MY NEW TOOL CHEST FOR MY MACHINIST TOOLS

[wizard69]

Can produce woodwork, but I'm no cabinet maker. Looking up sheet goods today, as I've no sufficient or proper material for the project. I figure good cabinet ply throughout and the case of that 11 layer stuff. Veneer isn't a detraction and storing heavy tools in large drawers of solid wood sounds iffy. Haven't worded a good search for plans yet. Been sketching mentally, high-boy sized, on a riser with slots for pallet jack, flat-topped like a piano keyboard lid. Not up to doors yet. Have plenty of room to use effectively. Seems it'll be similar to map/ blueprint cabinet, just not so deep.
Are there any woodworker sites you like?

There are a lot of plans and different approaches to machinist chests and tool boxes out there. Shopsmith magazine has featured designs over the years. I pretty sure other wood working magazines have also covered this but Shopsmith is the only wood working magazine that I have a long history with. There are books dedicated to toolboxes, one is by Iim Tolpin called The Toolbox Book.

Gerstner style toolboxes are a lot of work, something I can’t consider until retirement. If then! You mentioned dressers which in fact can be good storage solutions for the lighter bulky shop materials. The good thing here is that they can be had either free or cheap second hand. You can’t put 200 pound vises or rotary tables in them but if one is reasonable a lot of shop tools and materials can go into one.

I’ve actually have considered a toolbox with metal drawers upon which are fastened wood faces. I don’t have the tools for the sheet metal work at the moment but the idea here is that you gain a bit of area and end up with more rugged drawers. It would also expand my sheetmetal skills. I’ve even considered cast aluminum for the same skills building challenge. In either case they would run on plain runners just like a wood chest.

Currently my steel tool boxes are overflowing with several decades of tool accumulation plus stuff from my fathers passing. I really question where to put it all.