I do a bit of woodcarving, and like to keep my tools organized. I built this chest from some black walnut that I got for free. Finish is Watco Medium Walnut teak oil. The hardware is nickel plated steel from Gerstner & Sons. I had an original Gerstner machinist's chest many years ago and really like the hardware. Spendy, but worth it. Sadly, I soon outgrew it. It sits in my bedroom now, with knives and other odds and ends in it.
Finishing this was interesting. First, I used a wiping poly that ended up with an uneven surface. Ground that off and sprayed Helmsman Spar Varnish, which came out really dry/orange peeled. Ground that off and went with the teak oil, which came out great. I haven't had issues with those two finishes until this project. The separators are poplar dowels set into poplar strips. They are sized so that the tools are as close as possible without allowing the business ends make contact with anything. Drawers are 12 mm Baltic Birch (BB) with walnut fronts and 3 mm BB for the bottoms.
There is a shelf under the top that serves as a "magazine rack". I believe that that book in thee is one from Lora Irish.
OK, the drawers are green because I built a chest with Baltic Birch first to verify the design. The walnut chest got outgrown when I bought some Henry Taylor (12) and Ashley Isles (5) palm tools. There are 41 Pfeil tools.
Dockyards and sanders.
Flexcut knives and scorps.
Pfeil palm chisels and gouges. More Pfeil gouges. The rest of the Pfeil gouges.
Thanks! I want to make a new chest from mahogany and carve the outsides. The price of wood is crazy, anymore. I saw a really nice oak chest of drawers at the local ReStore that could have provided the wood, but while I waited for the price to come down, it got sold. I don't think that I'll be seeing any mahogany there anytime soon.
