Popular Woodworking Magazine » Tool Chests

The Great Australian Tool Chest Experiment

Christopher Schwarz — Wed, 13 Mar 2013 08:55:47 +0000

I’ve been teaching classes on building “The Anarchist’s Tool Chest” for two years now, and with every class I find some way of goosing the students a bit further along. Last year at The Woodwright’s School we actually got two of the 12 students completely over the finish line. This week, I hope to shatter … Read more »

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Screw this Anarchist’s Tool Chest Stuff

Christopher Schwarz — Wed, 13 Feb 2013 22:36:38 +0000

I’ve now built more than a dozen traditional tool chests entirely by hand. Hand-cut dovetails. Hand-cut mouldings. Hand-cut shiplaps and beads. Hand-cut blah blah blah. These chests take me about 40 to 50 hours of pedal-to-the-metal work to get ready for finish. Today, I built the entire shell and lid of a chest in less … Read more »

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Some Upcoming Projects with Popular Woodworking

Christopher Schwarz — Sun, 20 Jan 2013 03:08:03 +0000

If a workbench or a tool chest is on your list of woodworking projects to build this year, you’ll definitely want to read on about two upcoming DVDs I’m working on with Popular Woodworking Magazine. In just a few weeks, we’re filming a DVD on building a traditional tool chest using a small set of … Read more »

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Quick Review: Whitechapel Crab Lock

Christopher Schwarz — Mon, 07 Jan 2013 20:20:50 +0000

OK, so let’s say you are too cheap to purchase a blacksmith-made lock for your next tool chest or blanket chest. Wait, that wasn’t very kind of me to call you “cheap.” Instead, let’s put it this way: Let’s say your spouse just ran off with the village blacksmith, so you are looking for an … Read more »

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How to Save Your Tool Chest and Your Tools from Water

Christopher Schwarz — Sat, 15 Dec 2012 16:21:32 +0000

While I think a tool chest is the best place to store your tools, the chest can also become a rusty tomb if you aren’t careful. Woodworking shops can be nasty places. I’ve worked in unheated garages, damp basements, former warehouses and sheds with dirt floors. And when I inspect old tool chests, it’s common … Read more »

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Efficient Backsaw Storage in a Tool Chest

Christopher Schwarz — Sun, 26 Aug 2012 19:22:07 +0000

This weekend I finished work on a traveling version of my “Anarchist’s Tool Chest” that will fit in my hatchback and will carry (almost) a full set of tools. The last detail of the entire project was how to store the three backsaws that are essential to almost every kit: the tenon saw, carcase saw … Read more »

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Your Carcase is Not Square. Now What?

Christopher Schwarz — Mon, 20 Aug 2012 23:33:40 +0000

When you write for a woodworking magazine, there are several pat phrases that you use all the time. Such as: 1. Joint and plane all your stock flat and square. Cut all the pieces to the sizes shown in the cutting list. 2. Cut the tenons to match your mortises. (Or your mortises to match … Read more »

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When Will ‘Day 4’ Occur?

Christopher Schwarz — Thu, 02 Aug 2012 22:46:08 +0000

Ah, Thursday – day four of a woodworking class. This is the day that most students hit a wall. They take naps at their benches. They sneak off to their cars to lie down. They disappear in the middle of the day and don’t return until the next morning. All these things (and more – … Read more »

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Entirely Unimportant

Christopher Schwarz — Thu, 02 Aug 2012 00:57:43 +0000

The first lesson of handwork is this: Most things that you think are important are not important. Most surfaces do not need to be true. Most edges do not need to be square. Most boards do not need to be four-squared (or even free of bark). Most dimensions – length, thickness, width – will only … Read more »

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On Gaps and Dovetails and Winterthur

Christopher Schwarz — Wed, 01 Aug 2012 02:17:22 +0000

Years ago when touring Winterthur, I saw a lot of wacky Pennsylvanian dovetails on old chests. These joints had been wedged through their pins – a feature I had not seen in person before. While the museum personnel wouldn’t let me take photos, I did make a few sketches. Whenever I cut dovetails, my mind … Read more »

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