A Machinist’s Chest for Woodworkers?

I hope you are enjoying my latest series on my new tool chest. The project was born this time last year during the FWW presentations at Colonial Williamsburg’s “Working Wood in the 18th Century” conference. The FWW presenters, in my opinion, were wrestling with the differences between executing 18th-century work using 18th-century approaches, (I don’t mean just tools) and looking at 18th-century work through the tinted glasses of the industrial revolution. As the conference went on, I realized it was really only me who was wrestling. The conference, perhaps my one safe haven in woodworking, left me feeling dreadfully isolated and alone. It wasn’t difficult to convince me to not attend this year’s event (which started last Sunday night).

I’ve spent this time finishing what has become a convincingly traditional machinist chest, a style often used and coveted by every other woodworker but me. Only, in my attempts to commune with the 99%, some of my sensibilities have crept in. While the drawers above feature felt lined baltic birch plywood bottoms, you can clearly see a host of recognizable 18th-century features.

There is much I want to share with you about this chest, details of its construction and my journey. Never have I been so moved by a project. I hope you can appreciate what this has meant to me and what I think we can all learn from my experience. I have several posts relating to this chest’s construction. Let me know if you get bored with it!