Tool Box, again.

  I suspect that the quest for the perfect tool box/chest is only surpassed by the quest for the perfect work bench, and maybe the Holy Grail. Or is the perfect bench, the Holy Grail.  Over the last couple of years I have written about both topics several times, I have shared my ideas and ideas that I have collected from around the world on the internet.

   I have come to an important conclusion about both benches and tool chests.  There is no perfect version, every time you change the type of shop projects you do, you no longer have the "perfect", the perfect set of tools, bench and tool box for making furniture is quite different for the ones needed for carving or making jewelry boxes.  In some cases, like large scale scroll saw projects seating comfort and lighting is very important, and a person that only works in a shop doesn't need to move their tools about, so cabinets and shelves are all that are needed for storage.  A woodworker/carpenter that gets involved in on site renovations needs to have a portable tool box and something like a workmate for their bench.  Thus the quest is unending.

   On my current to-do list is to make a tool box for my wife's stained glass tools and incomplete projects.  

modern stained glass window in Cologne Cathedral, not made by my wife. 

She is taking lessons locally and now needs a way to get her tools and projects forth and back to the studio. 


 Now these aren't even woodworking tools but they need a tool box.  Many years ago  I made my Mother a box for her to carry her art supplies forth and back to her lessons, that box was a great success and is still used.  The tool box that I traveled from apartment to apartment with is still kicking around, but the worse for wear but survives none the less.

   History has taught me that if I get the design right, it can really have a long life. I am going to start with a basic woodworkers tool box and then make some adjustments in the design,I think.

the standard carpenters tool tote, I have one, don't you?

  Some of the basic changes need to be reducing the weight of the box, glass is heavy to carry.  Since the box won't get battered around on a job site it will not have to be made from 3/4 stock with a beefy bottom and feet to keep in out of the wet, 1/2 poplar will be more that up to the task.  The other thing that I'll need to do is make a couple of slots in which to stand the glass projects and their frames. The slots will have to be on either side of the handle to keep the box from being awkwardly unbalanced.

 

   Another possible twist is the wooden briefcase where the glass projects can lay down to be carried.  The problem is of course, this has a limited maximum size, but it does look cool.   Maybe I need one for my carving tools, or my laptop. ( you know, it my free time in the shop).

   There are tonnes of commercially available tool boxes out there and I will look carefully at them too, but either way the first step is to identify exactly what characteristics the tool box absolutely must have before you begin to execute the design or put your money down at the store. And then live with the reality that the specialty tool box will only really work in its specialty situation.

   I was nice to be off for a week, but it is good to be getting back to home base, I should be back in the shop tomorrow, bright and early.