Download - Country Tool Toy Chest
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Country Tool & Toy Chest
Nails, glue and a nice long dayin the shop are all it takes.
PoPular WoodWorking February 200734
This rustic hinged-lid box is a design tra-ditionally used as a basic tool chest, but Ithought a scaled-down version would make a
great chest or stashing toys (with the addition
o a saety hinge) or extra grocery bags in the
kitchen. It is adapted rom a chest shown inJohn A. and Joyce C. Nelsons The Big Book
o Weekend Woodworking (Lark Books).
A Trp to th Ho CtrA trip to the home center is the beginning o
every I Can Do That project, and there I
assessed every #2 pine 1x12 in stock. Because
Id decided to paint the chest, I wasnt con-
cerned with the grain as much as getting the
straightest, attest boards. While two 8'-long
boards would have been enough to construct
the chest, I purchased an extra, just in case. Ialso bought a quart o red paint, 6" strap hinges
and a box o 4dfnish nails. Even with the extra
wood, the materials cost was but $50.
Rogh Ct th PcThe top and ront are the most visible pieces,
so I marked these frst and rough cut them
to length (with a couple inches to spare)
using the miter saw. I then selected the next-
clearest areas or the sides, then two boards
or the back, and fnally the bottom. Ocuts
were set aside or the battens and cleats.
La Ot th ArchArched cutouts on the sides dress up the piece
a bit. To lay them out, frst mark a line on each
piece 11116" up rom the bottom, then measure
in 4116" rom each long edge on both pieces
and mark the intersections. Then butt the
sides against one another (eet to eet), set
by Megan Fitzpatrick
Comments or questions? You can reach Megan at 513-
531-2690 ext. 1348 or [email protected]
Chafr PalBecause the top, ront and back o the chest are
13" wide and a 1x12 is narrower than that, you
have to rip two boards to 612" wide to make
each panel. Its nigh on impossible to cut a glue-
ready edge with a jigsaw, so to help disguise
any resulting gaps at the seam, I used my block
the compass to make a 514" radius, then place
the point on each mark and draw arcs on the
opposite piece. The two arcs on each piece will
intersect at the center o your board, orming
the arch apex. Cut out each arch with your
jigsaw, then clamp the sides together and clean
them up using a rasp and sandpaper.
PhotobyAlParrish
Mark a horizontal line 11116" rom the bottom oeach piece, then measure in 4116" rom each othe our sides and mark the intersecting points.These are the our points on which youll place the
point o your compass to mark the arches.
Clamp the sides together and use a rasp andsandpaper to clean up the arches. Dont worry ithey dont match perectly; because theres 22"between them on the fnished chest, minor di er-
ences wont be noticeable.
i Can do ThaT
11116"
4116"
Botto
of btt
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ABOuT THis COLumnOur I Can Do That column eatures proj-
ects that can be completed by any wood-worker with a modest (but decent) kit otools in less than two days o shop time,and using raw materials that are availableat any home center. We oer a ree onlinemanual in PDF ormat that explains all thetools and shows you how to perorm thebasic operations in a step-by-step ormat.Youll learn to rip with a jigsaw, crosscutwith a miter saw and drill straight with thehelp o our manual.
To download the ree manual, visitICanDoThatExtras.com.
popularwoodworking.com 35
COunTRy CHesTnO. iTem dimensiOns (inCHes) mATeRiAL
T W L
4 Front/backs 34 612 22 Pine
2 Top 34 612 2312 Pine
2 Sides 34 1034 17 Pine 1 Bottom 34 2012 1034 Pine
2 Battens 34 1 13 Pine
Cleats* 34 1 72 Pine
* Cut to ft.
plane to chamer the adjoining edges.
Now youre ready to assemble the box. Glue
and clamp the back boards in place on the sides
and drill three 18" pilot holes in each board.
Drive 4dfnish nails into the holes, then repeat
this process or the ront boards. Leave thenails proud o the surace to avoid dinging the
boards with your hammer, then use a nail set
to drive them 116" below the surace.
Top & BottoTo make the battens, cut two 1" x 13" pieces
rom your ocuts, trim the ront edge at 45
but leave a 14" at at the top. To make the top,
screw the top pieces to the battens. First snug
the two top pieces together on your bench, and
lay the battens across either end. Drill coun-
tersunk clearance and pilot holes, then attachthe battens with #8 x 112" wood screws.
To make the bottom, frst cut your cleats
to size and nail them around the inside bot-
tom edge o the chest. Now cut the bottom a
hair wider than necessary and use your block
plane to trim it to ft. Drop the bottom in place,
hang the work over the edge o the Workmate
so the cleats are supported, then nail the bot-
tom to the cleats rom the inside.
Wooworkg ThrapSand to #120 grit and apply two coats o bright
red paint to the outside and a coat o amber
shellac to the interior to seal it. Ater the
paint dries, grab a ring o keys and beat the
you-know-what out o the box until you get
a lot o lovely dings. Take a rasp to the edges,
and or good measure, grab your hammer by
the head and use the handle end to whomp
the top edge a ew times. Once the piece looks
distressed (and you eel de-stressed) apply acoat o any dark gel stain over the entire thing.
Work the stain into the dings, dents and raw
edges. Wipe it o, and voil a century o age
in just minutes. Ater the stain is completely
dry, apply a coat o paste wax.
Th Fhg TochTo attach the strap hinges, measure in 4" rom
the battens on the top, mark the holes with an
Hold your plane at a 45 angle to the edge o theboard, and shave down the length until youre sat-isfed with the chamer. The goal is to draw atten-tion to the seam, so make sure the chamer is
big enough so that paint doesnt overwhelm it.
Ater drilling pilot holes, drive 4dnails and leave
them a little proud o the surace.
Cut the ront and back cleats to size frst, thensnug the end cleats between them.
awl, and drill pilot holes or the screws. The
screws that came with the hinges were toolong, so we used some we had on hand. You
can color the heads black with a Sharpie i
you want everything to match. I also attached
a length o chain, leaving a ew extra loops
so the open angle o the top can be easily
adjusted. PW
ElevationProfle
IllustrationbyMaryJaneF
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