The Fantasy Toolbox - part 1 - Printable Version +- Woodnet Forums (https://forums.woodnet.net) +-- Thread: The Fantasy Toolbox - part 1 (/showthread.php?tid=7378716)

The Fantasy Toolbox - part 1 - Derek Cohen - 06-24-2025 The Fantasy Tool Box is a project to house tools for a hopefully - that's the fantasy part - furniture making program, hopefully in a city over the sea, after I retire (in about 12 months!). It is a small chest, just 540 x 280mm x 220mm high, in Pine and Makore. Wooden hinges ... The trays are Kauri Pine, which is as light as it gets. I shall not bore you with sawing dovetails, just the shop made chisels in use removing waste. More on the chisels in a while. In this instance I decided to forgo a fretsaw (as I am not sure if there will be space for one) ,and just chop out the waste. Then split out a level ... Chop down again. The fence at the baseline prevents the chisel moving back and over the baseline .. [/font] Get down half way and start on the other side ... Once you have just a thin section remaining at the centre, this will break away, and the leave the socket clear. The only downside of this method (compared with fretsawing and paring) is that the centre of the socket is rough ... So far, all the dovetails aim to fit off the saw. Will they? These soft woods are great to dovetail and they squish together without any gaps ... It's going to fit nicely ... A preview of the lid for the tray ... Makore to match the chest lid ... Stanley Bedrock #604 used here as the planes have not yet been made. Don't you love the straight shavings from a closed chipbreaker  Raking light across the surface ... no tracks and a gleam to beat any sander! There are 9 chisels, including a fishtail for clearing the waste of pins. The blades are M2 (HSS), 80mm long (a little longer than a butt chisel), 3mm thick and hollow ground at 30 degrees. The handles are West Australian Sheoak. The brass ferrules are semi-fake, on purpose. The blades are attached with tangs, epoxied into the handle, and the ferrule is filled with epoxy, gripping the steel shaft and acting as a bolster. The shoulder shape is influenced by Japanese chisels. While the shoulders appear square, as with firmer chisels, these are all have minimal lands, and the taper will fit inside the shoulder of a socket angled at a 1:5 ratio (11 degrees). The sizes are geared towards detail work, especially dovetailing. All metric. So ... 3/4/6/8/10/12/18/25mm. It is likely that I will replace the 10mm with a 6mm mortice chisel (already made) ... M2 is hard steel. It takes and holds a good edge. Overall, they are light, pare well and handle chopping. Update .... What may be of interest to those reading are the tools chosen to be included. The intention is that these are all that is needed to do fine work when building furniture - to cover joinery, such as rebates, mortise-and-tenons, dovetailing for cases and drawers, jointing and smoothing. The box is small, and the challenge is to fit everything inside, as well as keeping the weight down. So far the total is 7 kg. The plan is to make all the tools in the tool box. The only exception here are marking tools, but I may change my mind later. The top layer, comprising three boxes, is done ... There is enough space to slide a box along and get a finger under the side latch to open it ... From the right, the chisels have been narrowed to these, with bevel edge from 3mm through 25mm, a fishtail for clearing pin sockets, and a 6mm mortice chisel. The handles are West Australian Sheoak, and all the steel is M2, as mentioned earlier ... ]The middle box has the marking tools needed: Starrett 12"/300mm combination square (the blade is housed separately), a 4" Starrett double square, 4" iGaging sliding bevel (excellent copy of the Starrett at a fraction of the price), and a combination compass/divider .... All tools are French fitted inside thick felt to prevent movement and provide cushioning during travel. The third box contains several recently-made tools: marking knife (with interchangeable blades. Here sporting a double bevel), screwdriver (with several bits), kerfing chisel (for extending kerfs in half-blind dovetails), scratch awl (for positioning dimensions and starting screw holes), and a carbide rod burnisher for card scrapers ... The marking knife (Mk 2) has replaceable blades, using a brass blade carrier. Details of the build here:  https://www.inthewoodshop.com/ShopMadeTools/MarkingKnifewithReplaceableBlades.html The Mk 2 design was intended to match the original dovetail marking knife I designed, and later was made by Chris Vesper. Some of you have this one. The scratch awl also uses a brass blade carrier, allowing the removal of the shaft for easier sharpening (in a drill). I am particularly happy with the new kerfing chisel, made using the same blade carrier as the knife. I will post detailed photos if there is interest. Regards from Perth RE: The Fantasy Toolbox - part 1 - MarkSingleton - 06-24-2025 Great work as usual Derek. I envy your dovetailing skills. RE: The Fantasy Toolbox - part 1 - FrankAtl - 06-24-2025 Beautifully done with great description and photos! Thank you for taking the time to do this. RE: The Fantasy Toolbox - part 1 - stav - 06-24-2025 Wow, that is a fine looking box. I love these tool chest builds. Nice work on the tools too. RE: The Fantasy Toolbox - part 1 - AHill - 06-25-2025 A beautiful home for some beautiful - and practical - tools. RE: The Fantasy Toolbox - part 1 - Arlin Eastman - 06-29-2025 I really like it.  Boxes within a box.  Just a question.  Why use a fret saw over just chisel work or even the other way around??  What are the advantages of both RE: The Fantasy Toolbox - part 1 - Derek Cohen - 06-30-2025 Hi Arlin Removing the waste from a socket with a fretsaw means that there is just a sliver to pare away. This thin section is more likely not to break out when pared, compared with chopping a thicker section. This is also kinder to the edge of a chisel. Double all these remarks as the wood gets harder. More commonly I worker with woods such as Jarrah and Hard Maple, which is a different kettle of fish to the soft Pine here. Regards from Perth Derek