Nine drawers of storage in this 2-piece toolbox give you a place for everything
This handsome wooden toolbox features a 6-drawer top section and a 3-drawer base that will make a perfect home for your hand tools and show off your craftsmanship, as well. Build it all at once or in two steps — it’s your choice.
This workshop toolbox features a total of nine drawers to hold all types of hand tools and small accessories for your MARK V and portable electric tools. It’s made in two sections…a top with a large upper compartment and six drawers, and a base with three drawers. Since it’s a two-part project, you can either make the entire tool box all at once, or you can split the job into two sessions, building part now and part later.
We built our box out of solid birch and birch plywood. We used poplar for the drawer sides and backs and 1/8″ pegboard for the drawer bottoms.
Top Box
A
Chest sides(2)(hwd)
1/2 x 12 x 12-1/8
B
Front face (1) (hwd)
1/2 x 4-5/8 x 29-1/4
C
Back face (1) (hwd)
1/2 x 4-1/8 x 29-1/4
D
Partition trim (2) (hwd)
1/4 x 1/2 x 4
E
Front Trim (1) (hwd)
1/2 x 1/2 x 29-1/4
F
Drawer glides (12)(hwd)
11/32 x 3/8 x 11-1/4
G
Compartment bottom (1) (ply)
1/2 x 11-3/8 x 29-1/4
H
Bottom (1) (ply)
1/2 x 11-1/4 x 29-1/4
J
Partitiions (2) (ply)
1/2 x 11-1/2 x 4-1/4
K
Top (1) (ply)
1/4 x 11-1/4 x 29-1/4
L
Back (1) (ply)
1/4 x 8-1/8 x 29-1/4
M
Glue blocks (4) (hwd)
1/2 x 1/2 x 3-7/8
Base
N
Sides(2)(hwd)
1/2 x 12 x 6
P
Front trim (2) (hwd)
1/2 x 1/2 x 29-1/4
Q
Partition trim (1) (hwd)
1/4 x 1/2 x 2
R
Drawer glides (6) (hwd)
11/32 x 3/8 x 11-1/4
S
Top & bottom (2) (ply)
1/2 x 11-1/4 x 29-1/4
T
Partition (1)(ply)
1/2 x 11-1/2 x 2-1/4
U
Back (1) (ply)
1/4 x 6 x 29-1/4
Drawer 1 (make 4)
V
Fronts (4)(hwd)
1/2 x 2 x 11-1/2
W
Sides (8) (pop)
3/8 x 2 x 11-1/2
X
Backs (4) (pop)
3/8 x 1-3/4 x 11
Y
Bottoms (4) (peg)
1/8 x 11x 11-1/4
Drawer 2 (make 1)
V
Fronts (1)(hwd)
1/2 x 4 x 5
W
Sides (2) (pop)
3/8 x 4 x 11-1/2
X
Backs (1) (pop)
3/8 x 3-3/4 x 4-1/2
Y
Bottoms (1) (peg)
1/8 x 4-1/2 x 11-1/4
Drawer 3 (make 2)
V
Fronts (2)(hwd)
1/2 x 2 x 14-1/4
W
Sides (4) (pop)
3/8 x 2 x 11-1/2
X
Backs (2) (pop)
3/8 x 1-3/4 x 13-3/4
Y
Bottoms (2) (peg)
1/8 x 13-3/4 x 11-1/4
Drawer 4 (make 2)
V
Fronts (2)(hwd)
1/2 x 3 x 29
W
Sides (4) (pop)
3/8 x 3 x 11-1/2
X
Backs (2) (pop)
3/8 x 2-3/4 x 28-1/2
Y
Bottoms (2) (peg)
1/8 x 28-1/2 x 11-1/4
HARDWARE
1/2″ dia. Brass drawer pulls (11)
Brass corner caps w/ screws (8)
Brass drawbolt latches w/ screws (2)
Box lock w/ screws & brass plate
14″ lengths of brass sash chain w/ roundhead screws (2)
1/4″ Tee-Nuts (4) 1/4″ – 20 by 3/4″ long flathead bolts (4)
Brass hinges w/ screws (1 pair)
Brass box handles (2 pair)
3/16″ dia. by 36″ long steel rod
5/8″ wire brads
1″ wire nails
#8 x 1-1/4″ flathead wood screws
Step 1:
If you have a thickness planer, start by gluing up a 12-1/2″ wide by 42″ long piece of stock for the box sides (A) and base sides (N). The extra width and length will give you enough stock to allow for your saw kerfs and for squaring-up your planed stock. Once the glue has dried, use a hand scraper or bench chisel to carefully remove any glue squeeze-out before planing the stock to its desired 1/2″ thickness. Next, rip your stock to the final 12″ width, then crosscut the pieces (A & N) to 12-3/16″ and 6-1/16″ (1/16″ longer than their indicated finished lengths).
If you don’t have a thickness planer, start by resawing your narrow pieces of stock to 9/16″ thick. If you have a jointer, rip them to a dimension that’s narrower than your jointer blades are wide, then make two 1/64″ passes across each face, bringing the individual pieces to the desired 1/2″ thickness. Next, rip the edges of your stock parallel, joint them on your jointer and glue them up to the 42″ x 12-1/2″ size, as described above. Use a belt sander to carefully sand off any imperfections where the boards are joined. Next, rip your stock to the final 12″ width, then crosscut the pieces (A & N) to 12-3/16″ and 6-1/16″ (1/16″ longer than their indicated finished lengths).
Follow the same procedures outlined above to prepare the remaining pieces of thinned-down hardwood and poplar for the project, bringing each to the desired thickness.
Step 2: Cut all parts to size, according to the Bill of Materials by first ripping all stock to width, then crosscutting to length. Joint 1/32″ off each end of pieces A & N to bring them to final dimension (See page 76 in Shopsmith’s Power Tool Woodworking for Everyone textbook for the proper technique).
IMPORTANT NOTE: You will notice that the height of the box sides (as shown in the BOX SIDE LAYOUT drawing) is indicated as being 12-1/8″ — and the height of the finished box (as shown in the FRONT LAYOUT drawing) is shown as 12″. Both of these dimensions are correct. The additional 1/8″ is necessary to allow for the saw kerf when sawing lid from the box in step 17, below.
Step 3: Cut the 3/8″ wide by 3/16″ deep stop dadoes for the drawer glides (F & R) in the sides (A & N), and partitions (J & T), using a 3/8″ router bit in the MARK V Router set-up. See Fig. 1.
NOTE: Dadoes are cuts made across the grain of the wood — Grooves are cuts made with the grain of the wood.
Next, change to a 1/2″ router bit and use the same set-up to rout the 1/2″ wide by 1/8″ deep stop dadoes in the sides (A) to accept the compartment bottom (G).
Step 4: Cut a 1/8″ wide by 1/8″ deep stop groove on the upper part of the sides (A). These grooves will accept the front and back faces (B & C). Tip: Use a table saw blade that makes a 1/8″ wide kerf to cut these grooves. Chisel the bottom of the groove to depth for the front face (B) See BOX SIDE LAYOUT drawing for detail.
Cut the 1/8″ wide by 1/8″ deep dadoes for the tops and bottoms (H,K,S) in the sides (A & N). Cut the 1/8″ wide by 1/8″ deep grooves at the top and bottom of the front face (B) and the top only of the back face (C).
Cut the grooves in the backs of the sides (A & N) that will accept the (1/8″ x 1/8″) tongues on the ends of the backs (L & U). The grooves in the box sides (A) are stop grooves, while those in the base sides (N) run from end-to-end.
Complete the groove and rabbet joints in the back edges of the sides (A & N). See BASE SIDE LAYOUT drawing for detail.
