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It takes a special tool chest to get me to sit up straight – I’ve spent the last six or seven years of my life researching and writing about tool chests. But this one, presumably Swedish, is fantastic.
It was recently sold on this auction site for an astonishing sum.
While the composition of all the tools, burl handles and color scheme is nice, what is most fascinating is the way the box is put together with screws and beadboard. The ends of the chest are framed – perhaps with mortise-and-tenon joints. But the majority of the chest is built by layering pieces on top of one another and screwing them together.
Also clever is the lid with the hinged doors. After studying the photos it looks like the left door is shut first and locked in place with sliding locks. Then you close the right door (there’s a dust seal on its front) and lock that to the other door with a wooden catch.
The hinged doors create a nice space that I would guess is nice to work out of.
If you look close you can also see how the chest has been changed several times in the last 100 years or so.
Thanks to Richard O. Byrne for digging this one up for me.
— Christopher Schwarz
