar (posh robber) won't have the slightest clue the value of them but you never know.


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## Lord Nibbo

Talking alarms, I fitted one of these sets, I added two extra movement sensors in the workshop. By buying an alarm system I got a big reduction on my house insurance :lol:


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## Waka

wizer":17xefp6x said:


> Have you thought about security? I assume your workshop is already like Fort Knox with all those drool worthy tools. But might be an idea to add another 'layer', to delay more than anything. I realise that Mr Average-Burglar (posh robber) won't have the slightest clue the value of them but you never know.



Wizer

I've had my workshop alarmed for ages, its tied into the house alarm, it has been known for the window cleaner (that's when we could afford one) to set off the alarm. Second layer is the dog and the third layer HID's.


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## devonwoody

Lord Nibbo":lvyjnvu8 said:


> Talking alarms, I fitted one of these sets, I added two extra movement sensors in the workshop. By buying an alarm system I got a big reduction on my house insurance :lol:



Should do the trick if you are on the premises, but if the houselhold is out, nobody takes any notice anymore of alarms going off. Too many false alarms have spoilt the system.
The local police wont come out if you report an alarm going, they will ask you to go and inspect first: Cowards!!!


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## Waka

Seem to have spent most of the day in the workshop today, but don't seem to have made a great deal of progress.

First thing this morning was to dry fit the lower carcass, then it was a case of sitting down and working out how many drawers and the right depths.

In the end I decided on one full width drawer in the bottom, this will take the jointing planes, this will have an internal depth of 7 1/2 " just enough height for the planes to sit upright.

This is also true of the next two drawers, these will take the panel and smoothing planes.

I haven't yet decided whether to have all the small planes such as block planes in the nest four drawers or use them for something else. I'll probably use them for planes, that way all the planes are in the lower cabinet.

Here's just a view of the spacers between the drawers.







I've decided to use the push to open full extension drawer runners, that will save the need for handles.


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## Lord Nibbo

devonwoody":1guzs747 said:


> Should do the trick if you are on the premises, but if the houselhold is out, nobody takes any notice anymore of alarms going off. Too many false alarms have spoilt the system.
> The local police wont come out if you report an alarm going, they will ask you to go and inspect first: Cowards!!!


 
It will telephone three numbers in sequence until it's answered. The first is my mobile, the second choice is my nearest neighbour then third another neighbour, each one of which will have a quick look then ring Mr Plod.


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## Waka

Lord Nibbo":3v5plwq9 said:


> devonwoody":3v5plwq9 said:
> 
> 
> 
> Should do the trick if you are on the premises, but if the houselhold is out, nobody takes any notice anymore of alarms going off. Too many false alarms have spoilt the system.
> The local police wont come out if you report an alarm going, they will ask you to go and inspect first: Cowards!!!
> 
> 
> 
> 
> It will telephone three numbers in sequence until it's answered. The first is my mobile, the second choice is my nearest neighbour then third another neighbour, each one of which will have a quick look then ring Mr Plod.
Click to expand...


I've had my go off in the past, not for real but a fault, the neighbours contacted the police and they were there within 15 minutes, to me thats a good service and I certainly wouldn't call them cowards.


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## Benchwayze

devonwoody":2au31av4 said:


> Lord Nibbo":2au31av4 said:
> 
> 
> 
> Talking alarms, I fitted one of these sets, I added two extra movement sensors in the workshop. By buying an alarm system I got a big reduction on my house insurance :lol:
> 
> 
> 
> 
> Should do the trick if you are on the premises, but if the houselhold is out, nobody takes any notice anymore of alarms going off. Too many false alarms have spoilt the system.
> The local police wont come out if you report an alarm going, they will ask you to go and inspect first: Cowards!!!
Click to expand...


Movement sensor alarms can be set off by mice, cats, spiders, even dust being blown about on a blustery night. False alarms all and very frequent, even 20 years ago. 

Please don't refer to the Police Force anywhere as 'Cowards', not even in jest. They do a job that the majority of people wouldn't contemplate. They might not be like they used to be, but the fact remains, you might need them before they need you; unless you feel like becoming a Special Constable.


:x


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## joiner_sim

Looks like its coming along nicely :wink:


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## Chems

Looks great!

On a side note, where do you get those pencils from that I think our wax pencils?


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## Lord Nibbo

Chems":3166e4im said:


> Looks great!
> 
> On a side note, where do you get those pencils from that I think our wax pencils?



I get mine from Axminster Here


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## Waka

LN's got it they came from Axminster, very good for the dark woods.


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## Chems

Thanks, I've put a set in my basket for my next order.


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## Waka

Had a fairly quite day in the workshop yesterday, I spent a couple of hours gluing up the lower side panels. I followed the advice of cleaning up the joints with acetone before gluing.
I was a bit worried about this process because never having glued rosewood before, I wasn't sure the joints were going to be strong enough.

I should not have worried because they turned out nice and strong.






This morning I wanted to get the lower cabinet all glued together, this pic shows a dry fit of the two side panels and the back panel.






When I did a dry fit a few days ago showing the drawer positions I had opted for a full length drawer at the bottom and the rest double drawers.
I had a long think about this and felt that for one thing the drawers were too deep, I had a height of 7" so that the planes would stand up. In the end I decided that I would go for a lesser height and have the planes lying on their sides, I just felt the deep drawers didn't look right.






Tomorrow I've got a lot of cleaning up to do on the lower carcass, then I'll put the finish on before I start the drawers.


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## Philly

Nice work!!! Really starting to come together, now, Waka.
Congrats,
Philly


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## Lord Nibbo

Oooo... thats looking really cool, cant wait to see it with the drawers in.


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## Mattty

That is going to be great, a lovely piece of furniture. :ho2 =D>


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## ByronBlack

I just love the wood choices here, great work Waka!


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## Waka

Spent a few hours today putting the drawer runners into the main carcass. I'm using the "push to open" ones, they came yesterday and I have to say I'm impressed with them. 

Now its sorting out the drawers, probably get one or two completed before Christmas and hopefully have the lower section completed by the end of January.

Thanks to all for the kind comments.


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## Chris Knight

It's going to be splendid!


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## Anonymous

Waka, you finally used that tenoning jig on your tablesaw!!!!! :lol: :shock: 

Looking very good mate, very good indeed.


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## miles_hot

Waka":23ua0qnq said:


> noddy67":23ua0qnq said:
> 
> 
> 
> Waka looking great. Can I ask you did you buy the maple panels already veneered or did you do it yourself? If so did you use a vacuum bag to do it?
> Thanks
> 
> 
> 
> 
> Noddy
> 
> I have to confess that I had the panels made, I did this for two reasons, the first being that I didn't have the vacuum press, and my skills at veneering are zero.
> The second being that after buying all the kit, then the substrate and birdseye veneer it probably would have worked out more costly than having it made professionally.
> 
> So there you have it, I've come clean on the panels, all the rest I am doing myself honestly.
Click to expand...


Would it be possible to have the details of where you got the panels made up and just how horrible the cost was as I will also be doing some panel work at some point fairly soon and would like some options!

Many thanks

Miles


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## Waka

Miles

I got the panels made up Winwood Products (www.winwood-products.com)

very helpful and quite quick on the turnaround.


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## newt

Waka thats looking really good, keep us posted.


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## Chems

Waka":1oluqiih said:


> Miles
> 
> I got the panels made up Winwood Products (www.winwood-products.com)
> 
> very helpful and quite quick on the turnaround.



Any idea of a price waka as they don't have a pricing system on the site yet. Ball park figure?


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## wizer

That IS an interesting site. I'll certainly be using them in the future. Cheers


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## mailee

Good God Waka, you call me quick with my projects. Looking great mate, can't wait to see the finished item. :wink:


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## Waka

I spent a couple of hours in the workshop this morning, last time until Boxing day, an finished off the DT's on the first drawer and glued ot together.

As mentioned all the drawer runners are now in place.







I used this jig to set the runners in, not sure but I think its Trend and I got it from Rutlands a long tome ago.

This is the first drawer, it takes me a couple of days to get a drawer this far and probable a day to do the cock beading and actually fit. 
So at least another few weeks before the six drawers are all in situ.

The drawers will be be made of mapel, the drawer will have a birds eye mapel front and the cock beading will be rose wood.


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## wizer

how do you find that Kreg drawer thingy? I have been tempted in the past but thought it might b a bit gimmicky/gadgety?


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## Waka

I found them very good, you do have to have a spacer between the drawers to get the best of them.
I would recommend them if you have a lot to do.


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## paulm

What does the jig actually do then Waka, just keep it steady and at right angles to the face while you mark the holes ?

Looking good and like the sound of those drawers, can't wait to see how they turn out.

Cheers, Paul :ho2


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## Waka

chisel":362slyvf said:


> What does the jig actually do then Waka, just keep it steady and at right angles to the face while you mark the holes ?
> 
> Looking good and like the sound of those drawers, can't wait to see how they turn out.
> 
> Cheers, Paul :ho2



You've got it on one Paul, it has a strong magnet on the side which holds the runner, the outside angle keeps it at right angles to the frame. Quite simple really, I'm sure that it would be easy to replicate in wood.

There id also a pair of stays that you position the draw on to aid fixing the runner to the side of the draw.


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## Waka

Now the festive is over its back to work on thew tool cabinet'

Drawers are bog standard construction with dovetails back and front.






Now two are in place and I have the knack the others should be OK. I have another gluing up so hopefully I'll have all the drawers for this section fitted this week.






This shows two of the drawers fitted, not as easy as I thought, a lot of final trimming to get the push/pull to open correctly.






Because these big drawers are quite wide I decided to put in a central support, I have to say that when I put the first draw together I forgot about the support.






To make it look a bit different I dovetailed the support in place, I think it makes a feature out of the draw should you wish to take the draw out, that's my excuse anyway.






Back to more draw fitting and making tomorrow.

When I have all the drawers fitted I will then concentrate on the fronts and cock beading.


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## Escudo

Waka,

I have been following this thread with much interest, and can't wait to see the finished cabinet full of all those lovely tools.  

It is going to be great. Well done.

Cheers, Tony.


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## mailee

That is great Waka, looks really spectacular. Only thing I can say is if this is how you build yourself a tool cabinet........what the hell does your furniture look like!...........poetry in motion I think. :shock:


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## neilyweely

=D> =D> =D> 

speechless.

Neil


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## gidon

Looking great Waka!
It's giving me a longing to do some proper woodwork!
Cheers
Gidon


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## wizer

=D> Loving this one


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## OPJ

Those drawers are looking lovely. Good decision to add 'muntins' for such wide drawers. I like the fact that you can see the dovetails as well.


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## mahking51

Waka,
Are you going to go with the ventilators we talked about?
That'll get them wondering... 8) :lol: 
Martin


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## Waka

mahking51":2ueais4q said:


> Waka,
> Are you going to go with the ventilators we talked about?
> That'll get them wondering... 8) :lol:
> Martin



Not to sure yet, I'll decide when I get the other two drawers finished.


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## Waka

Been a very busy week not only in the workshop but with other outside interests as well.

At last the dovetailing of the drawers for the lower cabinet is finished and the drawers in place. There is a definite knack to fitting these drawers with the "push to open/close" mechanism, by the time I got to the last drawer I think I'd mastered it.

There was a point when I nearly went back to the ordinary ones but in 
the end patience prevailed.













Next job is to start on the fronts, thats will be the straight forward bit, but I'm not so sure about the cock beading around the edges, I've never done this before so it should be interesting.

Still on schedule to have the base cabinet finished by the end of January.

Please enjoy and comment positive or negative are welcome.


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## Mr Ed

Looks good Waka.

Is it an applied cock bead you are doing, or a scratched moulding?

Cheers, Ed


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## Waka

EdSutton":35vgzbai said:


> Looks good Waka.
> 
> Is it an applied cock bead you are doing, or a scratched moulding?
> 
> Cheers, Ed



Its going to be applied, I did think originally of scratched but this all being new, I didn't trust myself with doing it on birds eye mapel.


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## mahking51

If you'd done that would it have been 'cock eyed maple.....'

getting me coat!
Martin


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## CHJ

Waka, your attention to and execution of detail is producing an article more than equal to the tools it is to host.


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## Imperial

I assume your fitting a false front on the drawers which will cover the gaps all round the drawers? If this is so then fitting and making the cockbeads will be very easy for you. Will they be only on the outside or do you plan to have a fielded panel too?


----------



## Waka

Bloonose":20t0t457 said:


> I assume your fitting a false front on the drawers which will cover the gaps all round the drawers? If this is so then fitting and making the cockbeads will be very easy for you. Will they be only on the outside or do you plan to have a fielded panel too?



The intension is to put the false front on that will be the same height as the drawer front, the sides will extend over the drawer runners. The gap around the drawers will then be just in excess for 1/8 ", then the cock beading will fit over the top of the false front all the way around going back the thickness of the drawer front which is approximately 3/8", the beading will then protrude from the front of the drawer 1/8".


----------



## Imperial

What materials are you using, same or contrasting? I think the front would look nice if the Main was Rosewood and the cockbead Maple. I've made some from Rosewood, Walnut and Ebony and its the tiny round over which is the tricky part. Rough cutting the mitre then shooting them with a Shoulder plane works easier then one of those gillotines IMHO. but I dont think you'll have any problems given the standard of work your already producing! too good for tools :evil:


----------



## Aled Dafis

Waka

Niiiice!!!! A cabinet fitting of the contents it's designed to store, I like it a lot!!

Please don't think i'm being picky, but it looks to me that the second drawer up has a different number of pins on the left hand side to the right. Is this just a trick of the light, or a "design feature"? :lol: Whatever it is, it's part of a fantastic cabinet.

Cheers

Aled


----------



## Waka

Bloonose":1con795e said:


> What materials are you using, same or contrasting? I think the front would look nice if the Main was Rosewood and the cockbead Maple. I've made some from Rosewood, Walnut and Ebony and its the tiny round over which is the tricky part. Rough cutting the mitre then shooting them with a Shoulder plane works easier then one of those gillotines IMHO. but I dont think you'll have any problems given the standard of work your already producing! too good for tools :evil:



The front of the draws is birds eye and the cock beading rosewood, my thinking is that the light against the dark will look OK. When it comes to the top cabinet then the door frames will be rosewood with the panel birds eye.

When the doors are opened you will be presented with a lot of smaller drawers that have front of birdseye.

I just hope the colours work together.


----------



## Waka

Aled Dafis":2zh249ey said:


> Waka
> 
> Niiiice!!!! A cabinet fitting of the contents it's designed to store, I like it a lot!!
> 
> Please don't think i'm being picky, but it looks to me that the second drawer up has a different number of pins on the left hand side to the right. Is this just a trick of the light, or a "design feature"? :lol: Whatever it is, it's part of a fantastic cabinet.
> 
> Cheers
> 
> Aled



Aled

Not a problem being picky all comments are appreciated. You are the only one that has picked up on the dovetails.
What I have done on each draw is to have one of the dovetails different to the other three sides. Don't ask me why, I just thought I'd make it a design feature. I guess a little bit like dovetailing the muntins in place. As you can see I still have three of these to do.


----------



## CHJ

Waka":3uy8iu27 said:


> ....... You are the only one that has picked up on the dovetails.
> ......


 I just though they were a design feature that I had missed in the rest of the thread. :lol:


----------



## Shultzy

Waka, what problems did you have with the "push to open/close" mechanism which was different to standard runners?


----------



## Waka

Shultzy":2oad1x94 said:


> Waka, what problems did you have with the "push to open/close" mechanism which was different to standard runners?



For the mechanism to work perfectly the width of the draw has to fit perfectly, if the draw is as much as 1 mm to wide then the mechanism doesn't work correctly.
Once I had done the initial fit I had to plane off a little at a time until the draw would swing open once pushed in. The closing part was no problem at all.
If you went to far (as I did on one draw) then the locking mechanism does not latch in, to overcome this I put a washer spacer in the section of runner that attaches to the carcass.

If you used conventional draw runners then you would just pull the draw open and that extra 1 mm width would probably not be noticed.

There is a knack to fitting the draws to these runners, but when you've mastered it, its well worth the effort.


----------



## Woodfinish Man

What beautiful wood, the cabinet looks great. Looking forward to keeping my eye on this thread and seeing the final result - it's very impressive.


----------



## big soft moose

I'm totally in awe of this tool cabinet - I have furniture in the *house* which isnt as well made / finished.

My tool cabinet is made out of five bits of Mdf screwed together with 40mm M8s


----------



## John. B

Waka, With a post as good as that, coupled with WIP pics, it deserves to be offered to woodworker mag as an article.
excellent thread, excellent project, super conclusion. (homer) MMMMMMMMMMM,,,,Rosewood, my favorite wood :mrgreen::mrgreen::mrgreen::mrgreen::mrgreen::mrgreen::mrgreen::mrgreen::mrgreen::mrgreen:

All I can say is "Well done".

John. B


----------



## Waka

John. B":37ocwfis said:


> Waka, With a post as good as that, coupled with WIP pics, it deserves to be offered to woodworker mag as an article.
> excellent thread, excellent project, super conclusion. (homer) MMMMMMMMMMM,,,,Rosewood, my favorite wood :mrgreen::mrgreen::mrgreen::mrgreen::mrgreen::mrgreen::mrgreen::mrgreen::mrgreen::mrgreen:
> 
> All I can say is "Well done".
> 
> John. B



John

Not sure my pic's are detailed enough for a magazine.


----------



## John. B

No harm in trying, they do pay in folding stuff I hear [-o< [-o< [-o<


----------



## Mr Ed

Waka":1ay6h4y5 said:


> Not sure my pic's are detailed enough for a magazine.



It is not uncommon for makers to (ahem)"re-create" the action shots after the piece is finished, not that I would indulge in such a shoddy practise...

As a piece its certainly interesting enough for publication in my view, its just whether you could be bothered to document the detail. I have done a few articles and personally I find the process intrusive and a bit of a hassle. Gratifying though it is to see ones work in print, the remuneration is really pretty poor - I would say you need to do it for the self-edification, not to make a million.

Cheers, Ed


----------



## MickCheese

Truly inspiring and beautiful.

I have been poping back day after day for updates it is so interesting.

Mick


----------



## John. B

Ed's got a lovely way with words :wink: :wink: :wink: :wink: :wink: :wink:


----------



## Waka

EdSutton":3gn8vn9l said:


> Waka":3gn8vn9l said:
> 
> 
> 
> Not sure my pic's are detailed enough for a magazine.
> 
> 
> 
> 
> It is not uncommon for makers to (ahem)"re-create" the action shots after the piece is finished, not that I would indulge in such a shoddy practise...
> 
> As a piece its certainly interesting enough for publication in my view, its just whether you could be bothered to document the detail. I have done a few articles and personally I find the process intrusive and a bit of a hassle. Gratifying though it is to see ones work in print, the remuneration is really pretty poor - I would say you need to do it for the self-edification, not to make a million.
> 
> Cheers, Ed
Click to expand...


Ed

I agree with you, I've never wanted to make money out of my woodworking whether it be form making things or doing articles. Its nice to know that people think its worth a magazine article.

The satisfaction I get is from starting with rough sawn timber and making something that looks nice. I really think a lot of us on the forum are of the same opinion.

The big question is whether I could be bothered to put the article together, and to be honest I'm not sure of the answer.
My real pleasure is showing what I've done on the forum and getting the negative and positive comments from like minded people, thats one of the things that makes it all worthwhile.

Should have another update in about a week, got some other projects to get on with in the meantime.


----------



## Ironballs

If you've got the time Waka then I'd do it, pride in a well made piece is nothing to be ashamed of and I think you're putting together a pretty impressive cabinet here. I imagine F&C would be interested.

The feeling of pride I got from putting my table on the college stand at Harrogate last year was immense and that was by no means a perfect job. It'll be a hassle to do but it will be great soul food, your spirit will dine out on the experience for a long time to come


----------



## Mattty

*it will be great soul food, your spirit will dine out on the experience for a long time to come*

That is superb and i intend to steal that and use it as my own


----------



## Waka

Its been a very frustrating week with the cabinet, nothing I haven't overcome but it has just been trial and error and of course time.

The beginning of the week started with selecting the birds eye for the front on the drawers, I thought I'd just do one to see how it went.







After re sawing through the band saw and I've got it cut pretty mush to size allowing for a cock beading thickness of 3/32.






I then set up the table saw to cut the cock beading, even with the overhead blade guard you still need to be very careful with this job. I decided to cut all the strips in one go.




.

To round tyhe edge off I user the router table and two push blocks, went really well , but again another job that needs all your attention, if you weant to finish the job with all your pinkies.

Here comes the really frustrating part of the week and thats the glue up of the cock beading. I wiped down the rosewood with acetone to dry it while the glue was going off, this worked initially but any little pressure and the beading would start to come off, this happened during the final rubbing down. 

So this was back to square one, this time I used Gorilla glue, no problem here it stuck like the old proverbial.

By the way I have been discussing these problem with the other two woodkateers and they have been giving me advice.

There's me thinking that I might even get a draw front on this week, the Martin comes up with the idea that I should spline the corners of the cock beading with mapel. 
I thought this a good idea as well, so the first thing on the agenda this morning was to knock up a Rob type spline jig. This one doesn't have the movable bit, kits been set solely for these draws, maybe later I'll do the modification.






A little bit of mapel, and a little glue and the splines are in.











So the week turned out alright in the end. The great thing is that I'm doing things I haven't done before and making the jigs as I go along.

I'll give you another update when all the draws have been completed.


----------



## Mattty

Fantastic attention to detail Waka. This is going to be an amazing tool cabinet. =D>


----------



## Lord Nibbo

Oh boy that does look good, I'm gonna copy that idea for my drawers :lol: =D> 

Waka I'll let you decide what handle design before I do mine :lol:

EDIT.... 

Can't wait to see that birdseye come alive when you do the finish.


----------



## wizer

No Rush Waka, plenty of time.

I must admit when you mentioned the cock beading I was nervous. I remembered some horrible repro furniture my parents had in the 80's that had fake cock beading all round over the years bits had chipped off. Also I think I remember Norm ruining something with what he called Cock Beading.

Anyway, I really like they way you've done yours and I think that with the combination of Gorilla and the spline, it'll be super strong. It looks really nice, the contrast works really well.

Keep on truckin mate


----------



## woodbloke

Waka - I like the cock beading effect..very classy  Glad the jig idea worked out well - Rob


----------



## OPJ

Really like the spline idea with the cock beading, great thinking there!


----------



## Paul Chapman

That cock beading looks really nice, Waka.

Cheers :wink: 

Paul


----------



## BradNaylor

I was always under the impression that a 'cock bead' was applied to the frame around a door or drawer opening, and that the kind of bead Waka has applied to his drawers was a 'hockey stick moulding'.

Whatever, it looks excellent!

Myself though, I would have used PVA and headless pins. I hate PU glue on delicate work such as this; not only is cleaning up a nightmare but the foaming action of the glue can push joints apart.

I amazed by the time and attention to detail that Waka is putting into what many would consider a utilitarian piece of workshop storage. Great stuff.

Cheers
Dan


----------



## woodbloke

EdSutton":27zcsp1n said:


> the remuneration is really pretty poor
> 
> Cheers, Ed


...and has just reduced by F&C, a *lot*  - Rob


----------



## Mr Ed

Reduced?!*# I thought it was too low anyway, which is why I haven't bothered rushing to do any articles for a bit.

What's Michael offering to pay now? It was £75 a page when I last did one and I thought that was low for the amount of work it is.

Cheers, Ed


----------



## Waka

Dan Tovey":2o5kd3l1 said:


> I was always under the impression that a 'cock bead' was applied to the frame around a door or drawer opening, and that the kind of bead Waka has applied to his drawers was a 'hockey stick moulding'.
> 
> Whatever, it looks excellent!
> 
> Myself though, I would have used PVA and headless pins. I hate PU glue on delicate work such as this; not only is cleaning up a nightmare but the foaming action of the glue can push joints apart.
> 
> I amazed by the time and attention to detail that Waka is putting into what many would consider a utilitarian piece of workshop storage. Great stuff.
> 
> Cheers
> Dan



Dan

You could well be right with the name.

The reason I didn't use pins top assist with the securing is because when it is attached its slight larger than the opening, therefore it needs to be lightly planed to achieve a nice close fit


----------



## Ironballs

Coming along nicely there Waka and your drawer fronts look excellent, very fine workmanship


----------



## Lord Nibbo

Waka":11qkwnok said:


> Dan
> 
> You could well be right with the name.



No! I'm with you Cockbeading

Just try googling *images* cockbeading and see how many call it cockbeading :lol:


----------



## Chris Knight

Waka,
That might be a first, I have never seen or hear of splined cock beading before!


----------



## Waka

waterhead37":1tc215e6 said:


> Waka,
> That might be a first, I have never seen or hear of splined cock beading before!



Chris

It was suggested by Martin, and I have to say on the draw that I have fitted it really looks good, I guess just another added touch, maybe it'll start a new trend.

Hopefully have all the drawer finished by the end of next week, that will then be the lower cabinet finished.


----------



## Waka

Well its been a couple a weeks since I posted any progress on the tool cabinet, I've not been idle it has just taken me this amount of time to do the draw fronts.
There's been a few challenges on the way, but these have all been overcome.

This shows all the draws in place.







The only finish I have put on the cabinet is a coat of shellac, its on the birds eye mapel for the process of popping the grain and on the rose wood as a method of sealing it.






I have to say the cock beading was a real challenge, the main problem was getting to the stick to the mapel without using any pins etc, especially on the end grain.







On of the main reasons for using splines here is that it will add to the adhesion of the corners. Even though it's not a common thing to do I think the splines look OK.






Now that the lower cabinet is nearly finished I need to clear a space for it, I've decided that it will go on nthe wall behind the bench, this will put it in easy reach when doing bench work.

This is a a pic of the top cabinet carcass, its nearly ready to start assembling, but as I'm off on hols in a couple of weeks I'm not really sure that I'll get around to it., so stage two will have to wait until the middle of March.






Hope you all enjoy the progress to date, look forward to comments positive and negative.


----------



## Karl

Waka":1husqdx5 said:


> Hope you all enjoy the progress to date, look forward to comments positive and negative.



:lol: 

-ve comments. HHhhhmmmm. Let me think. 

Nope got none, and I doubt very much whether anybody else will!

That is superb. Can't wait to see it all finished and filled.

Cheers

Karl


----------



## wizer

I really like the splines, looks smashing


----------



## Philly

Cor, not finished the top section yet?? You ought get that Nibbo bloke in to help..... :lol: 
Seriously, looking very cool! Do you need a hand to lift it down to the ground?
Cheers
Philly


----------



## Benchwayze

I think this is a great piece of woodwork. 

I would love such a cabinet for my tools. Trouble is, if I designed one, when it was finished and full to the gills, I would probably find my LN Low-angle Jack, on the bench and glowering at me, because I'd messed up on the planning and there was no space for it. 
 

Nice work Waka.


----------



## Paul Chapman

Excellent, Waka =D> 

Cheers :wink: 

Paul


----------



## Anonymous

Waka

You're jsut trying to show my cabinet up aren't you :wink: :lol: 

Looking superb mate, absolutely SUPERB!!!!!


----------



## Waka

Philly":tn0reghg said:


> Cor, not finished the top section yet?? You ought get that Nibbo bloke in to help..... :lol:
> Seriously, looking very cool! Do you need a hand to lift it down to the ground?
> Cheers
> Philly



Its funny you should mention that, I have been wondering how I'm going to get it down.

Won't bother for about 10 days because Its easier where it is to put the finish on, also got to clear the space.

Guys, thanks for the kind comments.


----------



## Waka

Philly":1civ3o62 said:


> Cor, not finished the top section yet?? You ought get that Nibbo bloke in to help..... :lol:



I could get LN to make the doors :wink: :wink:


----------



## Lord Nibbo

Waka":3eio7qz8 said:


> Philly":3eio7qz8 said:
> 
> 
> 
> Cor, not finished the top section yet?? You ought get that Nibbo bloke in to help..... :lol:
> 
> 
> 
> 
> I could get LN to make the doors :wink: :wink:
Click to expand...


I really don't think you need me or anyone to help finish your tool cabinet Waka.

Now that drawer unit it's simply

*Gorgeous*

=D> =D> =D>


----------



## Chris Knight

*Terrific!*


----------



## Mr Ed

Looking brilliant Waka.

I recall you talking in another thread about leaving a beautiful collection of tools behind when you go and this cabinet will just complete that picture. In the meantime it should give you years of pleasure once its complete.

Cheers, Ed


----------



## Waka

EdSutton":1mga9g3y said:


> Looking brilliant Waka.
> 
> I recall you talking in another thread about leaving a beautiful collection of tools behind when you go and this cabinet will just complete that picture. In the meantime it should give you years of pleasure once its complete.
> 
> Cheers, Ed



Ed

I'm looking to get many years of enjoyment out of both the tools and the cabinet. My 6 year old Grandson is already interested in woodwork, so I already know where its going.


----------



## woodbloke

Waka - *very* tasty...need to see this 'in the wood' when it's all done. I can feel a run down to Weymouth coming on :wink: - Rob


----------



## Waka

woodbloke":2n39r7yu said:


> Waka - *very* tasty...need to see this 'in the wood' when it's all done. I can feel a run down to Weymouth coming on :wink: - Rob



Rob

Off to Singapore in a couple of weeks, so any visit will have to be after that.


----------



## Harbo

Fantastic but what a waste - it should be in your lounge or a gallery  

Rod


----------



## Waka

Harbo":u6pq4g6f said:


> Fantastic but what a waste - it should be in your lounge or a gallery
> 
> Rod



I'm surprised that you think my efforts are a waste, as an amateur I learn with every piece I make, surely thats how the apprentices learnt in bygone days. 

You only have to look in Tolpin's book to see some of the fantastic tool chest/cabinets that have been made in the past. 

I just want somewhere special for my tool and something I can enjoy wherever its located.


----------



## Harbo

Sorry Waka it was meant as a compliment  

Rod


----------



## Waka

Harbo":2uv3t0or said:


> Sorry Waka it was meant as a compliment
> 
> Rod



No problems Harbo. Saying about putting it in the house, HID's has flatly refused to have it in there, mind you bit of a pain going to get tools out.


----------



## miles_hot

Waka":ydn4qws1 said:


> Hope you all enjoy the progress to date, look forward to comments positive and negative.



As with everyone else I find the standard of craft you show just lovely and very inspiring. One question - you have used side mounting runners which whilst fine, seem to be a little at odds with the "wood" aspect (the wrong way of saying it but it will do until I think of a better way). I just wondered if there was any reason that you decided on side mounted rather than under mounted (like for instance Blum Tandum - http://www.blum.com/gb/en/01/30/20/index.php)?

Many thanks

Miles


----------



## Waka

miles_hot":1jxmam6b said:


> Waka":1jxmam6b said:
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> Hope you all enjoy the progress to date, look forward to comments positive and negative.
> 
> 
> 
> 
> As with everyone else I find the standard of craft you show just lovely and very inspiring. One question - you have used side mounting runners which whilst fine, seem to be a little at odds with the "wood" aspect (the wrong way of saying it but it will do until I think of a better way). I just wondered if there was any reason that you decided on side mounted rather than under mounted (like for instance Blum Tandum - http://www.blum.com/gb/en/01/30/20/index.php)?
> 
> Many thanks
> 
> Miles
Click to expand...


I guess the bottom line is that I didn't think of the bottom mounted runners at the time.


----------



## miles_hot

Waka":o7986w9u said:


> miles_hot":o7986w9u said:
> 
> 
> 
> As with everyone else I find the standard of craft you show just lovely and very inspiring. One question - you have used side mounting runners which whilst fine, seem to be a little at odds with the "wood" aspect (the wrong way of saying it but it will do until I think of a better way). I just wondered if there was any reason that you decided on side mounted rather than under mounted (like for instance Blum Tandum - http://www.blum.com/gb/en/01/30/20/index.php)?
> 
> Many thanks
> 
> Miles
> 
> 
> 
> 
> I guess the bottom line is that I didn't think of the bottom mounted runners at the time.
Click to expand...


Ah - good oh, I was wondering if they were a swine to use or something. Good oh - one day when I get good enough to build my own draws there's no reason not to use them then 

Thanks for the rapid reply!

Miles


----------



## Corset

I have just picked up on this thread, Really lovely work and it will bring real pleasure when you reach fo your tools every time. I am reallu looking forward to seeing it furnished with all your tools. It will make a great heirloom and I expect it will be worth photographing it "full" for insurance purposes.
Owen


----------



## newt

Waka, simply great, lovely contrast with the two species. You do realise that tools become better to use when they are in a nice cabinet.


----------



## mikec

Waka,

Just found this thread,

AMAZING

What a magnificent tool chest. I bet you'll get a buzz every time you open a drawer.

Thanks for the photos

Mike C


----------



## Waka

Not intending to put castors on the bottom of the tool cabinet, I discussed with Philly the best way to protect the rosewood legs in the off chance that I would have to move it a little.

We came up with the idea of brass feet that screw into the leg thereby allowing the cabinet to be leveled.

So of I trundled to the famous plane making workshop in Branksome where Philly proceeded to turn the feet, the skills of this man are abundant.






When I got back to my workshop I spent about 15 minutes fixing the feet to the cabinet.






I did spend some time yesterday moving a few things around and making a permanent space for the tool cabinet.






Now all I had to do was move it into position. The finish I've used is shallac, I think I've put on about 8 coats and just before moving the cabinet I de-nibbed and waxed at the same time. The shine came up quite well and now its in position I'll add some more wax coats before it gets covered in dust.






Ah no top I hear you say, well this all comes when the top part fits onto the bottom .

For the inside of the drawers I have used none slip router matting, this will give some protection to the tools.






Originally I was intending to put all the planes in this part of the tool cabinet, but I have decided that a lot of them will go in the upper part, I'll only have the ones longer than 14" in the lower part and the rest in the upper.

This will be the last update until I resume with the upper cabinet in the middle of March.

Hope you enjoy and feel free to comment.


----------



## ByronBlack

Congratulations Waka, the quality of the cabinet is undeniable. Beautiful wood choice, lovely proportions. I can only aspire to make something as nice, looks to me you have got yourself a fine heirloom there! (as an aside, what have you used to board your workshop - is it chipboard or something else?)


----------



## wizer

simply stunning. Have a nice break in Singapore. See you soon.


----------



## Waka

ByronBlack":llkje4w3 said:


> Congratulations Waka, the quality of the cabinet is undeniable. Beautiful wood choice, lovely proportions. I can only aspire to make something as nice, looks to me you have got yourself a fine heirloom there! (as an aside, what have you used to board your workshop - is it chipboard or something else?)



BB

I have used the moisture resistant chipboard T&G flooring. it comes in 8 ft x 2 ft lengths, with 2" insulation behind it makes the shop nice and cosy, I think it worked out about £6.00 a length.


----------



## ByronBlack

Thats great, cheers waka - I was going to do mine in ply when I realised it was going to cost nearly £300 - the chipboard at that price works at about half price, looks i'll be looking for a supplier.


----------



## Shultzy

What a superb post and an even better tool cabinet. Any thought on handles or have you used the touch to open drawer slides.


----------



## Mr Ed

Waka":3ghcpzy6 said:


> For the inside of the drawers I have used none slip router matting, this will give some protection to the tools.



I have done the same with mine and found that in some cases the waffle texture of the material left a visible pattern on wooden and steel items that didn't wipe off (I have no explanation as to why). Nothing that major, but irritating on expensive tools.

The way I solved it was to add a layer of corrosion inhibiting brown paper over the top of the router mat to isolate it from the tools. Not had an issue since.

I'd hate to see those S&S planes get marked in any way.
 
Cheers, Ed


----------



## Waka

Shultzy":2rvvl6io said:


> What a superb post and an even better tool cabinet. Any thought on handles or have you used the touch to open drawer slides.



I've used the "touch to open" drawer runners on the bottom part, not to sure what handles I'm going to use for the upper part, I'm waiting to see what LN uses.


----------



## virtu

EdSutton":2l05fxfd said:


> I have done the same with mine and found that in some cases the waffle texture of the material left a visible pattern on wooden and steel items that didn't wipe off (I have no explanation as to why). Nothing that major, but irritating on expensive tools.



Flexible plastics - like anti slip mat - contain a lot of plasticizers, typically some phthalate compounds, one key element in the new car smell ;-)

They are actually pretty nasty and reactive, impacting finish, hard plastic and porous metals "making plastic absorb in". Once had a cd disk placed on top of anti slip mat for some time, mat ethced pattern on the disk practically destroying it


----------



## Paul Chapman

Blimey, Waka, that cabinet would look good in the lounge :shock: 8) 

Excellent =D> 

Cheers :wink: 

Paul


----------



## Waka

virtu":mwm5okwn said:


> EdSutton":mwm5okwn said:
> 
> 
> 
> I have done the same with mine and found that in some cases the waffle texture of the material left a visible pattern on wooden and steel items that didn't wipe off (I have no explanation as to why). Nothing that major, but irritating on expensive tools.
> 
> 
> 
> 
> Flexible plastics - like anti slip mat - contain a lot of plasticizers, typically some phthalate compounds, one key element in the new car smell ;-)
> 
> They are actually pretty nasty and reactive, impacting finish, hard plastic and porous metals "making plastic absorb in". Once had a cd disk placed on top of anti slip mat for some time, mat ethced pattern on the disk practically destroying it
Click to expand...


Maybe I've chosen wrong with the matting, thanks for the advice, thats why this forum is good. I think I'll change to cork matting, really don't want to scar any of my tools.


----------



## Lord Nibbo

Ooooh! that does look posh :lol: =D> Yes I found that non slip mat does mark planes, thats why I changed to using felt. All I do is make up a piece of thin hardboard slightly smaller than a shelf or drawer bottom then pva it and cover it with felt overlapping the edges. as seen on the shelves in this pic






Not only does it protect the plane bottoms but I've never had a problem with rust either so it scores in more ways than one.


----------



## Harbo

I lined my (metal) tool drawers with bubble wrap sprayed with Camellia oil to "protect" the original rubber lining.

Does anybody know if the wrap causes a similar problem? :? 

Rod


----------



## Waka

Thought I'd bring this thread back to life. Flying home tonight so hopefully get at least a few hours in the workshop tomorrow. 

First job is to start putting the top cabinet together, hopefully by the weekend I should be ready to start gluing up the top framework and inserting the back and side panels.

Once this is out the way I can start on the insert for the cabinet, not to sure how this is going to work, but I've taken a few tips from LN's cabinet.

Should have some more pic's for you by the beginning of next week, or if I'm lucky before then.


----------



## PaulO

Waka":gxvi7vom said:


> I have used the moisture resistant chipboard T&G flooring. it comes in 8 ft x 2 ft lengths, with 2" insulation behind it makes the shop nice and cosy, I think it worked out about £6.00 a length.



Couldn't you get your supplier to veneer it in some burr or other, or perhaps more birds' eye maple :wink:


----------



## Waka

Really had a good week working on the top part of the cabinet, first thing was to put the side framework together. This entailed first routing recesses for the panels.






Once this was completed the panels can be trimmed to size and installed.






This is where a lot of clamps come in handy, cluing the frame together and the panels, I've use ordinary Titebond here, it seemed to work OK on the bottom panels.






With the side panels all clued and tight its time to assemble the sides with the back panel, this was a bit fiddly for one guy but I managed in the end.






I have inserted the top panel on some beading, I found this easier than routing recesses, where I used the dreaded screw I have pugged the hole with mapel, I thought it would add to the look.






The top sits on the bottom section and is held in place with pins, here I am using brass pins 2" long, this will hold the two sections together with little on no lateral movement. To ensure that I got the guide holes in the correct place for top and bottom I made a little jig.






The jig fits over the rectangle of the upper and lower corners, then drill through.






Now comes the exciting bit, marrying the top to the bottom, this is where you see if you got all those measurements right. It should be a perfect fit all nicely lined up.

I must have had a really good day when I did the measurements because it lined up nicely.











Another job I did whilst waiting for glue to dry was line the drawers with cork. I found a place on the internet call Siesta Cork, they do rolls of varying thickness and width. I bought a 10m role 3mm thick 1/2 m wide for just £28.0. I've now got enough cork to do a couple more cabinets, anyway always a handy thing to have in the shop.

Not sure whether I should do the doors next or the inside of the top section, haven't really designed how thats going to look yet, all I know is that there will be a lot of drawers. It will, all ,be made separate from the cabinet and then slotted in. 

I'll give it all some thought during the week.

Hope you enjoy the progress report.


----------



## Lord Nibbo

Wow... it's getting better and better as you go along.


----------



## Chris Knight

Looking good!


----------



## mahking51

Waka,
You have really got a move on with this! Looking superb.
What with the hut and the boat and other things it a good job you are retired else you'd have no time to sleep!
Talk soon.
Martin, (currently knee deep in about 180 odd Addis & Herring carving chisels...)  Good job I'm not a co*****or!


----------



## Paul Chapman

Looking very nice, Waka.

Cheers :wink: 

Paul


----------



## Anonymous

Stunning Waka!!!!!

How are you acclimatising now you're back in the land of wind and rain? :lol: (snow here at the moment)


----------



## kityuser

superb, watching with interest, well done that man!

Steve


----------



## Russ

That looks absolutely fantastic!!!!
The Rosewood is beautiful and I can see this is going to be one amazing cabinet...... Gobsmacked.... 10-10 +++++


----------



## Waka

Thanks for the comments guys, haven't done anything to it for a week, been to busy refurbishing the beach hut, everything needs to be finished by the summer.

Hopefully get a bit more done next week.


----------



## Waka

I thought I'd better show this again so you guys don't think I've forgotten about it. I have to say I haven't done very much over the last 3 or 4 months, I've been busy on other things.

One thing I have had made and thats the drawer handles, these were kindly turned by Tam on the turning forum. I'm very pleased with the end result and a big thank you to Tam for helping me out.






I do hope to continue with the top section soon although I've not really finalized the design.

Hope you enjoy.


----------



## Tony Spear

Waka:

I've just seen this thread for the first time - that is amazing!

On thing I'm curious about - have you tested the opening function on the lower drawers when full of planes?

I've only ever used the push to open runners on light duty applications (e.g. kitchen etc.) and and have often wondered how well they would work with a very heavily loaded drawer because of the increased friction factor caused by the weight of the contents.


----------



## Waka

Tony Spear":cclhfsch said:


> Waka:
> 
> I've just seen this thread for the first time - that is amazing!
> 
> On thing I'm curious about - have you tested the opening function on the lower drawers when full of planes?
> 
> I've only ever used the push to open runners on light duty applications (e.g. kitchen etc.) and and have often wondered how well they would work with a very heavily loaded drawer because of the increased friction factor caused by the weight of the contents.



Yes, I have tested the drawers with all the big planes in, actually the drawers are pretty full with all sorts of stuff. The drawer runners work a treat much better than I could have hoped for.


----------



## Waka

At last I've made some progress on fitting out the top of the tool cabinet, I wasn't too sure how I was going to tackle this, but in the end went along the lines of Andy Rae.

All the top part of the cabinet will be modular, this makes it easier when putting the various sections together. The first part will be to house the larger of the planes with a drawer going the full width underneath. The space for the drawer has been made but the drawer not yet made.

First thing was to make a simple jig that would allow the router to slide over the top and bottom part of the box that will house some of the planes.






With the bottom and top clamped together I was able to rout the slots for the dividers in both parts, this ensured that when put together I didn't have to worry about them not lining up.






You'll notice that the slots don't go right to the back of the sections, this is because the widest mapel I have is only 7 1/2" wide and the depth of this section is 14", so the dividers don't go right to the back, anyway you will not notice this when its all put together.

The next job was to add the rosewood front to the top, bottom and side sections.






Now that the box is complete its time to make the dividers, these will be 6mm thick.






They all seem to fit nicely, you will see that the dividers stop 3" form the end, I did this purposely because of the different size planes that will be housed here, I thought it would be easier to get hold of the planes.






Originally I wasn't going to shape the dividers but when I put it altogether it looked to boxy, I'm glad I did the shaping because the curve, I think sets it off.

Now to see what it will look like with some planes in.






Next job will be to do the drawer, I'll tackle that in the coming week.

Hope you enjoy, all comments are welcome.


----------



## OPJ

Good choice in shaping the dividers. I agree that it looks a lot less pigeon hole-like.


----------



## Paul Chapman

Looking lovely, Waka.

It's a good job you have all those planes otherwise it would look a bit empty  

Cheers :wink: 

Paul


----------



## TheTiddles

Waka":yc9cxpfw said:


> I thought I'd better show this again so you guys don't think I've forgotten about it. I have to say I haven't done very much over the last 3 or 4 months, I've been busy on other things.
> 
> One thing I have had made and thats the drawer handles, these were kindly turned by Tam on the turning forum. I'm very pleased with the end result and a big thank you to Tam for helping me out.
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> I do hope to continue with the top section soon although I've not really finalized the design.
> 
> Hope you enjoy.



This is exactly what I can't do! Grrrrr

Who is this mysterious Tam? Doth he venture to the square and straight side?

Aidan


----------



## Waka

Aidan

Tam can be found on the Turning Forum, what he did for me is absolutely superb.


----------



## TheTiddles

Was that done with any form of copying attachment or sizing tool?

Aidan


----------



## big soft moose

TheTiddles":2wd7u8y8 said:


> Waka":2wd7u8y8 said:
> 
> 
> 
> I thought I'd better show this again so you guys don't think I've forgotten about it. I have to say I haven't done very much over the last 3 or 4 months, I've been busy on other things.
> 
> One thing I have had made and thats the drawer handles, these were kindly turned by Tam on the turning forum. I'm very pleased with the end result and a big thank you to Tam for helping me out.
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> I do hope to continue with the top section soon although I've not really finalized the design.
> 
> Hope you enjoy.
> 
> 
> 
> 
> This is exactly what I can't do! Grrrrr
> 
> Who is this mysterious Tam? Doth he venture to the square and straight side?
> 
> Aidan
Click to expand...


Hi Aidan

tam's screen name is TEP

and i would guess that he just did them by eye or maybe with a cardboard cutout template for shape and size - knobs arent difficult for someonme experienced with spinny things - he probably used either a skew chisel or a spindle gouge and a 3/8s parting tool


----------



## TEP

Hi *Tony*.

Welcome back to the grindstone at long last. Who'd have a busy life eh! :lol:


----------



## Waka

Thanks Tam

I have been around but doing other things, I'm hoping to get the cabinet finished in the next couple of months.


----------



## Waka

Made a little progress this week, managed to get the bottom drawer of the top section completed. I wasn't sure how I was going to fit this, but in the end decided on another push to open/close drawer runner. 

It works fine and is a nice snug fit in to the housing.










Before I go any further I think I'm going to shellac the top part of the cabinet, then I have to decide how I'm going to fit all the drawers into the top part.

Hope you enjoy.


----------



## TrimTheKing

Waka":s3k2oghd said:


> Made a little progress this week, managed to get the bottom drawer of the top section completed. I wasn't sure how I was going to fit this, but in the end decided on another push to open/close drawer runner.
> 
> It works fine and is a nice snug fit in to the housing.
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> Before I go any further I think I'm going to shellac the top part of the cabinet, then I have to decide how I'm going to fit all the drawers into the top part.
> 
> Hope you enjoy.


Looking excellent mate, really nice. 

I really do like the curve detail to the doveholes, makes a real difference over straight dividers.


----------



## head clansman

Hi Tony 

It's moving along nicely since i seen it last , looking really good. hc


----------



## NewtoWood

This is a quality piece of work and is great watching it come alive.


----------



## Waka

Since my last post this afternoon I've popped the grain on the birds eye mapel panels for the top section and also the drawer front. I have added about 10 coats of blond shellac to the panels and frame, this hasn't come up too bad. Tomorrow I'll give it a couple of coats of wax to finish it off.






I have placed cork in between the pigeon holes to protect the base of the planes, these are now in their permanent position. It really feels like progress when I can start putting the tools in their intended place.






The drawer has also been lined with cork. The bar holding the chisels is of rose wood and all I've done here is file out the recess for the handles, it seems to work quite well. I will be doing the same in the first two drawers above the planes for the remaining chisels.






Now its time for the thinking cap to decide on how I'm going to do the rest of the drawers, I've roughly worked out the there will be about 20 of varying sizes. These will only go up to the top of the first panel, any higher and I won't be able to see in them.


----------



## Anonymous

Lovely Waka

When do we see those S&Ss in there?


----------



## Waka

Tony":a4so4yqn said:


> Lovely Waka
> 
> When do we see those S&Ss in there?



You need to look carefully, there are four already in the plane slots :lol:


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## Boz62

Thankyou for continuing to document this Waka. It's really inspiring 8) 

Boz


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## Waka

Having now decided how to fit the drawers I can move ahead with drawer construction.
Andy Rae who made the original cabinet used the base of the drawer as the runner, these fitted into slots within the framework. I have decided to go for full extension drawer runners. There will be a total of 12 drawers in the upper section with dimensions of 15 3/4 x 12 5/8 x 2 3/4, these dimensions will incorporate all the tools I intend to place in the drawers.

First set of 4 with the dovetails hand cut.






What I've done here is just to place them in position so I can get an idea of what it will look like, so far I feel happy that it will look OK.






Another set of 4 drawers with the dovetails cut and ready for assembly, at the back you can see the other drawers cut to size but not yet worked on.






Second set of 4 drawers assembled, now just the last 4 to work on.


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## head clansman

hi tony

spare a thought in the unlikely event of all the upper drawers being opened at any one time, to the balance of the upper cabinet depending on what you intend to place weight wise in them .hc


----------



## Waka

HC

Very good point, the bulk of the heavy stuff will be in the lower part and although the drawer runners are capable of taking 35kg its very unlikely that they'll have anything like that.


----------



## Waka

Made some significant progress over the last two days, managed to get the draws in place, add the door fronts and this morning I have attached the door knobs.
I think its gone better than I thought it would.
















You can see that the bottom 3 drawers on each side are slightly lighter than the top 3, its all birds eye mapel but unfortunately I couldn't get enough of the darker, I'm hoping that the lower ones will darken as I add the numerous coats of shellac.






Next stage is to put the shelf in above the drawers, this is gluing up at the moment and will be tomorrows task. I'm not to sure what I'm going to keep in the top part above the drawers, when I decide I'll either just have the one shelf or maybe two. I thought I'd use the brass inserts and shelve supports so I can move them as required.

Because I have less drawers than I originally thought, I have a number of rosewood door knobs spare, I think about a dozen. I'd bee happy to part with these free gratis to anyone who is contemplating a tool cabinet project.


----------



## MikeG.

I've just noticed that it was your 8 month anniversary on this a couple of days ago, Waka! Do you have an estimated time for completion?

I just have this horrible vision of you you swinging a 6 foot sash clamp around in a hurry as a glue-up goes wrong.........and gouging a great gash in the front of this unit.

Mike


----------



## Lee J

your just having the vision though, not wishing to happen hey? green eyed monster?? lol

only jesting


----------



## Imperial

Think I said before, far too nice for tools, but why have exposed runners on the drawers if using so much beautiful construction and timber? Was it weight?


----------



## Waka

Mike Garnham":v3ohj4vw said:


> I've just noticed that it was your 8 month anniversary on this a couple of days ago, Waka! Do you have an estimated time for completion?
> 
> I just have this horrible vision of you you swinging a 6 foot sash clamp around in a hurry as a glue-up goes wrong.........and gouging a great gash in the front of this unit.
> 
> Mike



Mike

4 months to go, what's a sash clamp?


----------



## Waka

Bloonose":2t1p5s23 said:


> Think I said before, far too nice for tools, but why have exposed runners on the drawers if using so much beautiful construction and timber? Was it weight?



Depends on your tools.


----------



## woodbloke

Waka":2yb1lw5h said:


> Bloonose":2yb1lw5h said:
> 
> 
> 
> Think I said before, far too nice for tools, but why have exposed runners on the drawers if using so much beautiful construction and timber? Was it weight?
> 
> 
> 
> 
> Depends on your tools.
Click to expand...

I had the privilege of seeing Waka's tool cabinet in detail last night. I won't make any comment (as I was asked not to) but would just say that it's excellent :wink: and *really does* compliment the tools - Rob


----------



## TrimTheKing

Well I _will_ comment. The only real frustration I have with this forum is the insistence of some people to question people's reason for building nice tool cabinets.

Surely it's like anything, just because you don't like it, don't want one, don't feel it necessary doesn't mean for one second that people shouldn't build them.

We tend to forget sometimes that most of the people on here are hobbyists and are doing this for the sheer enjoyment of it, nothing more. Waka has some very expensive, beautifull (in both craftsmanship and aesthetics) precision tools and if he chooses to build a piece of furniture to store them in, why is that wrong?

Taken purely on its own merits this cabinet is, IMHO, very very nice to look at and the construction speaks for itself. While I am far too lazy to build the same myself, if someone offered to build one for me I wouldn't say no just because it is too good for my tools.

I'm not having a pop at anyone in particular here, just think it a bit strange that Waka has taken the time to post the WIP of this, and a large proportion of the comments about it are more around him 'wasting his time' making something so nice for his tools. Why don't we (as a collective, as I have been guilty of it myself in the past) just stick to commenting on the look and workmanship of it, and appreciating it for what it is? A nice bit of woodworking!

Anyway, rant over (work is really pi$$sing me off right now so needed to vent somewhere or I'll get the sack by the end of the day!!!) and I'll put my tin hat on and await the bombardment! 

***And BTW, this is just a daft rant because I'm surrounded by idiots in work, so feel free to ignore it as the rantings of a man teetering on the brink of losing his marbles completely...


----------



## big soft moose

TrimTheKing":2io1wh6h said:


> Why don't we (as a collective, as I have been guilty of it myself in the past) just stick to commenting on the look and workmanship of it, and appreciating it for what it is? A nice bit of woodworking!



It is indeed a very nice bit of woodworking , and i'm in awe of Waka's skills - I would be very happy to have that in the house let alone the shop.
(Imo the people saying its too nice for tools are making a compliment not a criticism)

and yes you are right if waka wants to spend his time making lovely furniture to house his plane collect... sorry, tools then that is of course his pergotative.

I personally wouldnt spend that much time on a tool cabinet but thats because in my shop it would get covered in dust and damaged by flying bits of timber (coming off the lathe) - so my tool storage is much more prosaicly made out of mdf and ply (as is much of my in the house furniture  )


----------



## Waka

Thanks for the support guys, much appreciated.

Regarding negative comments if that what they are (myself I think they are commenting on the quality) I value all comments positive or negative. 

The time taken to put it together as commented by Mike is just over 8 months, but I've not been working on it continuously, I think work time would equate to a couple of months.

As to my reasons for building the cabinet, the first being that it would be nice to have one cabinet that housed all my hand tools and secondly its something that can be handed down to my eldest grandson and thirdly as a hobbyist I wanted to see if I had the skills to make something like this.

The other good thing is that I have learnt so much during this project that really made it worth it.


----------



## Imperial

My remarks were definitely not a criticism of Waka's work, the complete opposite, I think the work he has done highly skilled and far to good for a very special, none the less, "tool cabinet", but that's my opinion and I'm entitled to it.
I never criticise anyone projects for style, it can be very hurtful, not everyone's taste is the same and there has been some right awful stuff posted,however well made, again IMO, but what's the point in trying to upset somebody. I do think after all the hard work Waka has put in, the side mounted runners spoil it slightly again IMO, I wondered if it was for weight but Waka has not said as far as I know?


----------



## head clansman

Hi tony 


Beauty is in the eye of the beholder , & Tony it's beautiful. 

I have seen this tool cabinet at a much earlier stage when tony was kind enough to give me some off cuts of rose wood from it. When i went into his workshop one of the first thing that soon became apparent was his tool collection and how proud he is of them. (QUIT RIGHTLY SO )

As tony says his self he is a hobbyist , I am a fully trained tradesman and would be hard pushed to beat his effort here.

I have a full set of joinery tools plus many other various sets of tools as yet still to be housed in my own designed tool cabinet , i would be proud to copy this design with my own ideas and alteration to improve on it still further that is when i get the time .

None of my tools are to the standard of his , quality tools deserve a quality cabinet it will become a family heirloom hopefully going on for many years when all the mdf one have long gone .hc


----------



## Waka

Bloonose":3j21guc8 said:


> My remarks were definitely not a criticism of Waka's work, the complete opposite, I think the work he has done highly skilled and far to good for a very special, none the less, "tool cabinet", but that's my opinion and I'm entitled to it.
> I never criticise anyone projects for style, it can be very hurtful, not everyone's taste is the same and there has been some right awful stuff posted,however well made, again IMO, but what's the point in trying to upset somebody. I do think after all the hard work Waka has put in, the side mounted runners spoil it slightly again IMO, I wondered if it was for weight but Waka has not said as far as I know?



If you look at the cabinet all the drawers have side mounted drawer runners, not really sure why I went for these, probably because I know no better. Originally I was going to make the drawer bottoms as the runners but for some reason shied away from this, in hind sight it would have been a lot easier to do and aesthetically it would have looked a lot better, I guess this is how you learn.


----------



## OPJ

Bloonose":20gt6qcv said:


> I do think after all the hard work Waka has put in, the side mounted runners spoil it slightly again IMO, I wondered if it was for weight but Waka has not said as far as I know?



I must admit, I do agree with this comment.


----------



## TheTiddles

You could in the future, make wooden runners that sit in the same gap between the drawer and casing. I too, dislike the idea of running the drawers on their bottoms (makes it sound like they have canine distemper). I have seen some nice ones made from maple where they are full extension with three interlocking parts on double dovetails, they'd fit in nicely if the interstitial piece was rosewood and the two main runners were beech

Aidan


----------



## wizer

I think Chris (Waterhead37) made wooden FE slides once ?


----------



## Tony Spear

Waka":t3h835xx said:


> Regarding negative comments if thats what they are (myself I think they are commenting on the quality) I value all comments positive or negative.



Personally I think Trim must have been having a "bad hair day"!

Waka, I think that you can take it for granted that the "too good for tools" comments are partly tongue in cheek and partly envy (like me)!

Great work and I'd love to own it. =D>


----------



## TrimTheKing

Tony Spear":1qtosz23 said:


> Personally I think Trim must have been having a "bad hair day"!


Absolutely :lol: And that's particularly hard on a man with no hair :shock: But I got out of the correct side of the bed today so no more rants from me.



Tony Spear":1qtosz23 said:


> Waka, I think that you can take it for granted that the "too good for tools" comments are partly tongue in cheek


I'm not going to fire up again, but this was partly the reason for me going off on one. I'm sure some of the comments were TIC, but all, I'm not convinced...anyway, peace and love to you all :lol:


----------



## Waka

Guys

I don't want anyone to get upset about comments, after all if I didn't want opinions I wouldn't have posted on the forum.

Not everything made is to everyones taste, what I thin k is good for my tools is not to everyones liking and I appreciate the comments that substantiate this.

As for the drawer runners I've looked at them form another perspective and partly agree that they do look unsightly, and with this in mind I'm contemplating changing them in the future (next month).

So feel free to express whatever views you have , me I've got broad shoulders and love feedback good or bad, after all I have martin just up the road.


----------



## Paul Chapman

Waka":3a1bms22 said:


> As for the drawer runners I've looked at them form another perspective and partly agree that they do look unsightly, and with this in mind I'm contemplating changing them in the future (next month).



Hi Waka,

Great cabinet 8) 8) 

As for the drawer runners, I think I'd be inclined to stick with the metal ones. It is, after all, a tool cabinet and tools weigh a lot (especially the number you have :lol: ). I reckon that, long term, the metal ones will wear better and give you less grief.

If you were putting it in the lounge, that would be a different matter.......

Cheers :wink: 

Paul


----------



## woodbloke

Waka":37wkdb2w said:


> ... after all I have martin just up the road.


Waka - I'd suggest you leave the digestive biscuits in plain view next time Martin pops round...bound to get _'top drawer' _feedback then. Hope the ref to drawers is appeciated :lol: - Rob


----------



## mahking51

Now if they were chocolate digestives .........   
Martin


----------



## woodbloke

mahking51":ph208p9a said:


> Now if they were chocolate digestives .........
> Martin


...of course Martin, _plain_ chocolate digestives (from the fridge)...what else is there? - Rob


----------



## head clansman

hi tony

*Paul wrote*


> Great cabinet
> 
> As for the drawer runners, I think I'd be inclined to stick with the metal ones. It is, after all, a tool cabinet and tools weigh a lot (especially the number you have ). I reckon that, long term, the metal ones will wear better and give you less grief.
> 
> If you were putting it in the lounge, that would be a different matter.......



(i cant' agree enough tony leave them as they are they are not out of place at all .hc


----------



## houtslager

yep I have to agree, leave 'em be - its in a workshop for gawd's sake.

hs


----------



## Paul.J

Waka.
That is a beautiful looking tool cabinet and well deserved for the tools it's going to hold.
I quite like the runners as Paul says it does now give it that workshop look to it.
I would keep em as they will no doubt get a lot of use,and last a lot longer with trouble free use  
Can't wait to see it finished.


----------



## jlawrence

Fantastic looking cabinet imho.
Yes, the drawer runners look unsightly and let the piece down somewhat. But given the weight of tools I don't see any other sensible option. It'll be an interesting journey but there must be a way to disguise the runners somehow.


----------



## leighf

This is a dream project, I'm just going to keep plugging away and learning, someday I will have the skill to do this type of project. 

Absolutely fabulous, keep up the magnificent work and please keep us informed of the progress.


----------



## Anonymous

Waka

Had a read as you suggested and that is coming on superbly mate. I am inspsired to make one when I get enough free time and the the other jobs that have been added to my to-do list for me are completed.....

Keep the piccies coming.


----------



## Tom K

Fantastic toolbox looks like high quality furniture very nice.
Don't listen to the [email protected] about the slides they were designed to overcome
the sagging and sticking drawer sagas of the good old days.


----------



## Waka

Apart from a top shelf to make the inside of the cabinet is now finished. To support the shelf I've used the brass inserts with brass shelf supports, I think this looks better than securing with a bracket.











So its the doors to do, I've got the wood ready, these are the last two planks of the rosewood I have left, and by my judgement assuming nothing goes wrong should be enough to complete the job.

Ordered the piano hinges and screws today, so no reason now to hang back, my projected finish date is the middle of October because I've got a couple of other projects that need seeing to and I want to fit in 3 weeks on the Narrow Boat.

Thought I'd give you a little look into a few of the drawers that I've started using, mainly the planes and chisels.













Nice thing is that I don't think I'm going to be able to fill all the drawers, might have to go on a spending spree to celebrate the finishing of the cabinet






Thanks for your interest.


----------



## paulm

Fantastic Tony, a piece to be very proud of indeed =D>  

Cheers, Paul


----------



## Lord Nibbo

I wish I was related to you Waka, then you might name me in your will :lol: Tools and Cabinet all heirloom quality =D>


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## woodbloke

I can vouch that the planes and chisels do look very tidy (slight use of the understatement there) in the drawers and indeed that some of the drawers have mostly fresh air in them. Should Waka invest in a few more shinies, then we all need to stand by for a few 'drive by' gloats from the 'Master' :lol: - Rob


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## TEP

Absolutely beautiful *Tony*, the design really compliments the knobs. _(He says tongue in cheek)_

Not been around for a while, but glad to see it is moving towards completion. Enjoy your break on the water when you get there.


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## ste_5150

Crikey that's a piece of workmanship right there! Stunning.


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## Escudo

Very nice Tony. Well done. 

Cheers, Tony


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## Waka

I wasn't sure I would get to the doors so soon but the other little job I had planned is on the back burner for a few weeks, so I thought I'd start the bit of the cabinet I've been dreading.

First off I cut the stiles and rails for the doors.






In the past I have always used biscuits for this sort of job, but in this case I thought I'd use the Domino, this is the first time I've used it on a project and I have to say I'm really impressed, I've only done the basic joints with it so far, but as time goes on I'm sure I'll get to the angled stuff.






Now for a quick run over the router table for the rebates, these will hold the panels in place.






Quick check of the panels ensuring that I've got the right two going together in the panel.






Couple of clamps and glue and hay presto one panel in the making.






Now comes what I call the tricky bit, the fitting of the piano hinge. I have to say that in the past I've let myself done by not buying quality hinges and also not having the knack of fitting them, this is with reading books, watching videos and getting advice from people.

So I got some solid brass quality hinges from Ironmongery Direct, I then played around with scrap pieces of wood to get the right distances. The last thing I wanted to do was start putting them on the cabinet without having everything measured accurately. Once this was done I scribed a line on the door and also on the frame and started fitting the hinge.






I was pleased with the result and I'm sure the hour or two getting the settings right played off.






It was now quite easy to set the other door in place.












The actual doors when in the closed position overlap slightly, each door the thickness of the hinge, these will be planed down so that (hopefully) I'll have a 1 mm gap between the doors.

When this is done the framework of the door will be made an added to the inside of the door allowing a space to hang tools.


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## Chems

Looks brilliant!

I have to say a trip round your workshop must be like Tool heaven with Festool and Jet and Incra scattered all over the place. 

In your plane draw it looks like you have 3 of the small lie-Nielsen block planes why do you have 3?


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## Waka

Chems

Good question, the first on is the Rabbet block plane and the other two are the adjustable mouth Standard and Low angle block planes.


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## Beardo16

Hi Waka

I have to say i have read this project from the start and have to say its absolutely fantastic.

A great insight into what us students can learn from.

Adam


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## Lord Nibbo

It looks absolutely stunning, absolutely stunning absolutely. :lol: =D> ccasion5:


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## OPJ

You were dreading the doors? With all that you've accomplished previously here, they look like one of the easiest parts of the build - especially with your tool arsenal! :wink:

Look forward to seeing the finished job very soon then!


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## woodbloke

Waka - looking extremely good, glad the doors went onto the cabinet in the correct manner. I take it the issue we discussed was resolved? - Rob


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## xy mosian

Waka -- brilliant, a masterpiece if ever I saw one.  Think I'll take up gardening instead.

xy


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## Waka

woodbloke":2d7qquf5 said:


> Waka - looking extremely good, glad the doors went onto the cabinet in the correct manner. I take it the issue we discussed was resolved? - Rob


 
Certainly was Rob, well nearly, there is a discrepancy of 1/32 between top and bottom.


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## Paul.J

Looks beautiful Waka  
Well worth all the effort.Well done.


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## Anonymous

The doors look lovely Waka and really finish it off

Intrigued by


> I take it the issue we discussed was resolved? -



Give me a call and tell all :wink:


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## woodbloke

Tony":usgckeuz said:


> The doors look lovely Waka and really finish it off
> 
> Intrigued by
> 
> 
> 
> I take it the issue we discussed was resolved? -
> 
> 
> 
> 
> Give me a call and tell all :wink:
Click to expand...

 [-( [-(...a discrepancy of 1/32" over that distance is more than acceptable - Rob


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## Paul Chapman

Looks great, Waka 8) 

Cheers :wink: 

Paul


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## devonwoody

My compliments added in addition to all above. 

I almost wish I was a neighbour of yours


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## Waka

Thanks for the comments guys, hopefully I can have it finished by the end of next week.


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## BradNaylor

Beautiful Waka, although I am sure I am not alone in smiling a little to myself at the thought of someone spending all that time, effort and wood on a cupboard for the workshop!

Maybe when I'm retired...

I'm a little puzzled by the choice of piano hinge for the doors - it spoils the aesthetics for me. Brass butts or even concealed hinges would have looked better IMO.

Lovely job though.

Brad


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## Waka

BradNaylor":2tde00mi said:


> Beautiful Waka, although I am sure I am not alone in smiling a little to myself at the thought of someone spending all that time, effort and wood on a cupboard for the workshop!
> 
> Maybe when I'm retired...
> 
> I'm a little puzzled by the choice of piano hinge for the doors - it spoils the aesthetics for me. Brass butts or even concealed hinges would have looked better IMO.
> 
> Lovely job though.
> 
> Brad



I've tried to follow the design of the original by Andy Rae who used piano hinges, I'm sure other types would have done as well if not better.

I know that Chris when he did his, used barrel hinges so there are a multitude of choices out there. I did notice that on the lower cupboard doors of Andy Rae's design he used concealed hinges, to me it didn't look right, so these hinges were never an option.


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## wizer

I must admit I felt the same about the hinges but they have grown on me. Soss hinges would have been nice but not sure how much weight they can take. 

Are the same knobs being used for the doors?


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## Paul Chapman

I think the piano hinges look OK and were a good choice - they make for a very well supported door.

Cheers :wink: 

Paul


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## mailee

Good Lord Waka! If I had built that I would have it in my living room! :shock: All I can say is absolutely beauitful mate, a work of art.


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## Waka

wizer":1bexw1xq said:


> I must admit I felt the same about the hinges but they have grown on me. Soss hinges would have been nice but not sure how much weight they can take.
> 
> Are the same knobs being used for the doors?



Wizer

In the early days of construction I was going to have knobs on the drawers and even had them made, but I've now decided that with knobs on the doors it would not look right, they would stick out and look odd considering there are no visible knobs to match them with.

My door mechanism will be along the same lines as the drawers in the base section, push to open and push to close, having said that I haven't manage to source any that appeals to me, but I know their out there somewhere.

This will result in a completely flush fronted cabinet, nothing to catch things on or break off.


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## Waka

mailee":2tnomh50 said:


> Good Lord Waka! If I had built that I would have it in my living room! :shock: All I can say is absolutely beauitful mate, a work of art.



Mailee

I tried the "can I put it indoors" ploy and it just didn't work, so in the workshop it will stay.

I have heard a few mutterings about something similar for HID's artwork etc, but haven't yet worked out what's in it for me.


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## Waka

Well, as the last post said this is the final one for the tool cabinet, there were times during this project where I couldn't see the end, but perserverence prevailed. 

Doing the inserts for the doors was relatively easy. I have set these back slightly so I can get a really close fit between the two doors. 

I'm not really one for hanging tools in doors, but in this case I have made an exception and I really think it has turned out well/ 

This doors shows all the squares. 







The opposite door with some of the saws. 






Weight wise I'm really impressed with the piano hinges, no movement at all with the doors open 180 degrees.

I have put one shelf in place, but I have also made an extra one just in case I need it, this will sit on top of the cabinet until required.






My method of open/closing the doors is the push to open/close mechanism, got these from Sugatsune, only £1.70 each, they work really well and with the doors loaded they still give a 40 mm throw.






So all nicely finished (I think).

Thanks for all your comments, I hope you've enjoyed watching the progress as I have making it. And for those of you that think that for a tool cabinet it's completely over the top, I'm inclined to agree with you. 

But on the other hand I've learnt such a lot just making it that to me it was well worth the effort.

Next job is some picture frames for my daughter.


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## Chems

A true wood of art! Thats all that can be said!


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## Paul Chapman

Super job, Waka =D> 

Cheers :wink: 

Paul


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## AndyT

Awesome. 

It's a modern day interpretation of the old idea of the beautiful tool cabinet (Seaton Chest etc) demonstrating the quality of work that the owner of the tools can achieve. So not over the top for a workshop cupboard, but in line with the enviable collection of thousands of pounds worth of tools.

I'm off back to my basement with its old kitchen cupboards and chipboard shelves!

Andy


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## Karl

Excellent work Waka - really enjoyed following this thread.

Cheers

Karl


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## laird

Stunning build. Some of your furniture must be magnificent.


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## TrimTheKing

Excellent cabinet and great thread. Cheers.


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## paulm

Inspirational Tony, thanks for taking the time to post the build process and all the pics as well.

Cheers, Paul


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## devonwoody

Very nice looking cabinet and should somehow be made available to be seen when others surf the web looking for such an item.

You say finished, your pictures do not display any drawer pulls? or do they?


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## Waka

devonwoody":1qacomif said:


> Very nice looking cabinet and should somehow be made available to be seen when others surf the web looking for such an item.
> 
> You say finished, your pictures do not display any drawer pulls? or do they?



DW

No drawer pull on the bottom section, these are push to open/close.


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## Blister

O MY GOD :shock: 

I may as well give up now  

Cant see me every getting to that standard 8) 

Its bloody fantastic =D> =D>


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## Escudo

Nice one Waka, really great. 

Thanks for making the effort to record your WIP on this project as well.

Cheers, Tony.


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## xy mosian

Nice one Waka, I am truly awestruck by both the craftsmanship and the perseverance. 

xy


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## OPJ

It's been a pleasure following this build and the end result is perfection! 8) _Now_, it's time to get those tools dirty!! :twisted: :wink:


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## Karl

Waka - just a thought about the unit in the final pic. Do you think it would look better with some kind of moulding round the top?

Cheers

Karl


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## woodbloke

Waka - *excellent* job...you just need to fill up the 'fresh air' bits now with some more shinies :wink: :lol: - Rob


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## head clansman

Hi Tony


8) hc


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## head clansman

Hi Tony 


nah not really , total load of old rubbish , don't like it , rip it all apart start again do it properly next time .hc :wink: :wink: :lol: :lol: know what i mean :roll:


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## houtslager

bloody good job there ! 

intensely jealous 8)


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## Paul.J

It's a craka Waka


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## The Shark

Hi Waka,
Excellent job, congratulations, and thanks for taking the time and trouble to post the thread.

Malc


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## Lord Nibbo

Yes beautifully crafted Waka, I really think Charlie ought to edit the thread to just your posts and place it on the Home page or projects permanently. =D> =D> =D>


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## StevieB

Fantastic, and a real pleasure following this thread.

Actually, Lord Nibbo makes a good point there - how about an area of the site for 'Inspirational builds' or some such. Doesn't have to be a forum category but something like this, which has garnered as much praise as it has, should be more publicised rather than left to drop off the forum. An alternative idea might be for a yearly 'forum award' voted for by the members. Perhaps the mods could select 5-10 builds through the year then have a public vote between xmas and new year with the 3 best projects given a yearly first second and third placing and a prominent position on the website. No prizes other than kudos, no effort other than the mods picking the entrants (sorry if thats alot of work for already overworked mods!). These are random 'as I type ideas' so feel free to dismiss or discuss. These kind of threads do really inspire me to get down into my workshop, even though I know I will never attain such skill levels.

Steve.


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## head clansman

Hi tony 


the guy you got your measurements from was there an original thread on this cabinet by Chris (waterhead 37) by any chance? just out of interest .hc


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## BigShot

Absolutely stunning work there, Waka.
Stunning.

That's the kind of tool cupboard that just gives a warm, fuzzy feeling and I think it is absolutely fantastic. A fantastic use of wood.


It makes me almost ashamed of the cupboards I have in mind for my planned workshop, thankfully I'll never have to put that plywood creation next to yours so it's not too bad.


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## Anonymous

Stunning!!!!! ccasion5:


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## woodbloke

StevieB":1rvvxd8h said:


> Fantastic, and a real pleasure following this thread.
> 
> Actually, Lord Nibbo makes a good point there - how about an area of the site for 'Inspirational builds' or some such. Doesn't have to be a forum category but something like this, which has garnered as much praise as it has, should be more publicised rather than left to drop off the forum. An alternative idea might be for a yearly 'forum award' voted for by the members. Perhaps the mods could select 5-10 builds through the year then have a public vote between xmas and new year with the 3 best projects given a yearly first second and third placing and a prominent position on the website. No prizes other than kudos, no effort other than the mods picking the entrants (sorry if thats alot of work for already overworked mods!). These are random 'as I type ideas' so feel free to dismiss or discuss. These kind of threads do really inspire me to get down into my workshop, even though I know I will never attain such skill levels.
> 
> Steve.


We had a similar idea a couple of years ago started by Tony (mod) which was the 'Interesting Pieces of Furniture' thread, where members submitted pieces (not made by themselves) for analysis. There were some very interesting pieces...might be time to have another shot at it? - Rob


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## Waka

All thank you for your kind comments they are much appreciated.

I do have to thank a couple of guys for their help and guidance. 

As some of you will be aware Chris Knight (Waterhead 37) made a cabinet based on Andy Rae's from the Jim Tolpin book " The Toolbox Book" .
HC you should be able to track this thread down.

I have to thank Chris for letting me see, photograph and take measurements from his cabinet, (by the way Chris's cabinet is really stunning) and help me via the phone when I've had queries, I think without this help I would have fallen by the wayside.

Also to Martin (Mahking51) who has come up with some good suggestions during the build.

I'm back to reality now making picture frames for one of my daughters.


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## Chems

Any possibility of pictures with the draws open waka? See how you've stored it all in the end?


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## Waka

Chems":2u6std3k said:


> Any possibility of pictures with the draws open waka? See how you've stored it all in the end?



Chems I'm still playing around with the draw configuration, but when finished I'd be happy to send you some pic's.


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## Chris Knight

Tony,
It's a cracking job - you can be justifiably very proud of it. I think the 'murricanism of "heirloom piece" is overused but definitely not in this case. The grandkids will be salivating over the prospect of inheriting it one day!

Although our cabinets are similar in basic design to Andy Rae's and no doubt many others out there somewhere, it's great to see how much individuality can be imparted though the details - choices of wood, finish, fittings etc.


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## mahking51

Tony,

S'allright , I suppose...of course no one else has seen the bookshelf I made in our kitchen for HID's cookbooks...  That is REALLY something!

Seriously, well done, its been a longish road from that shed full of rosewood in Abbotsbury, thorough all the endless cups of tea talking about it.
Finally to arrive at a piece your grandchildren will be justifiably proud of.

Personally, I place little credence in the rumour that they already have a contract out on you..... :wink: 
Well Done mate!
Martin


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## BigShot

waterhead37":buh5irv9 said:


> The grandkids will be salivating over the prospect of inheriting it one day!


Speaking of which, with something as nice as this, that's the kind of thing you'd probably want to deal with in your will.
Worth thinking about, Waka?

It'd be a nightmare to have a family get into stress over something so nice.


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## Waka

mahking51":1gm72g33 said:


> Tony,
> 
> S'allright , I suppose...of course no one else has seen the bookshelf I made in our kitchen for HID's cookbooks...  That is REALLY something!
> 
> Seriously, well done, its been a longish road from that shed full of rosewood in Abbotsbury, thorough all the endless cups of tea talking about it.
> Finally to arrive at a piece your grandchildren will be justifiably proud of.
> 
> Personally, I place little credence in the rumour that they already have a contract out on you..... :wink:
> Well Done mate!
> Martin



Ah the book shelf, you must let me take some pic's for the forum. :? :?


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## Boz62

Stunning work Waka. Thankyou for documenting it so thoroughly . Here are the other threads mentioned above (now I've found them at last :shock:

Chris's original cabinet and it being measured by Waka.

Wonderful stuff
Boz


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## mahking51

> Ah the book shelf, you must let me take some pic's for the forum.


No Tony, not necessary, don't want to make them all give up in disgust when they see a piece that puts Chippendale to shame.....  :roll: 
Martin


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## Waka

Thanks again for all the comments guys, off on a couple weeks hol's today for a well earned rest.


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## wobblycogs

Simply amazing and a fitting piece of furniture to the tools that grace it's insides.

I'm just finishing my first cabinet, one day I hope to be half that good at butchering wood. Hope you enjoy your well earned break Waka


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## markturner

Hey Waka, I have just stumbled across this thread, and not sure I can add anything to the comments already posted, but was just blown away by the piece and how stunning it looks. I have been toying with the idea of making something similar for my workshop, albeit smaller, and you have just made that idea a definite. I can only hope mine is half as fantastic as yours, very well done.

Cheers, Mark


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## Waka

Mark

Thanks for the positive comments, it seems such a long time ago.

I'm just in the process of finishing off a similar cabinet for HID's to put all her sewing and craft stuff in. Unfortunately I didn't do WIP pic's so it'll just be the finished cabinet.


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