New tool cabinet WIP

[Karl]

Hi all

I'm about to start on a little project (well, probably not quite so little!), and i'm in the process of putting a design together. This won't be a quick WIP, as I intend to do it in between all my other stuff, but i'd like to try and get it finished before Christmas.

I will be building a cabinet out of Oak, but rather than have normal doors, I intend to create a box door so that tools can be hung inside the door. Similair to that shown in Lord Nibbo's thread here. However, I want the fronts of the doors to have a shaker style - and there's my first conundrum. How do you make such a construction. The only way I can think of is to make the door carcass first and then fix (glue?) the door onto the carcass. I'm not sure how good this would look.

Any help appreciated.

Cheers

Karl

 

[mtr1]

This one looks simple enough Karl, just copy it 8)

 

[Ironballs]

Looks like it would go up in a weekend that one

 

[Karl]

Mark - the actual cabinet is exactly what i'm talking about. Well, twice the size actually. The innards will be a touch less complicated :lol:

Cheers

Karl

 

[Karl]

It looks like the construction method for the front half of the carcass is as I thought - a dovetailed box with a "door" planted on the front. A bit of shaping softens the transition between the two.

Unless i'm seeing it wrong?

Cheers

Karl

 

[mtr1]

Yes, it has some kind of detail on the corner. The front also appears to be of fairly thin stock 1/2", but it could be rebated in? If I was making a tool cabinet, I would do something similar to what you said, ie dovetail the carcase of the door, then run a bead around the front of this carcase where it joins the flat part of the door. I would also make the panels the same thickness as the door stiles and rails, so I could get fixings in or a biscut/dom.

 

[Karl]

Good idea about rebating the back of the door/front. It was the thicknes of a door planted onto the dovetailed carcass which concerned me, but that would solve that problem. A nice moulding detail once it's on and I think it' look pretty nice.

I will be making the panels the same thickness as the doors.

I'll finish my drawings and get them posted up so everybody can see what i'm talking about.

Cheers

Karl

 

[Karl]

I've managed to get the general design together. Here's an external sketch

I haven't bothered doing an internal sketch as this will be worked out as we go along. I know [roughly] how it will be fitted out, but this may be subject to final detail.

The plan is to build the main carcass (8" deep) as a single unit, with a central divider. This will separate the cabinet into hand plane storage and chisel/mallet sections. Each half will probably have a couple of drawers in the bottom, for sharpening gear, spare blades etc.

The front carcass doors will be 4" deep, with shaker style frontage. Some moulding detail will be applied to the edge of the doors once they've been rebated into the carcass - probably a stopped chamfer. Not sure yet. The doors will also be used to house tools etc. Details to follow.

Most of the unit will be solid timber - at the moment I only anticipate using veneered MDF for the backs. I might even use solid t&g for the backs. Not decided yet.

I've decided to use as much hand tool work as possible, for three reasons. Firstly, this is a cabinet for some of the fine hand tools I own and it seems fitting to build it with the tools which it will house. Secondly, it'll give some [much needed] practice. Thirdly, it is going to be built in my "spare" time, most of which is after the kids have gone to bed and it's not possible to use the machines. I'm not ruling out the use of machinery, but would like to use primarily hand tools. Of course, this may necessitate the purchase of one or two little bits along the way - all part of the Masterplan !

Finally - timber choice. I have pretty much settled on some nice English Oak.

Any comments always appreciated.

Cheers

Karl

 

[jlawrence]

Must be the time of year for building tool cabinets. Literally just started mine as well.

 

[Karl]

Paid a visit to the timber yard today. It is a local yard, set in some fantastic grounds. A couple of shots of the yard

Anyway, the yard is run by one guy, working on his own. To get to the timber you have to climb over the stacks, located in the shed behind the logs shown in the second pic - the timber was stacked 10' high ! We worked our way through some really nice quatersawn oak which he had (PROPER quarter sawn, with the boards stacked in sequence).

Having selected a few boards we loaded them into the car, only to discover they were too long. Drastic action required

:shock:

That little problem overcome, I shipped them home and thought i'd take a preview of my wares

Methinks i've bought too much! OK, there's a lot of waney edge and pith to get rid of, but after that there's about 4.5 cuft. Ah well, it'll come in useful for something.............

Moved the timber into the workshop until I can get chance to work on the timbers. In this shot you can see how nice and straight the timbers are.

That's it for now - next job is to try and figure out which boards are going to be used, saw the crud off and make some general sense of what i've got!

Thanks for looking.

Cheers

Karl

 

[woodbloke]

Moved the timber into the workshop until I can get chance to work on the timbers. In this shot you can see how nice and straight the timbers are.

That's it for now - next job is to try and figure out which boards are going to be used, saw the crud off and make some general sense of what i've got!

Thanks for looking.

Cheers

Karl

Karl - if it were me, the next job would be to stick it and leave it for a couple of months in a moderately cool place...you don't need me to tell you why :wink: - Rob

 

[Karl]

Ha - sorry Rob, you may have missed a bit of the story (my fault - i've edited my original post). The timber has been stored in the shed behind the logs shown in the pic above. It is nice and dry and, seeing as the cabinet is going in the 'shop (single un-insulated garage), I don't think it'll need any more drying.

Cheers

Karl

 

[Ironballs]

Come on Karl, get that timber on the planer and show us what it looks like

 

[woodbloke]

Ha - sorry Rob, you may have missed a bit of the story (my fault - i've edited my original post). The timber has been stored in the shed behind the logs shown in the pic above. It is nice and dry and, seeing as the cabinet is going in the 'shop (single un-insulated garage), I don't think it'll need any more drying.

Cheers

Karl

All is clear now :wink: - Rob

 

[Karl]

Just for you IB

Pretty much all the boards look like they'll have the same distinctive colouring, so should make for an interesting piece.

Cheers

Karl

 

[OLD]

The wood yard looks like wild woods at Peover Hall.

 

[Karl]

That's the one, OLD.

Cheers

Karl

 

[BradNaylor]

So come on you two, spill the beans!

Why don't I know about this Wildwood place?

 

[Karl]

Well, it's all a bit hush hush. Don't want anybody just going in there and ripping all the quality stock out of there!

Google "Timber Suppliers Peover" and it'll come up - 01565 723300. Although it's not actually on Long Lane, Peover. And if you phone, it'll take 10 phone calls to actually speak to the guy..........

English Oak £30 plus vat cu/ft for 1". All waney edge though, but he's quite generous in what he allows you for wastage.

Let me know if you need any other details.

Cheers

Karl

 

[OLD]

My old linkhttps://www.ukworkshop.co.uk/forums/interesting-wood-yard-near-knutsford-cheshire-t29573.html
The pictures have gone but the directions are still handy.