For those following, this series follows my attempts to design and build a Hybrid tool chest for my meager hand tool collection. The first and second parts will get you up to speed with the box up until this point.

After talking with Art Director Mike Pekovich, I realized that the bottom of my case was trapped and stood a very likely chance of expanding enough to blow the glue joints surrounding it. To relieve this, I simply used a circular saw to cut two kerfs through the bottom. To make sure the “slats” I had just created didn’t fall out, I simply used some screws to bind the pieces to the case sides.

Now that the I was more comfortable with my hard work not turning into kindling due to humidity, I moved onto building the lower trays that will hold a few Stanley Bailey planes, and the handsaws that are soon to be in my future. I went with ply for the dividers that were fit in place, and then capped with an ash runner along the top edges. These runners would provide a durable edging for the ply that will also better support the trays to come in the future. After some trial and error, I had everything fit, albeit very snug. No worries on that though, I made all the dividers and rails removable in the event I change the box’s layout.

The last thing I did was act on a cool idea I thought of while messing around with the box at home. I found the lid also fits upside down in the box opening, and the wedge also locks it in that way as well. This leaves a nice flat surface that’s securely attached straight to the weighted box… so I turned it into a plane stop/mini-work surface. A thin strip of white oak and two screws later, the lid now flips over to reveal a mini planing station.

Overall, this installment was relatively painless, and I think the till in the bottom of the box will work well and the plane stop feature will come in handy. Next installment will finish off this series, with a couple trays for chisels and other tools and a finish of some sort.

Launch Gallery