Monday, April 24, 2017

Dutch tool chest build 5, the lid and assembly.

I had glued up 4 boards to form the lid, so in my mind I just had to do a bit of smoothing, mount some breadboard ends and be done.
The reality was a bit different. The lid had warped, so I had to struggle to flatten it. A thing that really didn't help was the size of the lid. I could barely fit it on the workbench, and it scooted around because I couldn't place it in a single position that would enable me to plane the entire piece.

After a lot of time and cursing I decided that it was flat enough. The problem was that it wasn't the same thickness all around.
The top of the workbench is not flat, and I didn't see any point in continuing knowing that it would hardly get any better, so the lid just had to stay that way.

I marked up for some breadboard ends, and the first one didn't fit very tight. I fiddled some time without any obvious improvements, I mounted it hoping and expecting that the second end would turn out better.

At first the second end really did fit better, but the first dowel that I drove in burst out a huge chunk of wood from the backside. I guess the board is a bit punky.
The second dowel broke before getting through the board, but the third one came all the way thoguh as it should.
It bothered me that the second dowel never went all the way, so I decided to remove it and install e new one.
A drift pin, a hammer and a smart blow Took care of the problem with the dowel stealing all the attention, Instead the new attraction was the 6" long and 1.5" wide chunk that separated from the breadboard end. And somehow the dowel managed to stay put.
More cursing..

I squirted some glue in the crack and put a clamp on it. There was no point in trying to do anything abut it until the glue had set and I had cooled down.

Next I turned my attention to the carcase and did a bit of planing in a vague attempt to level the dovetails and the ends of the backboards.
Again the work was obstructed by lack of workholding, a not completely flat floor etc.
The back was the last thing I tried to plane. I decided from the start that I would only use the scrub iron on the back, because there had been enough misery already. The back ended OK, with clearly visible diagonal strokes from a scrub plane. At least it will show that it is handmade.

A set of skids were mounted under the bottom, and this part went without any hick-ups at all (very strange).

The glue on the lid had dried sufficiently to continue with that part.
I used a saw to cut the lid to the correct length and to remove the parts of the breadboard ends that extended a bit. Some planing actually made it look pretty good, almost level and fairly square.
So I decided to make a bull nose profile on all the edges.
A bull nose profile is hard to mess up, unless you make the rabbet too deep, so it will terminate at the same depth as the groove in the breadboard end. If you do that the result is clearly visible.
If you also ad a some grain blow out due to rabbeting cross grain you will know why there was even more cursing.

Finally I installed the hardware which didn't cause any real problems compared to the earlier difficulties I had experienced.

Assembled Dutch tool chest.

First blow out.

Second blow out. 

Chest partly opened.

Dutch tool chest opened.


16 comments:

  1. All that cursing must have done something, because it looks great!

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    Replies
    1. Haha, thank you.
      I deliberately chose to not take any close up photos of the trouble areas.
      Brgds
      Jonas

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  2. Did you curse in all the languages you know or just Danish?
    Cursing in all of them would certainly cover all bases.

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    1. Hi Ralph
      I only cursed in Danish. I am afraid that if I did it in more languages the surface would have become charred :-)
      Brgds
      Jonas

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  3. I can only curse in English, but I'm really good at it :)

    The chest looks awesome. I love the beaded back panel, and I will have to steal that idea for future reference.
    Bill

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    1. Hi Bill,
      I know that my wife is not overly impressed when I resort to cursing, kind of a shame, because I am pretty good at it :-)

      Thanks for the nice words on the chest. The good thing about that type of beading is that it works equally well with narrow and wide boards.

      Brgds
      Jonas

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    2. Yes, I've built a few bookcases with wide beaded boards, but none with narrow. The narrow boards have an appeal to them.

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    3. They also look great if you paint them. I don't plan on painting the inside of the chest, but we have a lot of wainscotting at home that is made up of similar boards at home.

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  4. As for me I always curse in both of Canada official language: French and English :-) Not sure it does anything to the situation at hand but it help expressing my feelings :-)

    Good looking tool chest, no doubts helped along with a few well chosen Danish curse.

    Bob, wondering how that would sound??

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    1. Hi Bob.
      Cursing in English and French at the same time sounds like a difficult task.
      Thanks for the nice comment on the chest. I am not sure that the cursing helped at all.

      Brian Eve once heard me having a heated discussion with my father in Danish. He said it sounded like some cavemen grunting at each other.

      The reason for the discussion was that he helped me glue on the lower skirt for the ATC at the class that CS taught.
      The chest was upside down, and we hadn't agreed on if up or down referred to the physical up and down or the up and down on the chest..
      All went well in the end. :-)

      Brgds
      Jonas

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  5. I've heard that a winning boxer is the one who can take more of a beating than the other guy. You won this match - it looks like a fine DTC, not a pile of splintered pallet wood. And ditto the comment on the beading, very nice feature.

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    1. Hi Jeff
      Thank you very much.
      I will try to see if I can take a picture of the backside. I actually think it looks kind of cool with the visible grooves left by the scrub plane.
      They will most likely be a bit more visible with paint on them.
      Brgds
      Jonas

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  6. Hi Jonas,

    I love the pearl line between the boards. Does it qualify the chest as a scandinavian cheest?

    Cheers
    Pedder

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    1. Hi Pedder
      I suppose it kind of does.
      Most of the pärlspont I have seen in Sweden seems to be made out of 4" wide boards, but I have seen them wider and narrower too.
      Technically Norway is part of Scandinavia too, so since it is made here I think that qualifies it too.
      Cheers
      Jonas

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  7. Looks really good, and seeing you work on this project has got me moving on mine. I'm interested to see how you fit yours out for storage options.

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    1. Hi Jeremy
      Thanks a lot.
      I have to admit that I haven't given much thought to the interior outfitting of the chest. My original plan was to just make some sort of hanging arrangement for chisels and stuff, but I wanted to keep the weight as low as possible so I wouldn't have to leave it due to overweight when I have to take the plane home.
      So any interior stuff will be done at home.

      Another thing is that I am not certain what I will use the chest for. It could be regular DIY tools for the summer house, or it might end up near the mulesaw to hold a wrench, a hammer and some oil. Or perhaps it will be hijacked by Mrs Mulesaw and end up in the stable filled with combs and brushes for the horses.
      So the brutal truth is that I think you are much better off looking at how other people have outfitted the interior. Because I am afraid that there won't be a lot to see on mine.. (sorry)

      Brgds
      Jonas

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