Thread: WIP Cedar tools storage drawers

Started the drawer bottoms this morning.



On down, 12 to go.

Nice job, meuls, and top marks for finding a second life for the WRC. A curved front is pretty elaborate for a tool cupboard, but that's pot calling the kettle black, I guess. Once you decide to go with a 'decent' tool cupboard, it's hard to restrain yourself, I've found!

Are you gong to laminate those drawer-bottoms? Any gaps will be a very annoying receptacle for the dust & crud that seems to readily find its way into my tool cupboard drawers. My cupboard is mostly recycled & scrounged wood, but I used ply for the drawer-bottoms, not as aesthetically pleasing as recycled wood, but easy to clean out.
I made a design error with my cupboard, I put a set of narrow drawers at the top & the wide drawers underneath, because it seemed more logical that way. I overlooked the fact that the centre divider between the narrow drawers transfers a good deal of the weight of the drawers onto the blade of the top wide drawer. This has caused a small amount of sag in the divider, so that it now catches slightly on the drawer-front. It's just visible in this pic: TB.jpg

Looking at the pic, I see there's a fair bit of wear in those drawers that get the most use, & some uneven gaps, but I guess that's inevitable after many years of constant use.

You've done a better design job, you don't have as many drawers, and the dividers are not transmitting the load to one point, plus you've through-tenoned & wedged the blades, so you've certainly minimised the chance of sag, & will probably have no problems from that source...

Once those bottoms are in, the fun starts, fitting all the tools in, and leaving room for the extras you don't yet know you have to own.....

Cheers,

Thanks for the input and showing your cabinet. I like the good use of space with regards to chisel placement, can i ask how you have organised your drawers? (non slip mat, foam?)

The curved front is only due to me not allowing for the door hardware, and the cover that protects it. (whats that rule "measure once cut and assemble the unit before checking it is going to fit")

You have hit the nail on the head, i can already see a slight sag with some weight added, but it seems to be due to having the wide drawer on the second row. This has caused the next two banks of drawers to have no support from the top rail. I may add some angle steel or aluminium to minimize the deflection. (any suggestions from the brains trust?)

The current plan with the drawer base is to place 3mm ply into the drawers, these will have pieces attached to keep the tools in their place (similar to a shadow wall). I should be able to remove them for cleaning, and also to adjust tool placement. (fingers crossed i'm allowed to buy anymore.)

I am looking to finish the unit in tung oil, but haven't made the call yet. (suggestions welcome)

Cheers)

Originally Posted by meuls69

...... I like the good use of space with regards to chisel placement, can i ask how you have organised your drawers? (non slip mat, foam?).....

Meuls, I think what you are seeing as 'chisels' are rasps & files, but yes, I have tried to use every bit of space available!

Chisels live in drawers, made just deep enough for the purpose: LNs.jpg

I tried various ways of keeping tools from rattling against each other. Non-slip matting is ok for some tools, but not so hot for things like chisels. Foam I don't like because it deteriorates over time. The best solution I've managed so far is to sort of "French-fit" things. Various scraps & off-cuts were glued-up into the rough shapes, then cut-out to take the tools. It's easy to do & a good way to use scraps of nice wood with defects that render it unusable for cabinetry: Mkng ggs.jpg

Be careful in your choice of wood - I used some Silky oak once, & it left nasty rust marks wherever it contacted shiny metal Most of what I've used is Camphor, because I have lots of off-cuts of it, & it seems to be non-corrosive. To add some insurance, I shellac & wax any areas that make contact with steel.

Whatever method you choose, I suggest using something that is easy enough to alter/replace down the track. If my experience (& that of just about every w'worker I know!) is any guide, you will go on acquiring new tools, whatever you tell yourself. I made the toolbox above close to 20 years ago, telling myself at the time that I had all the tools I needed or wanted. Ha! It has since had several major, and many minor re-arrangements, to accommodate things I didn't know were planning to live with me. Just a couple of weeks ago, I re-arranged the the top compartment from this: Plane storage.jpg to this: Top compartmnt.jpg so I could squeeze in a few more rasps & make my small planes easier to get at.

Saws have become a problem for me. Initially, they all fitted inside the the doors: Main T-box.jpg but that was before I got this crazy saw-making bug. Not long ago, I re-arranged he left door to squeeze in a new saw: L door.jpg

But the doors just cannot hold the number of saws I now "need", so I've got an extra saw-till squashed into the remaining small space between the tool cupboard & a window: Saw till 2012.jpg (& at least one more saw has since squirmed into the bit of space you see in that pic!)

The moral is that toolboxes should be considered as a perpetual WIP.....

Cheers,

PS - Tung is a good choice - least colour change of the oils, but tough & easy to repair/replenish down the track. Bit slow to dry if you use pure Tung.

Ian
Not sure I'll ever get sick of studying that tool layout
thanks

Good Morning Meuls

Like you, I also got sick of trying to find stuff hiding in the piles on the shelves of a Steelbuilt cabinet, so I followed your example - Thank You!

Tool Drawers - In.JPG Tool Drawers - Out.JPG

Had some 32 x 90 mm radiata, so I used that - I know, its overbuilt - and I used full extension draw runners which improves access so much. But I cheep-skated and used 5mm MDF for the bottoms. My logic being that the wood would be better used in making more drawers, eventually.

Am tending even more to my old assumption that all storage below waist level should be in drawers - so much more accessible and visible than shelves, and holds so much more.

Thanks for the idea.

Have been thinking about drawer dividers. Ian, loved your chisel rack and think I may be inspired by it ........




Can just imagine if I made something half as nice as your tool cabinet, Ian. The debate might start ..... Tha's too nice to leave in your dusty workshop, but it would look good in my sewing room..."
..


Fair Winds

Graeme