Tool box

Jeff Horton

Member
Messages
4,272
Location
The Heart of Dixie
I made a wooden tool box a while back and have been using for my inspection tools. I like the impression it makes on clients but I never really like the box. Tools were just pilled in and there was no organization.

A few months ago a made a new one but made several mistakes on it and honestly I hated it. It was to big and bulky and was just plain ugly. Never posted a photo because of that.

Friday while waiting on glue to dry on the Laundry cabinet I decided to start on a new box design. I finished it up last night. Here is the one I wanted to replace. Nothing wrong with it other than it was just an open box and a bit heavy.


oldbox.jpg

I spend a few minutes laying out my tools and mocking up the dividers to come up with something that worked for me. There is what I came up with.

newbox1.jpg newbox3.jpg

I made is on the small side. I don't have much room to add any additional tools but I don't anticipate any new purchases either. I carry spare batteries in the truck and wanted some in the toolbox. So I figure I remove the batteries if I needed more space. Main thing was keep it compact and lighter than the old one.

I made it with some of the old oak I found since it was nice and thin. I made the dividers form sycamore I picked up at the saw mill. It was less than 2/4 so it was perfect for dividers. The handle is a piece of cypress so I could keep the weight down. I don't really like the way it looks but this is a working box and it will get banged up, so I wasn't overly concerned about the look.

old-new.jpg

Here is the old with the new. You see how much smaller it is and much lighter too!
 
Nice tool box. I nrrd to make one. Right now I have one of those bags and hate it. I have to pull everything out to find what I need. I may borrow some ideas from you. Thanks for sharing!
 
Jeff, I like the evolution to the smaller, divided box, but frankly prefer the square handle union and finger joints on the larger one. Both are very nice. Good work.

Jeff, why didn't you just make dividers for the old box? The new box looks to be quite useful, but the old one looks better to me.

I can answer both at one time. I like the look of the old one better too. It is by far a better looking box. It's heavy though and it was a bit to narrow. Main thing was I wanted to build something quick to replace that one. So I sort of cut some corners (so to speak) on this one to speed it up.

The main reason I didn't use box joints is the this old Oak is extremely brittle. It's very difficult to cut box joints in and not have them chip out or break. Then when you put it together inevitably one or more of the fingers will chip. I didn't dare try to cut the square holes for the handle, this stuff is so brittle I have problems every time I try something like that with it.

If I like this box, I will probably take the time to make a nicer one out of something else. I have a big project coming up I am making out of black cherry. I was thinking if I have some left over I might make another out of it.
 
Jeff

Great looking box I like the organization.

And if you want to get rid of the old one, PM me and I"ll send you my address!:D :D
 
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