Machinist’s cabinet.

[Philip Davies]

I wanted a cabinet for the accessories for a recently acquired sigma jig borer, which is a very nice compact milling machine. The only place to put it is where I had a Raaco cabinet for screws, nails, etc, so it’s just a bit bigger than that. It’s made from oak salvaged from a gent’s dresser/wardrobe, I only took the drawers, it was too good to miss, lovely flat stuff 3/8” & 5/16” thick, quartersawn, only one piece abitcupped and I used almost all of it, not enough leftover to replace one drawer. Also, I wanted to use up the last two 6’ lengths of 3/4” square rosewood. This must have been imported over 50 years ago and I had about 30 lengths from a colleague, the woodwork teacher.

Now what was rosewood doing in Secondary Modern (sorry, comprehensive) school? There was a huge variety of lumber in store, eg jelotung, for pattern making! In 26 years at the place, I only knew one pupil use the screw cutting lathe and he had learned in Poland. I was probably the only guy who ever used the forge. I think some casting was done, hacksaw handles. It wasn’t my department.
No school, except a private school, these days, has facilities like ours had.

This is my last cabinet, it’s not an improvement of previous ones. Not only do I not really have the temperament to do high class joinery, I no longer have any material, which is great, since I only have reclaimed lumber left in my store.