Today I finished my table saw blade case. I don’t switch blades on the table saw very often, but I have enough different blades that moving them around and keeping them out of the way was becoming a problem. No more. It currently holds 6 blades, but I can easily add storage for 2 or 3 more if that’s needed.
The outer case is 12” square, made from ⅜ inch by 4 inch white oak, dovetailed on the corners. The front and back faces are ¼ inch MDF simply glued onto the main part of the case. Hinges are attaché style hinges. The handle is screwed in from the inside of the case, which meant chiseling four small grooves in one of the carriers so it could clear the screws for the handle. The latch sits under the handle.
The carriers are ¼ inch MDF, with pine edges that are ½ x ¾ inch mitered onto the edges, with ¼ inch deep and wide dadoes for the MDF to slide into. Each is hinged using some 3/32 inch brass rod, which is jammed into holes about 3/16 inch from the edge of the holder, and which pivots in a ⅛ inch hole in the outer case.
To get the image of the sawblade on the top, I “primed” the top with a couple coats of shellac. Then I laid down the 24T rip blade and traced around it with a sharpie. Then, using a fattish brush (the brush will paint a ¼ inch wide line), I painted red inside the lines, and yellow outside with One Shot Lettering Enamels. After that dried overnight, I came back with a much thinner brush and painted the black lines over the sharpie marks, cleaning up the edges. I also put on a second coat of the yellow, as it didn’t cover quite as well as I’d hoped on the MDF.
That looks very useful, and I like the painted lid. There’s no doubt about what’s stored inside.
Are the retaining strips (the darker wood) on the carriers glued in place, such that the blade can slide in at an angle before laying flat after it clears the front edge?
Ron, yeah, the darker strips are bubinga and glued on the sides. The blades slide in and out fairly easily and except for one glue joint that failed, it seems they’ll hold up pretty well.
Very ingenious Dave, that is slick. I like this attaché case, great work. The dovetails are nice and tight. You get two thumbs up for this ... 👍 👍 Well done sir.
Tom, the dovetails took me a little longer on this one. I’ve cut so many dovetails in pine over the years (almost all my shop furniture is dovetailed pine) that the much harder oak had me wondering if my saw had gone dull. Nope, just harder wood.
Kenny, that was part of the problem with my old storage. I felt like I was making the blades dull every time I shuffled through to switch between the monster rip blade and the ultra-fine tooth blade. So I would avoid switching blades unless absolutely necessary. Hopefully with this, I’ll use the right blade for the job a little more often.
