Rob Keeble
Member
- Messages
- 12,633
- Location
- GTA Ontario Canada
So i have been wanting to build a tool cabinet come tool chest call it all what you like fundamentally i want something to store my tools in such a manner that i can see them all and access them and each has its dedicated place with appropriate support to hold it in place. OK .....so
After much procrastination and loads of review of others images and options i decide time to get going.
I settled on the Fine Woodworking Hanging tool cabinet from 2007 as the basic shell for the upper cab design. I will change the tools and how they hang but i am in my usually hurry up mode and since i have had the BB ply for some time (yeah Brent i beat you on this one i have had it for years) I wanted to get er done to get organized.
Ok so Sat i end up pulling the trigger on the large to scale version of these plans at LV. LV to their credit stock a bunch of the Fine Woodworking plans. You can open the plastic ziplock and see what you getting so there is no issue with the plan package. I wanted to make a rapid start while the weather up hear was barmy and was 57F 14 celcius on the weekend.
My main reason for buying the plans was to get the cutting list. ( yeah i figure the $14) for the cutting list was worth it i had everything else.
BUT>>>>>>>>Up to then i will admit to not having done sufficient due dilligence on this plan. When i got into it man i got more and more mad with the guy that designed it. My cold war paranoia kicked in and i got to thinking this guy was commissioned to make this plan by the Baltic Birch manufacturers association. He used 3/4" 5/8" 1/2" and 1/4" . REALLY
Ok so i get over it. Suck it up and work out that with a bit of modification i can do away with the 5/8" and substitute 1/2" but this begins the slippery slope of possible mistakes and heck why then did i buy the plan. Nothing yet that aint my fault for not examining it with a toothpick.
Then i start laying out the cut list Sat night on square paper to look at yield on the sheet of ply. Well BB comes in 5x5 sheets. Yes occassionally you can get it in 4x8 but its common size is 5x5 in actual fact its the metric equivalent of this since a great deal of its produced internationally and imported.
Well 5x5 is 60 inchs x 60 inches.
So why would you design a cabinet ( where in true reality this is not to be a exact replica of some Smithsonian furniture design and so dimensions really become arbitary)
where you need two panels for the case of the same thickness material in this case the front and back panels that fit into the rabbets on each face, and make the panel width 31 1/4" wide. . So now instead of being able to get to panels out of one sheet you gotta go and use two sheets if you want to stick to the exact dimensions.
Well this got me mad. I have in mind to make two of these "boxes" one for hand tools and one for power tools (thanks Alan B for the idea) and mount them to rolling cabinets with very low profile draws for other things not suited to hanging and hardware.
I dont doubt for one minute that Jan Zoltowski who has a 35 year career in woodworking has infinitely more woodworking skill than me, but unless he was paid off by the BB industry to make a plan that uses the maximum amount of this expensive plywood he certainly lacks what i would call common sense in my opinion.
I mean this thing has box joints the length of the top pieces can be altered sufficiently to narrow the cabinet to have two pieces come out of one sheet and not affect the storage that much. (1.25" reduction plus width of blade doing the splitting) .
I will get over it and make the mods and yeah i know if i went back to LV they would probably even give me my money back but i dont think its fair on them so i will suck up the loss and get over it.
But i would like this post to serve as a warning to the rest of my woodworking friends to do proper due dillegence on a plan before you get to buying it. For the time i procrastinated and vasilated and then worked out the layout on scale paper for the cutting of the ply etc i could have rather sat at the computer got more experience at sketchup and be done with what i really would like. Heck i had drafting lessons at school and with Dave R around and his great video sketchup for this would have been a breeze and i could have shared it freely with anyone who cared to want to use it.
So be warned. These guys in magazines aint so perfect afterall. I conclude most times the quick way is the long way and i keep trying to tell myself this but i dont seem to get my thick head to listen to it. Have a laugh on me cause i deserve a kick up the butt for this.
After much procrastination and loads of review of others images and options i decide time to get going.
I settled on the Fine Woodworking Hanging tool cabinet from 2007 as the basic shell for the upper cab design. I will change the tools and how they hang but i am in my usually hurry up mode and since i have had the BB ply for some time (yeah Brent i beat you on this one i have had it for years) I wanted to get er done to get organized.
Ok so Sat i end up pulling the trigger on the large to scale version of these plans at LV. LV to their credit stock a bunch of the Fine Woodworking plans. You can open the plastic ziplock and see what you getting so there is no issue with the plan package. I wanted to make a rapid start while the weather up hear was barmy and was 57F 14 celcius on the weekend.
My main reason for buying the plans was to get the cutting list. ( yeah i figure the $14) for the cutting list was worth it i had everything else.
BUT>>>>>>>>Up to then i will admit to not having done sufficient due dilligence on this plan. When i got into it man i got more and more mad with the guy that designed it. My cold war paranoia kicked in and i got to thinking this guy was commissioned to make this plan by the Baltic Birch manufacturers association. He used 3/4" 5/8" 1/2" and 1/4" . REALLY
Ok so i get over it. Suck it up and work out that with a bit of modification i can do away with the 5/8" and substitute 1/2" but this begins the slippery slope of possible mistakes and heck why then did i buy the plan. Nothing yet that aint my fault for not examining it with a toothpick.
Then i start laying out the cut list Sat night on square paper to look at yield on the sheet of ply. Well BB comes in 5x5 sheets. Yes occassionally you can get it in 4x8 but its common size is 5x5 in actual fact its the metric equivalent of this since a great deal of its produced internationally and imported.
Well 5x5 is 60 inchs x 60 inches.
So why would you design a cabinet ( where in true reality this is not to be a exact replica of some Smithsonian furniture design and so dimensions really become arbitary)
where you need two panels for the case of the same thickness material in this case the front and back panels that fit into the rabbets on each face, and make the panel width 31 1/4" wide. . So now instead of being able to get to panels out of one sheet you gotta go and use two sheets if you want to stick to the exact dimensions.
Well this got me mad. I have in mind to make two of these "boxes" one for hand tools and one for power tools (thanks Alan B for the idea) and mount them to rolling cabinets with very low profile draws for other things not suited to hanging and hardware.
I dont doubt for one minute that Jan Zoltowski who has a 35 year career in woodworking has infinitely more woodworking skill than me, but unless he was paid off by the BB industry to make a plan that uses the maximum amount of this expensive plywood he certainly lacks what i would call common sense in my opinion.
I mean this thing has box joints the length of the top pieces can be altered sufficiently to narrow the cabinet to have two pieces come out of one sheet and not affect the storage that much. (1.25" reduction plus width of blade doing the splitting) .
I will get over it and make the mods and yeah i know if i went back to LV they would probably even give me my money back but i dont think its fair on them so i will suck up the loss and get over it.
But i would like this post to serve as a warning to the rest of my woodworking friends to do proper due dillegence on a plan before you get to buying it. For the time i procrastinated and vasilated and then worked out the layout on scale paper for the cutting of the ply etc i could have rather sat at the computer got more experience at sketchup and be done with what i really would like. Heck i had drafting lessons at school and with Dave R around and his great video sketchup for this would have been a breeze and i could have shared it freely with anyone who cared to want to use it.
So be warned. These guys in magazines aint so perfect afterall. I conclude most times the quick way is the long way and i keep trying to tell myself this but i dont seem to get my thick head to listen to it. Have a laugh on me cause i deserve a kick up the butt for this.