A boatbuilder's tool chest
In this post I thought I'd take you through my 'box of tricks'.
This is the toolbox I work out of every day. It holds almost all the hand tools I use in the trade: Everything from hand saws to hand planes, chisels to caulking irons.
The box itself is remarkable in its own right. It measures 3' 3" x 21" x 18.5". It’s one of the many old pieces that has been hanging around the family home for as long as I can remember. My dad always said it was a 'proper seaman's chest'. It wasn't until I went to the Queensland Maritime Museum the other day that this claim was verified. Behind an acrylic box was an identical chest that they called an “1850’s seaman's chest”. The box was so similar that I would like to assume that they were made in the same factory, or workshop. My box is made out of Deal, so I imagine that it comes from the continent. Each part of the box is made out of a single piece of timber, that's 22” wide boards! I would love to know where the box has travelled in its life. What stories it could tell.
Up until last year the box sat at the centre of a circle of old chairs and couches under the house where friends and I would sit to drink and share stories, or party. Many drinks have been spilt and many a debaucherous night has begun or ended around this box. Although I hope there are many more nights like that to come, they don't seem to happen under the house anymore. So I thought I had better put the old box to use.
It took me a few weeks of pondering to work out how I was going to fit all my tools in, it's perhaps a bit like antique tetris. As you can see in the photographs I've used sheet copper, cut and hammered to shape, to hold most of my tools in place.
Trying to fit all my tools in the most efficient way possible was quite a challenge.
The Lid:
Here you can see I've got 2 hand saws, both cross-cut saws, as it's very rare to use a hand saw for ripping these days. I've also got my trusty coping saw and Japanese saw, a few larger socket chisels, my adze handle right up the top, a couple of sets of dividers, my favourite spokeshave, and my 2" framers chisel.
On the Left:
Here is a little shelf that was already in the box. This shelf houses my trimmer bits, trammel points, kerosene for sharpening, string line, compass plane and chamfer plane.
Under this shelf are two handy little drawers. The left is full of various bits and pieces, pens, pencils, chalk, small sharpening stone, various parts and irons for hand planes, etc. The other drawer has miscellaneous drill bits. Most of my drill bits are well organised. But everyone needs a drawer full of random drills as you never know when you'll need an odd sized bit, or you break one and need to go hunting for another.
Mounted just above these drawers are my two other spokeshaves, both metal: One a larger round soled piece, and the other, a smaller flat soled number.
Under these drawers in the bottom of the box I have my caulking box. In here I've got my 13 caulking irons, my trusty caulking mallet, and a few 'bent file' reefing hooks.
In the middle:
On the top I've made a tray to house most of the hand planes I use regularly as well as my larger chisels. Left to right I have my: 'German Jack' or continental style small jack plane; Stanley No. 35 transitional plane; wooden and steel bodied rabbet plane; and my Yankee boatbuilders rosewood jack plane.
In the front row we have my small smoother, mahogany bodied and brass soled; Stanley low angle block plane; two 'Chinese Style' round over planes; my squirrel tail radius plane (or 'bollow plane' to the oar maker); and my Record shoulder plane.
Wedged in the front and back of the tray are my larger chisels and carving chisels - these are an eclectic mix, mostly old English brands.
Under this tray is a drawer I installed that holds spanners, pliers, scissors and other things. In the bottom of the box are my adze heads (large and small), sharpening stones, and a box for my respirator, ear plugs, safety glasses etc.
On the right:
Here I've got two boxes. I love these. The 'Singer' box has my Makita battery drill and impact driver, as well as a torch. I also carry the drill bits I use daily - standard twist drills from 2mm to 13mm, countersinks, and long series drills.
The second box holds my set of forsner bits, spade bits, hole saws and brace. It's amazing how many drill bits the boatbuilder needs, and breaks!
The box is big and heavy, not the sort of thing you want to be moving regularly, but perfect for the transient boat builder. I don't know where I'll be working in the years to come, but I do know that I'll be able to close the lid on my tool chest, put it in the back of a car, and take it wherever the work takes me.