THE HANDY MAN’S CORNER.

Otago Witness, Issue 3802, 25 January 1927, Page 10

THE HANDY MAN’S CORNER.

MAKING A TOOL CHEST.

(Special.—-For the Witness.)

A home for everything and everything in its place is a good old saying. The device which forms the subject for these notes is seen in Fig. 1, and has been in use by the writer for some years. Sizes must be determined by the number and variety of the tools and material to be housed, but something about 30in long, 24in high, and Ilin deep will accommodate an astonishing quantity of apparatus. The chest has double doors at the upper part and an open space about 9in high at the bottom. The tools are stored in the . upper part while the open lower portion permits of tools being laid aside during the progress of constructional operations.

Every tool has its own place, and when the doors are opened they have simply to be taken down when needed, and can be as quickly replaced. Sundries such as screws and nails are accommodated in small glass bottles, which enable the contents to be seen at a glance, while small tools, punches, drills, and taps are housed in small drawers seen at the right of the illustration. The chest is made throughout from ordinary lin flooring boards, or prepared boards about Ilin wide. The constructional details are revealed in Fig. 2, and comprise the end members which are halved at the top and bottom for the top and bottom boards respectively. This halving can be entirely fashioned by accurate sawing, but if necessary may be touched up with a chisel. The inter-

mediate member is housed into the uprights, and the whole glued and nailed or screwed together. The back is then closed

Flc -2 Fig. 3 in with a sheet of three-ply board glued or pinned to the back edges of the. framework. The doors should next be prepared by jointing sufficient of the boards to give the

requisite width, the ends beino’ tongued as shown at the lower part of Fig. 3, and a corresponding groove ploughed in the edge of the clamp pieces seen at the top of Fig. 3. An alternative construction is to make a battened door with cross battens at the back, but the former is the better plan, and is far more durable. The doors, when made and fitted, are hinged with stout butt hinges in the usual way, and may be provided with a lock and key or other fastenings if desired. The whole is then stained and varnished, or painted, and the interior fitted out with devices for the support of the tools. The best plan is to try different arrangements of the tools most in use. Then provide hooks, leather strips or loops, or other methods for holding them. There are several commercial clips obtainable at small cost that are useful for this purpose. A divided rack for chisels and gouges is a useful fitment, and is easily made from a wood about Ijin wide and ?in thick, divided with strips of wood about £in square and 1-gin long. These are preferably glued to the back of the long strip, the whole being screwed in place. The nest of drawers is easily made by obtaining sufficient small wooden boxes, and then making up divisions from wood about jin thick, to take them. A good plan is to use boxes with lids, as they can be removed when working in some other room.

CUT THIS OUT: Subject of Next Week’s Article: “MAKING A FOLDING SCREEN.”