The
Toolbox Book
A Craftman's Guide To Tool Chests, Cabinets
and Storage Systems
by Jim Tolpin
Softcover
225 x 275mm
199pp
Published by The Taunton Press, Connecticut, USA.
R.R.P.$39.90
ISBN 1-56158-272-7
As reviewed in The Australian Woodworker Issue 124
One of the first items a woodworking apprentice used to make was a box for his tools. Not only was it a good project for practising basic skills, but it served a very important purpose - to provide safe and secure storage for the apprentice's growing tool collection.
The same requirement existed among master craftsmen and many cabinetmakers put enormous effort into their workshop or travelling tool chests. While the toolbox became for many a symbol of their workmanship, nonetheless it had to be practical as the tools were essential to the craftsman's livelihood.
Today we are spoiled by pre-packaged tools with their own storage cases, yet there is still a very good case for providing clean, organised storage for our equipment. In The Toolbox Book Jim Tolpin covers this subject at great length.
There's little point in re-learning old tricks, so Jim begins with a discussion of traditional tool chests - their designs, functions, failings and smart ideas.
The third chapter is a gallery of tool chest projects from the North Bennet Street School in Boston. It showcases the variety that is possible from developing a contemporary design based on traditional toolbox construction.
The remainder of the book looks at various options for present day tool storage, drawing from both modern and traditional sources where appropriate. The various chapters cover designing workshop tool storage, wall cabinets, free-standing tool cabinets, mobile tool carts, site boxes, lidded carry boxes, wheeled site boxes and outfitting a van.
There's a wealth of ideas for tool storage from simple devices such as a canvas tool roll and lidded bucket, to multi-drawered tool carts and carry-all wheeled boxes, to the magnificent tool cabinets of H O Studley, Greg Radley, Steve Johnson, Andy Rae and others. (The Andy Rae tool cabinet is available as a plan from the Mail Order Bookshop).
Some of the simpler projects are provided with (Imperial) dimensioned drawings, but the main intent of the book is not to provide off-the-shelf solutions, but to enable you to design your own boxes, chests or cabinets according to your specific needs.
If you have tools worth looking after (most of us have!), then they should be stored neatly out of harm's way. For this reason The Toolbox Book is recommended reading for every woodworker. It would make a great present to a fellow woodworker and it would also interest those looking for a book to advance their cabinetmaking skills.
Photos: Colour
Units of Measurement: Imperial
Contents
Introduction
Tool Boxes and the Building of a Nation
Traditional-Style Tool Chests
A Student Tool-Chest Project
Designing In-shop Storage
Wall Cabinets
Standing Tool Cabinets
Rolling Tool Carts
Designing Site Boxes
Open Shoulder Totes
Lidded Totes
Wheeled Site Boxes
A Toolbox for the Road
Epilog
Index