# Finally gonna build one: Tool cabinet.



## Chaincarver Steve

I've been gawking at and longing to make this project for at least a year now, ever since I saw it in one of Wood Magazine's annual special issues. I'm pretty sure it's been in several of their issues now. There's something about it that really calls out to me. The look. The storage capacity. The cool factor.

I just need to have this cabinet in my shop! And I can't wait any longer. Especially after seeing all of the amazing works and storage solutions you guys have been posting lately.

I know Christmas is right around the corner and I still have some gift projects to finish up but yesterday eve I just couldn't stand it anymore. I picked up hinges, a sheet of pegboard and started cutting parts. Already had plenty of plywood. I'm going full steam ahead with it. It'll be my Christmas gift to me.


----------



## cocheseuga

I've liked that one for awhile, and had been tempted to build it. But I watched the NYW where Nahm built his version of the Studley and I've wanted to build that one ever since.


----------



## Kenbo

This is going to be a good one, I can tell. I'm gonna be glued to it man so get it going!!!! :thumbsup:


----------



## rayking49

Can't wait to see this. I need one myself.


----------



## Dominick

Aw that's cute. :laughing: Just teasing.its a well deserved project for you. You deserve it. Eyes are peeled for this one.


----------



## Chaincarver Steve

Dominick said:


> Aw that's cute. :laughing: Just teasing.its a well deserved project for you. You deserve it. Eyes are peeled for this one.


You silly boy :laughing:



--------------------------------------------------------------

I really wanted to use brown pegboard. But when I went to Home Depot to get a sheet they had only the white stuff. White pegboard just _doesn't_ say "cool wood shop". Plus it shows scuffs and scratches much easier. And the brown, back side isn't tempered so it's rough and prone to flaking and gouging. I know Lowes carries the tempered brown perforated hardboard but, whatever. 

When I decided I was going to put it off no longer and get started on this thing, I was going to start ASAP. And my plans for starting did not include waiting another day until I could get to Lowes.

So, reluctantly, I started building using white perf board. Hope I don't regret it too much.

I've drilled 15 rows of holes for adjustable shelf placement. So the two upper shelves are on shelf pins. The lower shelf is fixed in place.









The plywood I'm using is reclaimed from a local juice plant. I've been getting 1/2 sheets (just a hair under half sheets) of rather nice 3/4" 9-11 ply from them for $2 each. They are sides and tops of strapped-together shipping crates/pallets of juice concentrates (peach, pear, grape, etc...) shipped from various countries overseas.


----------



## Dominick

Hey Steve you probably could of made your own out of 1/4 in luon not sure how to spell that :laughing: or you could use a piece of 1/8 Masonite it comes in brown. But I seen you've got white. Oh well looks good anyway.


----------



## Chaincarver Steve

Dominick said:


> Hey Steve you probably could of made your own out of 1/4 in luon not sure how to spell that :laughing: or you could use a piece of 1/8 Masonite it comes in brown. But I seen you've got white. Oh well looks good anyway.


Well I'm very tempted to just stop by Lowes on my way home today to buy a sheet of brown. I've got to leave the back panel white (since it's already in place and not removable without destructive forces). But I can make the 8 door panels (2 panels x 4 doors) brown. Yeah, that's what I'll do.


----------



## Dominick

Sound like a plan. Good luck. Eyes are peeled.


----------



## Stilts

Excited to see how this turns out. Have been looking at building myself one for a little while now but other projects keep getting in the way and trying to figure out how to hang it from metal studs in my basement. 
Looks good so far.


----------



## johnnie52

I'll be watching this one myself. I'm at the point where I have to start thinking about a total remodel of my shed. It worked fine when it was built, but now its just too cluttered and needs storage space...


----------



## Dominick

johnnie52 said:


> I'll be watching this one myself. I'm at the point where I have to start thinking about a total remodel of my shed. It worked fine when it was built, but now its just too cluttered and needs storage space...


Already you just got there. It's never big enough.


----------



## johnnie52

LOL.. yeah I know... but now that a 14" band saw lives out there along with its other playmates.... all I have left is a 2 foot path and then only if I pick everything up daily...


----------



## Shop Dad

Chaincarver Steve said:


> Well I'm very tempted to just stop by Lowes on my way home today to buy a sheet of brown. I've got to leave the back panel white (since it's already in place and not removable without destructive forces). But I can make the 8 door panels (2 panels x 4 doors) brown. Yeah, that's what I'll do.


Steve, you may find the white actually has advantages. At the back of a large two-door chest like that it might be hard to find something. The white will make it a bit brighter and easier to look around quickly. Looks like a great project and excellent start. Can't wait to see how it comes together.


----------



## Kenbo

When you said you were jumping in asap, you weren't kidding. Nice work so far. Looking forward to seeing the rest of the progress.


----------



## Chaincarver Steve

Shop Dad said:


> Steve, you may find the white actually has advantages. At the back of a large two-door chest like that it might be hard to find something. The white will make it a bit brighter and easier to look around quickly.


You know, I think I'm going to have to agree with you. Good point. I did pick up a sheet of brown, however, to do the doors. So I'll have the best of both worlds.


----------------------------------------

I didn't get quite as much done as I expected last night but still made decent progress. I had my son's Cub Scout pack meeting slash Christmas party to attend. Also happens that my woodcarving club's meeting/Christmas party was going on at the same time. But the boy's scouts was higher priority so that's where I was for a few hours.

Here's all four doors' framing parts, rabbited and grooved to accept the perf board panels.









As you see, the doors have two separate pegboard panels. One for each side.









The two inner doors are completely assembled. Here they are only sitting in place. I'll attach them via continuous hinges tonight.









I hope I left enough room so that the doors don't scrape above or below. I'll only have 1/16" - 3/32" clearance on top and bottom. It's going to be a challenge to center the doors vertically just right. But I'm up for the challenge. The gap you see between the doors is required to allow them to clear each other as they open and close.

So tonight I expect to have the inner doors secured, the outer doors assembled and, hopefully, secured with hinges as well. I'm very happy with my rate of progress on this project. After that it's only a matter of installing some magnetic catches and the wall mounting cleats. Then to mount this beast onto the wall. It's gonna be heavy.

Thanks for following along guys. The camaraderie and encouragement received from this forum add a whole new layer of enjoyment to the process.


----------



## Chaincarver Steve

And here we go! The cabinet is essentially done. I still need to mount the door catches. Other than that, hanging it on the wall and stocking it full is all that's left to do. Hopefully I can do those things tonight. I do not intend to apply any sort of finish.

I'm happy to say that I overestimated the difficulty of aligning the hinges. I got the 4 doors mounted with absolutely no problem at all. All doors are straight, have enough clearance all the way around and none rub.

Guys, if I may say so myself, this thing is really cool. I'm not sure that the photos do it proper justice. But trust me, it's awesome. This was an easy project that you will love. It didn't take long at all and it will come in extremely handy. I highly recommend this to any of you who, like me, have admired it for a long time. Get on it. You'll be glad you did. I am _very_ happy with it.









































I'll post a few pictures once it's mounted and filled.


----------



## mdntrdr

Looks great Steve! :thumbsup:

No finish? :smile:


----------



## BigJim

I believe you are going to like that, it looks great Steve.


----------



## Chaincarver Steve

Here's a shot to give you a sense of scale. That's a yard stick. The top of the yard stick is right at the top of the picture. The overall closed dimensions are just under 32" square by about 12 1/2 deep.

The unit takes up a bit over 7 square feet of wall space and provides a full 26 sq. ft. of pegboard area. PLUS the shelving space :thumbsup:


----------



## Chaincarver Steve

mdntrdr said:


> ...
> 
> No finish? :smile:


No. I did sand it though. Who knows, I may decide I need to clear coat it. But my impatience may have gotten the better of me. I didn't want the extra days of coating and drying times to interfere with my arbitrary, self-imposed time line.

I don't know. If you guys make me think about it too much I'll feel compelled to dismount the doors, mask off the pegboard and shake up the 'ole rattle can :laughing:


----------



## Stilts

Looks great. Now to decide where everything goes. Do you have an estimate on cost?


----------



## rayking49

Outstanding job man.


----------



## Chaincarver Steve

Stilts said:


> Looks great. Now to decide where everything goes. Do you have an estimate on cost?


Cost? Let's see:

2x 30" hinges: around $16.5 each
1x 42" hinge: (cut in half with a hacksaw) $18 or so.
8x shelf pins: already had but only costs a few bucks.
1 sheet perforated hardboard: under $20

1 sheet of 3/4" furniture grade plywood: I paid about $4 for what I used. A sheet at the store would probably run you $50'ish.

Given what I already had, I only shelled out around $75. But I'd expect to pay around $120 for materials at the store. If my math is correct.


----------



## Longknife

That looks great! Be sure to post a picture when it's on the wall and filled with tools :yes:


----------



## Dominick

Cabinet turned out awesome Looks like a good tool organizer. Good work


----------



## Stilts

Thanks for the breakdown Steve.


----------



## Taylormade

Man that looks good! I may make one with clamp storage beneath it. Thanks for the pictorial!


----------



## sawdustfactory

Dude! I saw the start of this thread but hadn't checked it for a day or two and you're done! Than looks awesome. I've had this bug to get my shop more organized, and I have so many freakin' ideas that I don't know where I really want to start. I'm afraid I'll end up with a Kenbo like re-arranging the whole shop project, and I'm not really up for that at this point :no:


----------



## thegrgyle

I don't know how I missed this, but great work on the cabinet. I am very jealous, and envious at the same time.

Can't wait to see it loaded up.

Fabian


----------



## Chaincarver Steve

It took me a few tries to get it onto the cleat (this thing must weight 80 pounds) but here it is mounted securely to the wall.












Stilts said:


> Looks great. Now to decide where everything goes. Do you have an estimate on cost?


Stilts, I forgot to factor in the cost of the hardware. Glue usage was small.

The 4 magnetic catches were less than a buck each and I used about $8 worth of screws.


----------



## ctwiggs1

Chaincarver Steve said:


> It took me a few tries to get it onto the cleat (this thing must weight 80 pounds) but here it is mounted securely to the wall.
> 
> View attachment 33564
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> Stilts, I forgot to factor in the cost of the hardware. Glue usage was small.
> 
> The 4 magnetic catches were less than a buck each and I used about $8 worth of screws.




WOW! What's it look like closed? Man I think I may have to put one of those on my "need" list.


----------



## Chaincarver Steve

sawdustfactory said:


> Dude! I saw the start of this thread but hadn't checked it for a day or two and you're done! Than looks awesome. I've had this bug to get my shop more organized, and I have so many freakin' ideas that I don't know where I really want to start. I'm afraid I'll end up with a Kenbo like re-arranging the whole shop project, and I'm not really up for that at this point :no:


I hear ya'. I have tons of ideas but didn't - and still don't - really know where to start. So when I got the wild hair to go ahead and jump into making this I jumped on it immediately to force myself to commit to it and not procrastinate any longer. 

This obviously won't organize my entire shop but it's a welcome step in the right direction, that's for sure. Every baby step gets me that much closer.


----------



## firemedic

Nice job, Steve! That should serve you well. I'd love to see it once you get all the tools organized on it!

~tom. ...GEAUX TIGERS!... ...GEAUX SAINTS!......


----------



## Chaincarver Steve

ctwiggs1 said:


> WOW! What's it look like closed?


Like this:


----------



## ctwiggs1

Chaincarver Steve said:


> Like this:
> 
> View attachment 33568


That looks awesome Steve! Well done!


----------



## Texas Sawduster

*Nice Work !!!*

Well, very nice work on the cabinet.
I am considering building one or something similar. I made some quick throw together cabinest last Feb. using leftovers and they turned out okay.


----------



## mdeiley

very nice I might have to build one myself...thanks for posting.


----------



## Kenbo

What the heck happened here? The last thing that I remember was that I was following this thread like a fat kid on a Smartie. Next thing I know, I miss a couple of days posts and BAM!!! You're done. You guys say that I bang out project quickly. Holy crap man, I blinked and missed this whole build. Great work buddy. This one will definitely serve you well and it looks fantastic.


----------



## kglong

Steve, that did turn out awesome. I think that is something I could use in my shop also.:thumbsup:


----------



## johnnie52

That is outstanding. Still want to see it hung and loaded. I really like the doors within doors arrangement you came up with. If everything opens enough to get at everything it will be a great addition to your shop and give you much needed storage.


----------



## Chaincarver Steve

I appreciate all you guys' comments.



Kenbo said:


> What the heck happened here? The last thing that I remember was that I was following this thread like a fat kid on a Smartie. Next thing I know, I miss a couple of days posts and BAM!!! You're done. You guys say that I bang out project quickly. Holy crap man, I blinked and missed this whole build. Great work buddy. This one will definitely serve you well and it looks fantastic.


Funny you should comment on how quickly it came together. I also made a can recycling bin during that time. I'm surprised at how quickly it came together but it really was an easy build. It was essentially a bunch of repetitive parts.



johnnie52 said:


> That is outstanding. Still want to see it hung and loaded. I really like the doors within doors arrangement you came up with. If everything opens enough to get at everything it will be a great addition to your shop and give you much needed storage.


It does open enough to get at everything. I wish I could take credit for the door arrangement but I made this with plans from one of Wood Magazine's special issues.

-----------------------------------------------

If anyone is interested in seeing how it's attached to the wall:

I attached a 45 degree cleat to the rear top edge of the cabinet and a "spacer" along the bottom edge of the rear. They are both solidly glued and screwed.









And on the wall I installed the mating cleat, also with a 45 degree angle. It is well anchored to two studs. And plenty of other screws are driven into the OSB wall.









Then once I got the cabinet onto the cleat I ran screws all the way through the cabinet's cleat and spacer into the wall studs. Rock solid.


----------



## Chaincarver Steve

Man, I seem to be bad about not following through on threads like this. I remembered last night that I failed to post pictures of this with some tools in it like I said I would. (Come to think of it, I also never posted pictures of this (well, last) year's pumpkin I carved for Halloween like I said I would. Oh well.)

This part of my shop has poor lighting, as you see. It's not quite as dark as the pictures would have you believe but it's too dark to take decent photos. One day I'll enhance my lighting. It's on the long to-do list.

I'm still shuffling things around in the tool cabinet and trying to decide what else I want to put in it. I've got tons more tools but not everything needs to be in this particular cabinet. So the filling of said cab is a work in progress. But you get the idea.


----------



## Chaincarver Steve

I've also added a handful of custom touches to the unit. Here are two examples:

Here's a slider thing I added for whatever fits. It's currently holding a two-way bubble level and some of my dowel centers. The block on the dowel slides back and forth.









I also added magnetic catches to hold the inner doors full open (which, in turn, holds the outer doors full open). That was a much welcomed upgrade.









In addition to those, I also added various holders for rotary rasps, my plug cutters and hole saws. I plan to add more custom touches as needs/desires arise.


----------

