voiceover:the woodwhisperer is sponsored by powermatic and clear vue cyclones. marc:even us big kids need a place to store our toys. so let's build this tool storage cabinet. (music) efficient tool storage is going to be a challenge in any shopand it really doesn't help that all of these tools come in their own
plastic cases. now, that's actually a good thing because it protects thetool but if you're trying to store multiples ofthese it could become pretty unruly and it takes up a lot of extra room. because even what iconsider to be the best tool cases out there, festool systainers, even they can take up upto four times the space
of the tool itself. so if you have a stationaryshop, it may not be the best storage solution for you. if you're on the road all the time, whole different story. all right, so i'm not saying get rid of these cases because they are valuable. lots of people love them and if you ever want to sell the tool, youreally do want that case.
hang onto them. possibly put them in storage or something and then take the tool out and have a much denser, more compact area to store the tools and it just doesn't take up as much room. all right, and that's what this cabinet is all about. so let me show you some of the details.
the cabinet is made from3/4 inch birch plywood with a cherry face frame and edging. there are fivecompartments, each featuring an adjustable shelf. two of the compartments are wide enough to handle festool systainers. the top features a splitlid for additional storage. inside, you can store some of the less frequently used accessories.
and if you really want to get organized, you can drop in some plastic or wood bins for hardware and screws. now, i'm going to use the festool domino for this project because it's quick, it's easy, and it gets me a piece of shop furniture within a day or two. all right, but if you don't have one, doesn't mean that youcan't build this project.
let me show you some ofthe other common options. remember, all we haveto do for this project is join pieces ofplywood at a right angle. so one of the great waysthat you can do that is with a biscuit joiner. now, biscuits aren't the strongest types of joints in the world,but they can get the job, especially for basiccabinetry like this, it gets the job done.
this is one option. how about dowels? here's a nice, simple doweling jog. this guy costs about $50. you can find them cheaper,and you could even make your own jig. and this is what dowels look like. very strong joinery. as long as you have a good way to index
your drill bit, you're good to go. but all you need is thedoweling jig, some dowels, and a drill. and i know you recognize this bad boy. it's a pocket hole jig. all right, pocket screws are a great way for assembling joinery in a hurry. so this is definitelyanother viable option. so grab that tool of choice and let's
make ourselves a tool cabinet. i like to cut my plywood on the floor, using foam panels for support. i use a tape measurerand a square to lay out my cuts as efficiently as possible. a great way to cut plywood down is to use a circular saw and a shop maid edge guide. or you could just use a track saw. simply line the guideup with the pencil line
and begin cutting. while you can certainlytake the full sheet to the table saw, i think it's much easier on the back to break the sheet down into smaller pieces first. i set aside both the backpanel and the lid piece, since both will be cut to fit later on. the rest of the pieces are then cross cut to approximate size.
now i'll use the tablesaw to trim each piece to final width, and thefestool mft to cross cut them to final length. if you don't have afestool mft, you can get decent results using a large square and a shop maid saw guide. with all the parts cut to final size, we can now focus on the joinery. using the domino, icut a few mortises into
each side of the thick shelf pieces. using the domino's builtin stops, i can achieve the same hole pattern over and over without having to mark each piece. to cut the adjoiningmortises in the vertical dividers, i use thesame exact stop set up. i also use a small plywood spacer to help position the domino, since it's too far away from the edge touse the built in fence.
if everything was set upcorrectly, the shelf holes should line up perfectly. at the top of the verticaldivider, i perform the same operation, onlyusing a larger spacer. this is how we end up with the top storage compartments. so here's the only catch to this method. if two adjacent shelves have the same exact hole pattern, thetenons will make contact
during assembly. so the wider shelveswill receive a slightly different hole pattern, with the same methodology applied. to make assembly easy and fast, i glue in the tenons ahead of time. each piece is then sanded to 220 grit. assembling something ofthis size can be tricky so i'll assemble it in parts.
the first section goes together easily and clamps are addedand i check for square. the next section is added to the first once the glue is set. the other half of the unit is assembled separately using the same methodology. now it's time to add the shelf pin holes. my favorite way to make shelf pin holes is to use this simple jig from rockler.
it comes with a plexiglasjig and a drill bit that produces perfectly spaced holes even after assembly. since this piece is solarge, i found it easiest to do the final assembly on the ground. a piece of plywood on thefloor helps to provide a nice smooth assembly surface. after the glue dries it'stime to add the back panel. as constructed, the unitis already pretty strong.
but with the addition ofa 3/4 inch back panel, it's going to be rock solid. i flip the piece over and then take a few measurements. at the table saw i cut the back panel to final size. i squirt a bead of glue onto the edge of each transition and then drop the back panel in place.
gravity does most of the work here, but a few clamps never hurts. while the glue dries,let's make the face frame. the parts are milledto about 3/4 of an inch in thickness and then are cut to width at the table saw. we'll once again relyon the domino joinery to attach the outside vertical pieces to the horizontal pieces.
cheap three way clamps are great for this kind of work, but you'llwant to use something to help prevent damagingthe wood, while also giving the clamps a better grip. the face frame can thenbe glued and nailed to the front of the case. brad nails help hold everything in place. the remaining vertical pieces are then dropped into place and secured
with glue and brad nails. any nail holes are filled with water based timbermate wood fillerand then the surface is sanded thoroughly. any slight discrepancieswhere the face frame meets the bottom shelfare easily sanded flush. now for the lid i'mgoing to use two pieces. each piece is cut to sizeand then a mitered frame is added for durability and looks.
since it's easy to use clamps here, i'll just use a few 23 gauge pins to help hold the trim into position. as you can see, the pinhole is very small. the pieces are cut tofit and then glued on one at a time. while i'm at it, i'll glue the edging onto the adjustable shelves, too. clamping those two at a time makes it
much easier. once the glue is dry,i sand the trim flush and add a nice round over. for the adjustableshelves, i'm using these strong bracket style pins. these are going to be able to hold quite a bit of weight. for the finish i'm using a simple wiping varnish.
and by the way, if you'renew to wood working, you should use your shopprojects to practice with new finishes and techniques. if you mess up, who cares? the whole project getstwo coats on the inside and three on the outside. once the finish dries,i can attach the lid with some no mortise hinges. i first attach the longleaf to the underside
of the lid. an easy way to do this isto flip the hinge over, push the barrel against the edge, and then pre-drill the holes. now the holes are perfectly located and the screws can be added. and yes, i realize these steel screws look awful but it's just shop furniture. now, to attach the hinges to the case
i'll drop the lid intoposition and do my best to pre-drill just one hole. with a screw added,it'll be a lot easier to pre-drill and drive the remaining screws. with the lids installed, i can now add the adjustable shelvesand, finally, the tools. well this was a longoverdue upgrade for the shop and i love having allthe tools full accessible right behind the work bench.
the one thing i wouldsuggest is, with a lid like this, you reallydo want something there to stop it from falling down, for safety. there's hardware thatyou could buy for that or you could even buildjust a little kickstand. haven't done it yet, but it's on the list. now, the hinged lid isprobably going to be the thing that most folks will comment on because it might not beappropriate for everybody.
works for me. so if it doesn't workfor you, if you think you're going to clutterthis up all the time and it's going to get in the way, think about making drawers instead. you've got five compartments here. break up your face frame so it doesn't take up all this space and install some full extension slides and you can have
yourself some really nice drawers. the hinged lid works fine for me. that's what i went for. all right? so, hope this inspires you to build some tool storage for your shop. even if you just takethis as a starting point and a template and go ina different direction. let me know about it, iwant to see your ideas.
all right, but i can't wait to get to work because now everythingis right where i need it. thanks for watching.