Kale Vogt,
March 13, 2024
As of late, time has been a blur. Chris was out of town last week teaching in Florida leaving me to my own devices in the shop. I pivoted between Willard (the office and workshop) and Anthe (the fulfillment warehouse) throughout the week. Beginning most days at Willard, bouncing between projects similar to a pinball machine. Then ending the days assisting Mark and Gabe with the “Anarchist’s Tool Chest” book sale at Anthe.
I’m new to creative, project-based work and it shows. Though the dynamic nature of the work here at LAP is conducive to my neurodivergent brain, my unpolished time-management and prioritization skills are suddenly a new area of self improvement for me to focus on.
Coming into this week I decided to aim my attention toward the Dutch tool chest. Megan has been graciously sharing her time and energy with me along the way. The new tools and vocabulary I’ve been exposed to during the past few months at times have been overwhelming. Chris was kind to lend me a couple books to help with the foreign language that is woodworking. I’ve been fingering through them at night in attempt to familiarize myself.
After about a month of employment, I’m finding a rhythm here. I’m settling in and feeling more grounded as I become more comfortable with the space and style of work. My personal creative direction is coming to light and feels tangible at times. I no longer ponder with concern about how absorbed I am when scrolling through chairs and various woodworkers online. I’m happily desensitized to my new habitual behaviors.
Megan Fitzpatrick,
Week of March 11
I can’t take the drawer of tools anymore – and I know Kale is busy with picking and packing at Anthe, as well as working with Chris on a video project…but I want that tool chest done. I might be projecting, since I am not yet done with my longstanding book project on said tool chest. (Once Kale finishes the chest, I’ll feel as if I’ve finished _something_ related to it, I think. I hope.)
But really, I’m worried about Kale incurring a stab wound while reaching into that tool drawer. And their nice, new tools getting ruined from jumbling around in there. Or rusting from getting blood on them.
All this to say we need to get that tool chest done. We cut the dados for the shelf last week while Chris was out of town and glued up the carcase. It’s time to raise a panel for the fall front, get the fall-front battens and catch attached, and nail on the backboard. A lid, a lick of paint and a hole-y tool rack and that chest will be ready to use. And Kale’s hands and tool will be a lot more safe. And a very small amount of pressure will be off my shoulders.
Above are two simple options for tool racks. I like the hole-y rack better in a chest that gets moved around a lot, because the sides of the tools are a bit protected, and the pointy ends aren’t as easily knocked into one another.
The hole-y rack is a piece of ~1" wide whatever (cherry is shown here) that’s somewhere between 5/8" and 1" thick. It’s as long as it needs to be to fit the space. The holes are 1/2"-diameter on center, spaced 1" apart. Draw a centerline down the workpiece, then set dividers to 1" and walk out the hole locations along the centerline.
I used to use a Forstner bit at the drill press to drill the holes, but lately, I’ve been using a Star-M F-Type bit, because it leaves a cleaner hole. Not a big deal – when I got a lot of tear-out, I’d just start with a thicker piece, drill the holes, then run it through the planer (then clean off the machine marks of course).
But, you are then limited to storing tools with 1/2" shafts – so to store 5/8" and 1" chisels, to name just a few, you have to widen the requisite number of holes to accommodate those wider tools. I do this by drilling overlapping holes then cleaning out the remaining points of waste with a chisel.
For the simpler bar storage, the bar is 1/4" thick x about 7/8" wide (and as long as it needs to be). The wooden blocks that offset it and through which it’s screwed to the chest wall are 9/16" thick x 7/8" wide. (That 9/16" is the right balance between fitting everything and having it fall through.) The blocks are spaced between 7"-9" apart (farther apart is OK, too, but make the bar a little thicker so it doesn’t flex).
The key thing with both is to attach them so that the handles don’t interfere with the top of the chest, and so that you have as much space as possible underneath. And use the longest, beefiest screws you can get away with…or that you can find without a special trip to the hardware store. (For me, that’s usually countersunk No. 10s that are as long as they can be without going through the chest wall. I keep a goodly stock on hand from Blacksmith Bolt).
Another option, one that combines the two, is shown below. It’s best suited to a deeper chest, such as an “Anarchist’s Tool Chest” or a two-bay Dutch chest with a slot at the back of the top shelf.
A Badaxe say with a plywood handle? I think the one on the right (bottom photo) must be a Wenzloff. The one on the left I don't know.