Small Tool Chest

This is my oldest and first tool chest that I built when I was fourteen. It is still in use after more than fifty years. The tool chest sides and drawers were made from ¼” plywood paneling with “v-groves” milled into the good side (really retro wall paneling nowadays). In fact the drawer front on the lower left side shows one of these “v-groves” and is used as a false front for an extra deep drawer. The plywood was left over from paneling an enclosed and winterized porch that had been a screened-in porch. My parents let me set up a small table/workbench in the corner of the enclosed porch if I would keep the area clean and neat most of the time– that is why I built the tool chest. The plywood was cut using one of those 5 ½” circular saw adaptations to power drills that were popular in the early 1960’s. The saw used a corded ¼” Black and Decker drill I purchased with several books of S&H Green Stamps (now we are getting very retro again). I made straight saw cuts by clamping a guide board to the plywood. Many of the drawers have dividers made from clear boxwood that allow separately storing needle files, pliers, and small tools but my favorite drawers were the two I used for holding dies and holding taps. The drilled wood tap holder was held in place by a single flat head screw which allowed it to be removed and modified as my tap collection expanded. The bottom drawer on the right is devoted to storing my bottoming taps but not very convenient as compared to easy to view tap drawer. The overall size is 18”Lx14”Hx7”D.

Hi Paul,
It seems to be young for its age, it's the proof it is well done and designed !
Did you make also the knobs ?
What are the three drilled thin metal pieces on top made for ?
read you soon,
christophe

Christophe,
This tool chest still has its original finish and does show some scratches around the drawer pulls but that is part of its "character". I bought the brass drawer pulls from traditional hardware store in Ridgewood, NJ sometime in the early 1960's. I would spend a lot of time there just walking the aisles looking at tools and saw the tiny drawer pulls. I bought the drawer pulls (back then these cost pennies each) long before I drew the plans for the tool chest so the number of drawer pulls ultimately determined the number of drawers for this tool chest. The three brass tabs have openings for a fine chain that I would pull through all the tabs restricting the drawers and "lock" it with a small padlock (the lock is in the drawer insert lying on top of the chest). I almost never locked it.
Thanks for asking, Paul

Dear friend Paul ....
It's exciting for me to see this toolbox made by you, mainly because so many years and still be useful to you.
Congratulations my friend! The man who keeps his own story deserves all the respect possible of all us.

Paul ... :hattip:

Thanks Paul! I've added your Tool Chest to our Woodworking category, as well as to your builder page: Paul Jones' Homemade Tools. Your receipt:

<div id="blocks"> <div class="block b1 pngfix"> <div class="bimg"> <div> <a href="/tool-chest-3"><img src="/uploads/105609/tool-chest-3.jpeg" alt="Tool Chest" /></a> </div> </div> <div class="head pngfix"></div> <div class="left pngfix"></div> <div class="right pngfix"></div> <div class="blockover b1 pngfix"> <div class="title"> <a href="/tool-chest-3">Tool Chest</a> <span> by <a href="/builder/Paul+Jones">Paul Jones</a></span> </div> <div class="tags"> tags: <a href="/tag/tool-storage">tool storage</a> </div> </div> </div> </div>

Very nice. You and that toolbox must have a lot of history together.