Hi all,
I’m almost finished with my tool chest and thought I’d write it up. Pictures in somewhat odd order thanks to discourse mobile.
The design is Christopher Schwartz’s Dutch Tool Chest - I paid a fiver for the issue of Fine Woodworking which had the plans and build detail in it. This was a big project, and had lots of new stuff in it for me - as with everything I do tend to see the errors on it but I’m pleased with how it turned out.
Excellent!
What wood(s) did you use?
Cheers!
The carcasse is 100% pine, with a strip of oak on the lid as something a bit more hardwearing. The inside of the fall front has oak batons on it, with catches made from some upcycled hardwood, and the keys are strips of walnut I happened to have handy.
This looks great! I’ve been reading the anarchists toolchest and am probably going to build a tool chest next. Torn between the Dutch and the big English floor chest although intimidated by the amount of work in the latter. A year on how’re you getting on with it?
By complete coincidence, I am about to start building the boarded tool chest in his Anarchist Design Book, which is smaller and rather simpler than the ATC.
I really liked the Dutch style - having all my chisels on display like that was very nice, and being able to grab what I needed straight away. I did have some stuff which the shelving didn’t quite work for, which was annoying, and I always struggled for a place to put my mallet.
I’ve just moved to a new place and couldn’t ship my tool chest, so I’ve shipped some tools and will be putting together the smaller chest when they arrive next week. I’ll let you know how it goes!
Oh cool I haven’t seen that one, is it English style but smaller essentially? Do you have a picture?
The ease of working from it and seeing your tools is what appeals to me. I love the tool cabinets you see in youtuber workshops but as my space is a spare bedroom a tool chest that can be packed away seems more appropriate. Interesting that you say it didnt work for some tools, I have 3 handsaws which is already over capacity and wondered how it worked with long planes (although currently the longest I have is a 5 1/2). Was there anything else that tripped it up?
This is a fully built one with some decent photos. It’s not as pretty as the dutch chest or the ATC I think, but it’s possible to add a bit of skirting and so on (I’m going to experiment a bit with mine when it’s built).
The DTC actually handles plane storage wonderfully - the large one I think is long enough to store a No 7 with room to spare. I had a jack plane, my No 4 and a few other odds and ends which fitted no problem. The top shelf of my DTC was also perfect for moulding/toothing/coffin planes, and I kept mine there. Just like having a shelf in a cupboard.
If i had to pick one real poor point on the DTC vs an English one, the tills on the latter are great for small fiddly things. I built this tool chest as a friend wanted to make one and it was easier to make two and work out how to do it as I went along. The till was great to have for odds and ends as I worked, and that’s what’s leading me to try this. Personally I think very traditional chests store too much in tills: I wouldn’t want more than two (and I might even find that a bit irritating) but we’ll see how I get on with this one.
I’m limited by needing almost everything to fit in the chest I build (not unlike yourself, possibly), but I think in an ideal world it would be nice to have a DTC for moulding planes, regular planes and chisels all in a row, then a small english chest like this for power tools (in the bottom) and all the little things in the tills. But then I love moulding planes and want to build a set.
Chris Schwartz put the draft plans up here https://blog.lostartpress.com/2015/07/12/tool-chest-for-new-an-free-download/
Ah I hadn’t thought of that but yeah the small bits dont really have a home in the DTC, maybe adding a drawer at the bottom could work well.
The ATC has good moulding plane storage as well if that’s a deal breaker but I’ll admit to not having any yet (no idea how to find the good ones!)
I’m leaning towards going Dutch (plus small bits storage maybe) with the two main considerations being:
Seems like people have come up with this before… Lots of examples here
Megan Fitzpatrick is worth a follow on Instagram if that’s your thing: she’s currently writing a book on DTCs, which I look forward to reading.
Three more points I remembered looking at that article. One, I thought about a shallow drawer in the top of the lower compartment but didn’t want to lose the height on the top shelf (wouldn’t have fitted moulders in there anymore), and didn’t want to put it under the shelf as I’d be bending down for it all the time.
Two:
I found this photo in The Tool Chest Book with a divided top compartment, which might create a convenient space for mallets etc.
Finally, I struggled with storing things in the lid. Unlike an English one, the lid slants down when closed so there was at least one occasion when the saw slipped and jammed the chest closed.
I’m super glad I stumbled upon your old project! I’ll probably finish up reading ATC, do some more research and then commit. Sounds like your vote would be ATC / the one you’re building? Hard to argue that the ATC isn’t super practical to be fair, and hard to grow out of
I think if I had the space and such I’d go for a large DTC and try a drawer somewhere - but I’d probably wait for the Dutch Tool Chest book to be finished first! If you want a look at some plans then I can send you the FWW article.
If you do one, and you have the gear for it, do breadboard ends on the fall-front and the lid. I reckon it’s worth the effort.
Looking at my space I think you’re right and I’m going to commit to a DTC, interested in the plans for sure.
Thinking I’ll go fairly big so I can get my saws in, have a couple of fancy drawers (to try half blinds) side by side or a wide drawer under the main compartment and gamble that I’ll have enough room below for other planes etc. If I then end up running low on space (perhaps I get super into moulding planes or something) then I can easily build an extra box to go below as lots of people seen to have done.
Keen to do breadboard ends. I see this as a good way to try out lots of joinery so I might also look at some other construction points. For example instead of a dado and nails for the shelf, you could take some notes from this one which I think looks great… Needless complexity or lots of learning!?
I’ll dig it out and PM you. Fwiw, I the dado was the one part of the project I was 100% satisfied with - I think there’s lots to keep you occupied with the dovetails on the bottom corners, and if I had the right plane at that time I would have done tongue and groove for the back rather than ship lap. Up to you of course - I look forward to the build photos!
