This classic chestoffers a lesson

in efficientwoodworking

B Y C H R I S G O C H N O U R

Heirloom Tool Chest

M A R C H / A P R I L 2 0 0 4 37Photos, except where noted: Matt Berger; facing page: Michael Pekovich; drawings: Bob La Pointe

cabinetmaker’s tool chest embodies a certain nostalgia andcharm for modern woodworkers. It speaks of a time whencraftsmen had few tools but an abundance of skill. Tool

chests often served as a calling card to display a craftsman’s talents.However, some were utilitarian, built simply to house tools.

The tool chest described in this article is of the latter kind—prac-tical, enduring, and simple. But in a time when woodworkers havean abundance of power tools at every turn, making this tool chestwith traditional hand-tool techniques can be a bridge to an erapast. I recommend using this project as a hand-tool exercise,though power tools could be substituted for any of the operations.Practicing the techniques involved in the chest’s construction will

make you more confident with hand tools, and you may find theman indispensable resource in your day-to-day shop tasks.

Choose and mark the materialSelect a medium-density hardwood that is worked easily withhand tools. Because the tool chest is intended to be carried,

A

A C O M F O R TA B L E H O M E F O R T O O L SMade of cherry and constructed entirely with hand tools, the tool chest incorporatesdovetail joinery, frame-and-panel construction, and applied molding.

Front and back,3⁄4 in. thick by 13 in. wide by28 in. long

Groove, 3⁄8 in. deep by 3⁄8 in. wide, located 1⁄2 in.from the bottom edge

Sides, 3⁄4 in.thick by 13 in.wide by 15 in.long

Bottom panel, 3⁄4 in. thick by14 in. wide by271⁄4 in. long

Tongue, 3⁄8 in. wideby 3⁄8 in.long

Lid stiles, 3⁄4 in. thickby 21⁄2 in. wide by281⁄8 in. long

Groove, 3⁄8 in.deep by 1⁄4 in.wide, centeredin thicknessLid rails,

3⁄4 in. thickby 21⁄2 in.wide by151⁄8 in.long

Haunched through-tenons, 1⁄4 in. thickby 13⁄4 in. wide by21⁄2 in. long

Lid panel, 7⁄8 in.thick by 105⁄8 in.wide by 235⁄8 in. long

Groove, 3⁄8 in. deepby 1⁄4 in. wide, 1⁄4 in. from thebottom edge

Base molding, 3⁄4 in.thick by 25⁄8 in. wide,with ogee profilealong top edge

Top molding,3⁄4 in. thick by11⁄4 in. high,with 3⁄16-in.-radius beadalong topedge and 1⁄2-in.-widechamferalong bottom

Lid molding,11⁄16 in. thickby 7⁄8 in. high

291⁄2 in. 161⁄2 in.

14 in.

38 F I N E W O O D W O R K I N G

choose wood that is lightweight yet durable. For this box I chosecherry, which is easy to work and attractive; however, woods suchas red alder, poplar, and white pine also are appropriate.

To reduce the likelihood of warp and twist, select clear, straight-grained wood for the lid frame. This type of wood also is good forthe moldings because it will make them easier to work with mold-ing planes. Knots are fine on panels, but keep them away from theedges so that they will be out of the way of the joinery.

Once you’ve dimensioned the lumber for each part, mark themwith cabinetmaker’s triangles (see FWW #149, p. 90, 92). These tri-angles clearly identify the face and the inside and outside edges ofeach part. And they are helpful for identifying the orientation ofthe pieces when you begin cutting joints.

From here, follow a sequential pattern of construction: Join thebox using dovetails; build the frame-and-panel lid with mortise-and-tenon joinery; shape and apply moldings; and install the

hardware.

Practice and plan the carcase dovetailsI tell students that making dovetails is easy, butcontrolling a handsaw can be difficult. Getcomfortable using a handsaw before you un-dertake the dovetails, and practice dovetail-likecuts on scraps of wood to improve your skill.

Clear and accurate layout is essential tohand-cutting dovetails. Much of your successwill come down to your layout and your abilityto work to the lines and never cut beyond,which comes with practice. The objective is tocut precisely to the layout lines each step of theway. This will greatly minimize cleanup and fit-ting, making the entire process more efficientand enjoyable.

Cut the tails two boards at a time—I cut thetails first and then use them to lay out the pins.

D O V E TA I L A N D A S S E M B L E T H E C A S E

Cut the tails. Clampboth the front andback of the chest in avise with the insidefaces touching (right).Make the cuts with abacksaw. Next, cleanout the waste oneboard at a time with acoping saw (below).Make sure you do not cut past the scribe line.

Chop to the baseline with a chisel. Use a blockof wood, securely clamped along the scribe line, toguide the chisel. Chop partway from both sides ofthe board to avoid tearout.

M A R C H / A P R I L 2 0 0 4 39

I also cut the tails on the front and back of the chest at the sametime with the two boards clamped together in a vise. It is faster andmore accurate because the saw has a longer line to follow as youmake the perpendicular cut along the end grain. Check your cab-inetmaker’s triangles to see whether you have oriented the boardscorrectly; the inside faces of the boards should be touching.

Next, remove the bulk of the waste with a coping saw one boardat a time. Finally, chop to the baseline with a chisel. This is a criticalstep for the dovetails to fit together snug. One method I use is toguide the chisel with a block of wood clamped in place along thebaseline. Chop halfway through from each side to avoid tearout.

Cut the pins to match the tails—The tails on the chest’s frontand back boards are used to lay out the pins. With oneboard secured vertically in the bench vise, place the ad-joining tail board on top, carefully aligned, and secure itwith a clamp.

Once again, make sure the box parts are oriented cor-rectly, then define the pins on the end grain by tracing thetails with a marking knife. Next, deepen the marks usinga broad chisel with its bevel facing the waste. This chiselmark will help guide your saw. Continue the layout linedown the face of the board with a sharp pencil, stoppingat the scribed shoulder line.

The pins are cut much the same as the tails; however, it is more critical here to cut to the line and not past it.With the saw resting to the inside of your chisel mark,make the vertical cuts down the waste side of the pins.Next, remove the bulk of the waste with a coping sawand pare to the baseline with a chisel.

Cut the bottom panelThe bottom panel of the chest must be sized and fittedprior to glue-up. The panel floats in a groove plowed on the inside of the sides, front, and back of the chestcarcase. Use a mortise gauge to scribe two lines 3⁄8 in.

apart, about 1⁄2 in. from the bottom. Now plow the groove with aplow plane. The scored lines from the mortise gauge ensure a clean cut.

The chest bottom is rabbeted, leaving a 3⁄8-in. by 3⁄8-in. tongue thatwill be housed in the groove. Define the rabbet with two scribelines, then remove the material between these lines with a fillisterplane. Remember, the chest’s bottom panel should be free toshrink and expand in the groove. Make sure it is slightly undersize,and don’t glue it during assembly.

Glue up the chest carcaseDry-fit the carcase prior to assembly to ensure that all of thedovetails fit properly and that the bottom panel has room to

Mark the pins with the tails as your guide. With the tailboard clamped firmly in place, trace the tails onto the endgrain of the pin board with a marking knife. Deepen the markswith a chisel to provide a kerf for the handsaw.

Glue up the carcase. After dry-fitting all of the pieces, coat the dovetail jointswith slow-setting wood glue and assemble. The rabbeted bottom panel floats inthe grooves plowed into the four sides. No glue is used.

40 F I N E W O O D W O R K I N G

move. I’ve found that the glue-up can take sometime, so an extra pair of hands and slower-settingglue can be helpful.

I prepared notched cauls that fit around the dovetailpins to spread the clamp pressure evenly without get-ting in the way of the joinery. Four clamps evenlyspaced are adequate for each side. Make sure thechest is glued up squarely, and readjust your clampsto correct any sides that are out of square.

Once the glue has dried, plane the dovetails cleanand flush, and turn your attention to the chest’s lid.

Through-tenons make a sturdy frame-and-panel lidFor the lid’s frame, I used through mortise-and-tenons. Through-tenons make the lid stronger be-cause they provide more glue surface, and the strong,long grain of the rails passes all the way through theweak cross-grain of the stiles. In this way, the tenonserves as a reinforcing cross-ply to the outside edge ofthe lid. Through-tenons also minimize the chance oftwist in the frame. Because the mortises are chiseledout from both sides at the same point, it is impossiblefor the tenon to come through on an angle. Also,chopping all the way through the stile is faster be-cause you don’t have to clean the bottom of the mor-tise, a difficult task.

The lid should be 1⁄16 in. larger than the box on allsides to provide clearance for the applied moldings.Size your stiles and rails taking this into account. Also,overcut the stiles by 2 in. to account for horns, which

A V E R S AT I L E M I T E R I N G J I GThis simple maple jig works as a miter box, accommodating a panel saw in threepositions for cutting at 90° or 45° in either direction, and doubles as a miter jack. Oneend is cut at 45° and is designed for fine-tuning miters with a bench plane. Once youhave sawn the miter, secure the workpiece in the shooting end of the jig with a crosspin and wedge, and trim it to perfection.

Cut the front molding to size first. Once the front molding has beenfitted and clamped to the carcase, measure and cut the side moldings tofit. The back piece is cut and fitted last.

A P P LY T H E M O L D I N G S

Tips of screws helpsecure a workpieceduring miter cuts.

Sawkerfs setto cut 90° or45° in eitherdirection

Removable dowel, 1⁄2 in.dia., and wedge securethe workpiece for planing.

45° Clamping rail fitsin a bench vise.

Body, 3⁄4-in.-thick maple

Brace, 1⁄4 in. by3⁄4 in.

Color the miter-jack surface.If it begins to fade, it meansthe surface is no longer true.

M A R C H / A P R I L 2 0 0 4 41

add strength to the material when cutting the mortises. The hornsare trimmed off after the lid has been assembled.

One setting on a mortise gauge is used throughout—On theinside edge of the stiles, mark each end where the rails will inter-sect the stiles. Then measure 3⁄8 in. from these lines and draw twomore marks to define the width of the mortises. Because it is athrough-mortise, the lines also must be transferred across the faceto the outer edge of the stile.

Set up your mortise gauge precisely to mark the groove for thelid panel as well as the mortises and tenons. Scribe all of these linesreferencing off the face of the boards. Last, lay out the tenoncheeks, haunch, and shoulders with a marking knife.

Rough-cut the haunched tenons and then chop out themortises—Once the lines have been marked, begin rough-cuttingthe tenons. Cut close to the lines, but leave material for final fittinglater. Then plow the groove on the inside edge of all of the stilesand rails. Be sure to reference these plow cuts off the same face ofeach part, guaranteeing a consistent alignment of the groove.

Finally, chisel the mortises. The key to successful mortising is to

use the right chisel—one with a thick blade to keep the chisel fromtwisting and a long bevel to take a shearing cut. Clamp together thetwo stiles in a wooden hand screw with the grooves facing up.Clamping the boards will prevent them from splitting as you chiselaway the waste. Work your way through half the width of the stileon all four mortises. Then flip over the stiles and finish choppingfrom the other side. When you are all the way through, clear out thedebris and use a paring chisel to clean up any irregularities, ensuringthe mortise is straight and true on all four sides.

Once the mortises have been completed, fit the tenons. I used aparing chisel or shoulder plane to fine-tune the shoulder and arouter plane set to the depth of the layout lines to fine-tune the fitof the tenons. Dry-assemble the frame, and use this as one morechance to get an accurate measurement for the panel.

Plow a groove in the panel and assemble—The panel shouldbe sized to fit into the groove with some extra room to accommo-date expansion and contraction with humidity changes. Locateand scribe a groove with the same setting on the mortise gauge asused for the frame. However, this time register off the bottom sideof the panel. Then plow the groove on all four sides.

Next, shape a thumbnail molding on thepanel with a block plane. Before applyingglue, dry-fit the frame and panel to make

Glue the top molding. Later, after the hardware has been installed, nail the molding with fin-ish nails to add additional holding power.

O F F S E T T H E M O L D I N G S T O C R E AT E A L I P P E D L I D

Lid

1⁄8-in.overhang

1⁄16-in. gap 11⁄16 in.

3⁄4 in.

Caseside

Lidmolding

Topmolding

The lid molding masks minor warp ortwist in the frame-and-panel. Set the lidon the box and apply the molding so that itrests on the edge of the carcase molding.

42 F I N E W O O D W O R K I N G

M A K E A N D H A N G T O O L T R AY S

Handplane tray, 3 in. deep by 51⁄2 in. wideby 261⁄2 in. long, slidesalong the cleat rabbet.

Handsaw box isnotched to fit overthe cleat.

Bottom panel, 1⁄4 in.thick, is glued flush tothe tray’s underside.

Chisel tray, 13⁄4 in. deep by51⁄2 in. wide by 261⁄2 in.long, slides along the topof the cleat.

Handsaw box, 6 in. deepby 31⁄2 in. wide by 261⁄2 in.long

Spacing of interiordividers, 1⁄4 in. thick, isdetermined by the size of the tools to be stored.

The interior tool trays slide along cleats attachedto the carcase sides. The sides and bottoms ofthe trays are 1⁄4 in. thick. The ends of the smalltrays are 1⁄2 in. thick. The ends of the saw box are3⁄4 in. thick and notched to fit the cleat.

Cleat

Saw box

Rabbets, 1⁄4 in. deep

CLEAT DETAIL

1⁄2 in.

1⁄4 in.

3⁄4 in.

4 in.3 in.

1 in.Trays slide on cleats insidethe chest. Nail the cleats tothe inside of the chest so thatthe trays slide front to back.The two shallow trays shouldhave enough clearance toslide past each other.

Cleat, 1⁄2 in. thick(at its thickest) by 4 in. wide by131⁄2 in. long

M A R C H / A P R I L 2 0 0 4 43

sure all of the parts go together well. After gluing up the frame-and-panel lid, trim off the horns and check that the lid is square tothe box and slightly oversize.

Top off the chest with moldingThe molding on the tool chest is not only attractive, but it alsoserves practical purposes. Along the bottom it provides a bumperto protect the box as it is toted from place to place. On the top,the molding seals the chest interior, keeping it relatively freefrom dust and humidity.

I enjoy shaping and applying the molding because I love work-ing with molding planes, and I like seeing the box begin to takeon its final form. Molding planes are simple tools, with only a con-toured wooden body and a steel blade. They don’t require elec-tricity like a router does, and the only noise they make is the sweetsound of wood being sheared from a board edge in long, contin-uous shavings. I enjoy the slight physical workout involved whenusing molding planes and the satisfaction of seeing the moldingemerge from the board edge. The whole process takes me back toa time when there was nothing between the board and the crafts-man but a well-tuned tool.

I milled the base molding using a molding plane with an ogeeprofile. A cove, quarter-round, or simple bevel profile would suitthe chest just as well. I shaped the molding for the upper portionof the chest with 3⁄16-in. beading on its top edge and a bevel on thebottom. The band of moldings for the lid is shaped with 1⁄8-in.roundover, but only after it has been applied to the lid frame.

Begin by cutting miters on the front basemolding until the piece fits the carcase. Thenwork your way around the chest measuringand cutting the side pieces and finally the rearsection. Carefully fit each miter joint as youmove around the chest. I used a miter jack forthis (p. 40). Apply the moldings first with glueand clamps, and then secure them later withfinish nails, being careful not to put nails

where the hinges and lid stay will be installed. Follow this series ofsteps to install the lid and the lid moldings.

Build the sliding trays to fitBecause this tool chest is such a personal item, the inner tray sys-tem can be personalized, too. I designed mine with three remov-able sliding trays, which hold saws, chisels, handplanes, and a hostof other hand tools. The tray boxes are dovetailed, and the bottomof each tray is glued flush in place. Two stepped cleats tacked on-to the inner sides of the chest support the trays, allowing themto slide forward and backward on different planes.

Install hardware and finishFinish off the tool chest by installing the brass hardware, whichconsists of two 90° stopped handles, two mortised hinges, and a lidstay (Whitechapel Ltd.; 800-468-5534). The hinges are screwed on-to the molding, which is why it’s a good idea to reinforce the mold-ing with a few finish nails once the hardware has been installed.

I finished the chest with three coats of Tried and True oil/varnishblend applied over several days, scuff-sanding between coats. Toolchests often get abused, so I avoid built-up finishes such as shellacor lacquer, which are prone to scratching and scuffing. But paint-ing the chest would not be out of character with traditional toolchests. Use a flat acrylic latex paint, which imparts a look similar tomilk paint, and top it off with a thin shellac topcoat. �

Chris Gochnour makes custom furniture in Salt Lake City, Utah.

Dovetailed trays hold hand tools. The threetrays are sized specifically to hold Gochnour’schisels, planes, saws, and various other handtools. The sides are dovetailed, and the bottompanels are glued flush to the trays.