®

Heirloom
Tool Chest

©2020 Active Interest Media Holding Co.

 heirloom
Tool Cabinet
With plenty of space, classic design,
and straightforward joinery, this cabinet
is a woodworker’s dream

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Exploded
View Details
OVERALL DIMENSIONS:
18!/4"D x 36!/2"W x 72"H

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 1
FIGURE

a.

building the
Case b.

It’s hard to put a finger on what One thing is certain. You’re sure to case are a pair of larger drawers that
I like best about this tool cabinet. enjoy building it. In spite of the cabi- ride on full-extension slides.
Certainly, the first thing you notice net’s size, you’ll find it breaks down Frame and Panel. The first things
is the striking color and grain of the into three, easily managed sections to build are the frame and panel
Douglas fir. I could also point to the — case, stand, and a drawer box to back and side assemblies. When it
huge amount of storage provided go inside the case. came to the joinery, I chose a simple
by all the shelves and drawers. Or Case. I started by building the stub tenon and groove. This joint
maybe it’s the heavy-duty stand case. For the most part, the case offers quite a bit of strength and is
that keeps the tools within easy is a box made up of several frame easy to cut on the table saw.
reach. On the other hand, perhaps and panel assemblies (including the Since the joinery dimensions
the way all these features come doors). Inside the case, you’ll find a are the same for both the back and
together is what makes it such a couple of shelves and a drawer box sides, you can save yourself some
standout project. (see page 9). At the bottom of the time (and avoid extra setups) by

Gluing a Solid-Wood Frame & Panel

Stub tenon and groove joinery and width with changes in humidity. To
frame and panel construction are prevent the frames from breaking
pretty common — we use them all apart when this happens, I cut the
the time. But when the panels are panels a bit narrower (1/8") than the
made from solid wood, it adds a opening. This gives them a little
whole new twist. breathing room to move.
The biggest thing to remember This also means the panels can’t
is that the solid wood panels will be glued into the grooves. Instead,
expand and contract across their they’ll need to float. But that poses
a problem for keeping a consistent
reveal on the panels. To overcome
this problem, I held the panels in
place with a centered dab of glue
at the top and bottom. This will
keep the panel centered while still
allowing it to expand and contract.

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 2
FIGURE

a.
b.

cutting all the joinery at one time. to the face frame. This face frame is face frame is to cut a rabbet on each
Note: The joinery in the doors uses a little unusual in that it consists of stile to hold the case sides. Doing
the same dimensions as well. So only two stiles and a top rail. this now makes it easier to control
you may want to take the opportu- The face frame stile and rails are the parts on the table saw. And once
nity to cut these parts now too. Take joined with mortise and tenon joints. assembled, the frame can then be
a look at page 6 for details. Take a look at the box below for a glued in place. Then after gluing
There’s one other thing to note quick way to make this joint. The some edging on the exposed ply-
about these assemblies. The panels last thing to do before gluing up the wood edges, the case is complete.
are made of solid wood. So you’ll
need to account for this during glue
up. The box on the previous page
will give you some pointers.
Square Mortise a.
After completing the sides and Cutting the mortises in the face
back, the next step is to cut the frame stile isn’t really difficult. The
joinery used to assemble these to only tricky part is making them
each other (Figure 1a) and with consistently and quickly. To do this,
the top, bottom, and divider. Here I use a simple, two-step process.
again, I stuck with basic joinery — It starts at the drill press. Most of
rabbets and dadoes, as in Figure 2. the waste is removed with a brad
Space for Drawers. Before the point bit while an auxiliary fence
case can be assembled, you’ll need guides the workpiece. In the upper b.
to cut and fit three vertical dividers detail you’ll see how a drill bit can
that will create openings for a pair be used to set the fence.
of drawers. These drawer dividers After drilling out the waste, all
are held in dadoes cut in the divider that remains is a little clean up. Here,
and case bottom (Figure 2b). I use a chisel to smooth the sides of
Face Frame. Once the case was the mortise and square up the ends,
assembled, I turned my attention as illustrated in the lower detail.

4 WoodsmithPlans.com SN08016 ©2020 Active Interest Media Holding Co. All Rights Reserved.
 a. 3
FIGURE

b.

making the
Top & Shelves
At this point, the case is in pretty routed on an extra-wide blank at the expand with seasonal humidity
good shape. From here, you’ll work router table. The molding can then changes without binding.
on dressing it up, adding some be ripped to width at the table saw. The second thing to note is the
organization, and closing it in. Shelves. The next pieces to add shape of the shelves. The front edge
Molding. I wanted to give the are a pair of shelves for the inside of of each shelf has a cutout. This cutout
case a more “finished” look, so the case. The shelves are just solid provides clearance for tools you
I added built-up, routed moldings wood panels, as in Figure 3. There might want to hang on the inside of
to the top of the case. But routing are two things to note here. First, the doors. The ends of the cutout are
thin moldings like this can be a bit the shelves should be cut a little nar- offset slightly from the inside edges
challenging to do. However, there rower than the case. This lets them of the face frame (Figure 3b).
are a couple of things you can do
to make it go a little easier. You
can see them in the box at right. How-To: Rout Moldings
Top. The first solution is used
on the top, as shown in the left
drawing. Here, I mitered and
glued 3/4"-square edging to the ply-
wood top panel before routing the
roundover profile. This makes the
workpiece large enough to easily
shape on the router table. Once this
step is complete, you can screw the
top in place on the case.
Cove Molding. When it came
to the cove molding that’s applied
to the underside of the top, I did Top Molding. To cut the Simple Cove. For the cove
things a little differently (right roundover in the top, glue the molding, rout the profile in extra
drawing). In this case, the cove is molding in place before routing. wide blanks and rip them to size.

5 WoodsmithPlans.com SN08016 ©2020 Active Interest Media Holding Co. All Rights Reserved.
 a.
4
FIGURE

c.

d.

b.

a pair of
Doors &
Drawers
After the case itself is complete, there ware. I used a set of
are still a few things left to add. The magnetic catches at
first of these are the doors. Like the the top of the case
sides and back, the doors are frame to keep the doors
and panel assemblies, as shown in closed (Figure 4d).
the drawing above. So building them I decided to use
won’t be any different than the case cherry knobs that
assemblies that were built earlier. are stained darker to contrast with
Gap. There’s one thing to point
out about the doors. I built mine with
the fir used in the rest of the case.
Drawers. The final items to
Tongue & Dado
a 1/8" gap on all four sides, as you can build are the drawers for the Drawer Joinery. When it came to
see in Figures 4c and 4d. This is a bottom of the case, as shown in building the drawers for the tool
little larger than usual, but the larger Figure 4. The drawers are made cabinet, I chose an easy-to-cut joint
gap creates a shadow line that makes with straightforward tongue and that adds a lot of strength. To make
the doors really stand out. dado joinery. The box at right will the joint, start by cutting a dado in
Regardless of the size of the gap, give you a good idea of how to do the drawer sides, as you see in the
I always go about installing an inset the work. A 3/4"-thick false front is left drawing. Then cut a matching tongue in the
door the same way. First, I mortise the screwed to the drawer boxes. fronts/backs. When the false front is attached, it
hinges into the door to create the gap The drawer box is built first. actually strengthens the joint like a locking rabbet.
I’m looking for. Then, I match that gap Then after attaching the slides,
around the other edges of the door. you can fit the false front. For a
Fitting inset doors can be a bit consistent look, I used the same
challenging. But there are a few gap around the false fronts as
tips that can make the process go a I used on the doors (1/8"). When
little smoother. You can learn more sizing the false fronts, keep in
about it in the article on page 11. mind that they’ll need to overlap
Hardware. Once the doors are the middle divider in the case, as
installed, you can attach the hard- shown in Figure 4b.

6 WoodsmithPlans.com SN08016 ©2020 Active Interest Media Holding Co. All Rights Reserved.
 building the 5
Base
Now that the case itself is complete,
you can build the stand. Because
the fully loaded cabinet is going to
be pretty heavy, the stand needs to
be sturdy enough to support the
weight. To do that, both the joinery
and each part of the stand con-
tribute to its overall strength.
Solid Base. In the drawings at
right and on the next page, you can
see how the base is built. It’s made
up of three separate assemblies
— two ends and the drawer. The
ends are built first and connected a.
by stretchers.
Building a base like this requires
solid parts. And all the parts for b.
{ Knock-Down the end assemblies are made from
Base. Drawbolts in
the legs keep the
3"-thick glued up blanks.
Strong Joinery. After cutting
c.
base together and these parts to size, you can move
allow you to take it on to the joinery. Like I mentioned
apart easily. before, the joinery in the stand has
to be rugged. So for this, I chose
traditional mortise and tenon.
But these are no ordinary joints.
They’re pretty large compared The mortises begin at the drill Once the mortises are complete,
to other furniture projects. Once press with a Forstner bit and finish you can go on to cut matching
assembled, this added size makes up with some chisel work. The box tenons on the ends of the legs. A
the joints very rigid and sturdy, as at the bottom of the next page will dado blade in the table saw will
you can see in Figures 5b and 5c. give you an idea of how it works. make quick work of the tenons.

Drilling Guide 1 2
The drawbolt system used to connect the ends of the base
and the stretchers is really pretty simple. The biggest concern
is drilling all the holes accurately. That’s where the drilling
guide shown below comes in. Taking extra care to make the
guide accurately means
drilling perfect holes
will be a breeze.
The first holes to
drill are located in the
stretchers, Figure 1.
One hole will hold a
dowel and the other is
for the drawbolt. Figure
2 shows how to use
the guide to drill the
matching holes in the
legs of the base.

7 WoodsmithPlans.com SN08016 ©2020 Active Interest Media Holding Co. All Rights Reserved.
 6
FIGURE

Feet. That just about takes care

of the end assemblies. But before
you can glue the ends together,
there are a few details on the feet
to take care of. The box along
the bottom of the page will
give you some pointers for
shaping these details. And
finally, to keep the stand
steady, I added a leg leveler in
each corner.
Stretchers. When the feet are
complete, the next step is assem-
bling the two ends. Connecting
the ends are two stretchers.
Instead of using mortise and
tenon joinery here, the stretchers
are connected to the ends with
drawbolts.
This method is often used on
workbenches. There are two big
advantages to this. First, it allows
the stand to be knocked down for
easier moving. Second, if the joint
a. b. c.
should loosen up, you can quickly
snug it up with a wrench. in Figure 5a. just like the two in the cabinet, as
The drawbolt slips through The key to making this work is in Figure 6. To fit, the false front,
the leg and into the end of the to make sure the holes are drilled I placed the cabinet on the stand.
stretcher. There, a nut and washer accurately. To do this, I used a This way, I can size the front for a
are fit into a D-shaped hole to drilling guide. You can read more matching 1/8" gap (Figure 6c).
pull the joint tight, as shown in about that in the box on the pre- Finally, I drilled and installed a
Figure 5. I drilled this cross hole vious page. set of dowels in the top of the stand.
in the back face of each stretcher. Drawer. At this point, the stand The dowels will keep the cabinet
This hole in the back face keeps it is pretty much complete. The last from sliding off the top. Turn to
hidden from view, as you can see thing to make is a drawer. It’s built page 14 to see how I did this.

Making the Feet

Cutting the Notch. To cut the round Drilling Mortises. Drill overlapping Shaping the Feet. After rough cutting
notch in the feet, use a hole saw and holes with a Forstner bit to rough out the the bottom for the feet, a drum sander
start with an extra long blank. mortise. Then square it up with a chisel. and a notched fence will smooth it up.

8 WoodsmithPlans.com SN08016 ©2020 Active Interest Media Holding Co. All Rights Reserved.
building the That’s the job of this drawer box. you can see in Figures 7 and 7a.

Drawer Box
It’s designed to slip inside the cab- Top, Divider, and Bottom. From
inet under the lower shelf, but it’ll here, you can cut the top, bottom,
work just as well setting on a shelf. and divider. A tongue is cut on each
Basic Joinery. The construction end of these parts to fit the dadoes
With all the space available in the for the box is pretty straightforward in the box sides. That’s all you’ll
heirloom tool cabinet, it’s tempting — just dadoes and rabbets. The need to do to the bottom. The top
to think that you can put all your case sides, divider, top, and bottom and divider have one more step.
tools in there with room to spare. are glued up from 1/2"-thick stock. To accommodate a divider
But if you have a lot of smaller As I mentioned before, the box for the upper drawers, I cut
hand tools, this much open space is assembled with tongue and a centered dado in the top of
may not be your best bet. dado joints. This straightforward the divider and bottom face of
To keep track of (and protect) joint makes the assembly easy. The the top. Unlike the dadoes in
your smaller hand tools, you need tongues and dadoes register each the sides, this one is sized to
to add a little more organization. piece to help square up the box, as hold the full thickness of the

7 FIGURE

b.

a.

9 WoodsmithPlans.com SN08016 ©2020 Active Interest Media Holding Co. All Rights Reserved.
 a.
8 FIGURE

b. c.
drawer divider, as in Figure 7b on Drawers. All that’s left to com- Another groove in the sides allows
the previous page. plete the box are the drawers, as the drawer to fit over the runners.
Drawer Runners. There’s one shown in Figure 8. You won’t find Spacers. With the box complete,
more thing to do before assem- anything unusual in building them. you can fit it inside the cabinet. A
bling the box. I cut and installed the The joinery for the drawers is shown pair of spacers are screwed to the
drawer runners (Front View on the in Figure 8b. box to close up the gaps around the
previous page). The reason is that You’ll notice there’s a groove in face frame. Finally, I screwed the
it’s almost impossible to screw them the drawer fronts/backs and sides box to the bottom of the cabinet to
in place after the box is assembled. to hold the 1/4" hardboard bottom. keep it from sliding around.

Materials & Hardware

A Back Stiles (2) 3/ x 3 - 371/ W Door Rails (4) 3/ x 21/ - 913/ 111/2 x 121/2 - 1/4 Hdbd.
4 4 4 2 16 SS Sm. Drawer Btms. (2)
B Back Center Stile (1) 3/ x 3 - 283/ X Door Panels (4) 1/ x 41/ - 25 TT Lg. Drawer Btms. (3) 111/2 x 261/8 - 1/4 Hdbd.
4 4 2 32
C Back Top Rail (1) 3/ x 3 - 29 Y Drawer Sides (4) 1/ x 31/ - 14 UU Spacers (2) 3/ x 4 - 117/
4 2 2 4 8
D Back Bottom Rail (1) 3/ x 61/ - 29 Z Drawer Fronts/Backs (4) 1/ x 31/ - 121/
4 2 2 2 8
E Back Panels (2) 1/ x 133/ - 283/
2 8 4 AA Drawer Bottoms (2) 131/2 x 121/8 - 1/4 Hdbd. • (4) 1/4" Shelf Pins
F Side Stiles (4) 3/ x 23/ - 371/ 3/ x 33/ - 1313/
4 4 4 BB Drawer False Fronts (2) 4 4 16 • (6) #8 x 11/4" Fh woodscrews
G Side Center Stiles (2) 3/ x 3 - 283/
4 4 CC Legs (4) 3 x 3 - 281/2 • (2 Pr.) 2" Butt Hinges w/screws
H Side Top Rails (2) 3/ x 3 - 11 DD Shoulders (2) 3 x 4 - 161/2 • (3 Pr.) 14" Full-Extension Metal Drawer Slides
4
I Side Bottom Rails (2) 3/ x 61/ - 11 EE Feet (2) 3 x 51/2 - 181/4
4 2 w/screws
J Side Panels (4) 1/ x 43/ - 283/ FF Stretchers (2) 13/4 x 4 - 28
2 8 4
3/ x 3 - 371/ 1 1 1 • (6) 11/8"-dia. Wood knobs w/screws
K Face Frame Stiles (2) 4 4 GG Drawer Sides (2) /2 x 3 /2 - 15 /4
L Face Frame Top Rail (1) 3/ x 21/ - 30 HH Drawer Front/Back (2) 1/ x 31/ - 261/ • (8) 3/4"-dia. Wood knobs
4 2 2 2 2
M Case Edging (2) 3/ x 3/ - 28
4 4 II Drawer Bottom (1) 3 1
14 /4 x 26 /4 - /4 Hdbd. 1 • (4) 3/8" x 6" Hex bolts
N Case Panels (3) 141/2 x 33 - 3/4 Ply. JJ Drawer False Front (1) 3/ x 37/ - 273/
4 8 4 • (4) 3/8" nylon lock nuts
O Outer Dividers (2) 141/2 x 41/2 - 3/4 Ply. KK Box Sides (2) /2 x 13 - 11 /8 • (8) 3/8" flat washers
1 7

P Center Divider (1) 141/4 x 41/2 - 3/4 Ply. LL Box Panels (3) 1/ x 123/ - 273/
2 4 4 • (4) leg levelers
Q Cabinet Top Panel (1) 161/2 x 35 - 3/4 Ply. MMDrawer Divider (1) 1/ x 123/ - 27/
2 4 8 • (1) 1/2"-dia. x 36" dowel
R Cabinet Top Edging (1) 3/ x 3/ - 96 NN Drawer Runners (10) 1/ x 1/ - 121/
4 4 2 4 2 • (12) #8 x 1" Fh woodscrews
S Cove Molding (1) 3/ x 3/ - 96 OO Box Back (1) 117/8 x 271/4 - 1/4 Hdbd. • (8) #8 x 1" Fh woodscrews
4 4
T Shelves (2) 3/ x 143/ - 323/ PP Sm. Drawer Front/Back (4) 3/ x 21/ - 13
4 8 8 4 2 • (20) #6 x 5/8" Fh woodscrews
U Door Stiles (4) 3/ x 21/ - 29 QQ Lg. Drawer Front/Back (6) 3/ x 21/ - 265/
4 2 4 2 8
3/ x 21/ - 25 RR Drawer Sides (10) 1/ x 21/ - 12
V Door Center Stiles (2) 4 2 2 2

10 WoodsmithPlans.com SN08016 ©2020 Active Interest Media Holding Co. All Rights Reserved.
 tips and
tricks for fitting

Inset Doors Fitting an inset door perfectly is just

a matter of taking care of the details.
Installing doors on a project can opening so there aren’t any gaps.
be a challenge — especially inset Determining the Gap. Once you
doors that fit inside the frame of have the doors built, you can start
a cabinet. But when the gap is thinking about the size of the gap.
nice and even, like you see in the Now, there aren’t any set rules for
photo at right, the result is worth what size gap you should have
the effort. around the doors of a cabinet. { Consistency. An even gap
So how do you go about fitting I like the look of a 1/16" gap for around the edges highlights a
an inset door with a consistent most small to medium-sized doors. perfectly fit inset door.
gap? Well, over the years, I’ve But for larger doors, like the ones
found a few ways of doing this in the tool cabinet shown above, a To figure the depth of the mortis-
that give me great results without 1/ " gap is just about right. es, you need to measure the thick-
8
a lot of hassle. The Hinges. Once you’ve decid- ness of the hinge barrel. Then just
As I mentioned, a consistent ed on the gap, you need to think subtract the amount of the gap you
{ Door Supports. gap is the key to a great looking about the hinges you’re going to want. What’s left over is the depth
A set of T-shaped inset door. And this may sound a use and how to mount them. In of the mortises you’ll need to cut.
supports like the little odd, but to start with, I don’t most cases, the hinges are thicker Once you’ve cut the mortises in
one shown above worry about the gap at all when I than the gap you’re looking for. the door, you can install the hinges.
holds the door of a build the doors. This means you’ll need to mor- Since you’ll end up putting on and
cabinet in position Instead, I measure the opening tise the hinges into the edge of each removing the door several times as
while you work. in the cabinet and then build the door. And that’s the key to control- you work on the fit, it’s all too easy
doors to fit snug — just fill the ling the gap around the door. to break off one of the soft brass

11 WoodsmithPlans.com SN08016 ©2020 Active Interest Media Holding Co. All Rights Reserved.
screws in the process. Instead of closed to see if it’s flush with the
worrying about this, I use a single face frame. But the door needs to be
steel screw in each hinge leaf while I open to drill the holes for the hinge.
do all the fitting work. Once every- So how do you keep the hinge
thing is just right, you can reinstall in place without any screws? The
the doors using the brass screws. answer is carpet tape.
While I’m at it, I take the time You can see how this works in
to mark my hinges so I’ll know the main photo on the previous
exactly where they go on the proj- page and in the drawing below.
ect. Fitting a hinge to one location After sticking a couple pieces of Marking
and then installing it in another carpet tape on the inside edge of Hinges. To keep
can change the fit enough so the the face frame where the hinges track of where each
gaps don’t look quite right. You will hit, press the door tight against hinge and door goes,
can see how I keep track of where edge. Doing this “mounts” the mark the hinge leaf, door,
each hinge goes by checking out hinges to the cabinet. and cabinet with a number. The
the photo at right. With the hinges “mounted,” you “D” lets me know to screw that
Mounting the Door. The next can carefully swing the door open hinge leaf to the door.
step is to mount the door to the and drill the hinge holes in the
cabinet. The tricky part here is cabinet. To ensure the hinge holes
holding the door in position while are drilled perfectly centered, I like
you locate the hinges. to use self-centering drill bits, like bottom, you can correct this by
To give myself an extra “hand,” you see in the lower margin. shimming one or both hinges.
I like to make a set of supports out Check the Gap. At this point, Final Trimming. Once you’re
of some plywood scraps, as in the there should be a small, consistent satisfied with the gap along the
margin and main photos on the gap along the hinged edge of the side of the case, the hard work is
previous page. The supports are door. If there’s not, this is the time pretty much over. All that’s left
sized so when the door is in place, to work on it. now is to trim the top, bottom, and
the face of the door is flush with If the gap is a little wider than center of the door to match.
the face frame of the cabinet. you’d like, you’ll need to make the To start this, I simply measure
Supporting the door solves one mortises in the door just a little in from the edge of the face frame
problem, but there’s another one deeper. But if the gap is too nar- and mark the top and bottom of
to be aware of. You need the door row or if it’s tapered from top to each door with a layout line that
matches the gap along the hinge
side of the door. Then I sneak up
on the lines, checking the gap by
reinstalling the door after each cut.
Before establishing the gap
where the two doors meet in the
center, you’ll first need to
install the other door.
This is just a matter of
repeating the process. { Self-Centering
Once you have both Drill Bit. Drilling a
doors installed, you can use a hand perfectly centered
plane to trim the edge of each door. hole for your hinge
This way, you don’t have to worry screw is easy with
about removing too much mate- a self-centering
rial. To keep the gap centered, drill bit like the one
be sure to remove the shown here.
same amount of mate-
rial from each door.
Wi t h t h e d o o r s
trimmed to final size,
all that’s left to do is
mount them to the cabi-
a. b. net. This time, using all
the brass screws.

12 WoodsmithPlans.com SN08016 ©2020 Active Interest Media Holding Co. All Rights Reserved.
 Dowel Locating Jig
The use of pins, such as the dowels the base. To make this task easier, back aligns the back of the jig. Holes
used to align and connect the cab- I built a simple jig to accurately drilled in the jig provide a template
inet to the base of the tool chest, place the holes. for accurate location of the holes. It
is a very effective technique. But The Jig. The jig is nothing more also ensures the holes will be drilled
if the holes for the dowels are not than a couple of pieces of ply- straight (see photo inset above).
precisely lined up, the cabinet and wood joined together with a dado, Using the Jig. To use the jig, just
the base won’t fit flush with each as shown in the drawing below. A clamp it on the base with the vertical
other when the cabinet is set on piece of hardwood added to the piece butted against the side and
the hardboard stop tight against the
back. Using the holes in the jig as a
guide, simply drill two holes for the
dowels to equal depth, like you see
in the photo above.
To drill the holes on the other end,
just flip the jig over. Then repeat the
entire procedure on the cabinet.

13 WoodsmithPlans.com SN08016 ©2020 Active Interest Media Holding Co. All Rights Reserved.
 a.

b.

cabinet base
ShelvesIf you want to add even more you can see how they’re put Reinforcing the Shelves.
storage to the heirloom tool cab- together. Each shelf starts out as Shelves like these are likely to get
inet, then these shelves are just the a 3/4"-thick panel glued up from loaded up with some heavy tools,
thing for you. Best of all, they put three boards. Next, I cut notches so I added some reinforcement to
the open space in the base to good in each corner to allow the shelves keep them from sagging. To do
use, as in the drawing above. to wrap around the legs. Each this, I screwed three cleats to the
Simple Construction. You’ll notch is 1/16" wider than the leg. underside of each shelf, as shown
find that building the shelves This allows the shelf to expand in details ‘a’ and ‘b’ above.
won’t take a lot of work. If you with seasonal humidity changes There’s just one thing to note
take a look at the drawing below, without binding against the legs. about the cleats. Since the lower
shelf is designed to sit on the
stretchers, I shortened the cleats to
Making a Shelf fit the space, as in detail ‘b’ above.
When it comes to attaching
the cleats, you’ll need to take
wood movement into account. To
allow the shelves to expand and
contract, the outer screws (with
washers) are inserted through
oversized shank holes in the
cleat. This keeps the cleat firmly
attached, and still allows the shelf
to move freely.
Mounting the Shelves. Like I
mentioned above, the lower shelf
simply rests on the stretchers
without any additional hard-
ware. To mount the upper shelf,
I needed to take an extra step.
Here, I drilled 1/4"-dia. holes in the
legs to hold a set of shelf pins, as
illustrated in the drawing above.

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 Cutting Diagram
Heirloom

Tool Cabinet

15 WoodsmithPlans.com SN08016 ©2020 Active Interest Media Holding Co. All Rights Reserved.
Materials
A Back Stiles (2) 3/ x 3 - 371/ U Door Stiles (4) 3/ x 21/ - 29 OO Box Back (1) 117/8 x 271/4 - 1/4 Hdbd.
4 4 4 2
B Back Center Stile (1) 3/ x 3 - 283/ 3/ x 21/ - 25 PP Sm. Drawer Front/Back (4) 3/ x 21/ - 13
4 4 V Door Center Stiles (2) 4 2 4 2
C Back Top Rail (1) 3/ x 3 - 29 3/ x 21/ - 913/ QQ Lg. Drawer Front/Back (6) 3/ x 21/ - 265/
4 W Door Rails (4) 4 2 16 4 2 8
D Back Bottom Rail (1) 3/ x 61/ - 29 1/ x 41/ - 25 RR Drawer Sides (10) 1/ x 21/ - 12
4 2 X Door Panels (4) 2 32 2 2
E Back Panels (2) 1/ x 133/ - 283/ 1/ x 31/ - 14 SS Sm. Drawer Btms. (2) 111/2 x 121/2 - 1/4 Hdbd.
2 8 4 Y Drawer Sides (4) 2 2
F Side Stiles (4) 3/ x 23/ - 371/ 1/ x 31/ - 121/ TT Lg. Drawer Btms. (3) 111/2 x 261/8 - 1/4 Hdbd.
4 4 4 Z Drawer Fronts/Backs (4) 2 2 8
G Side Center Stiles (2) 3/ x 3 - 283/ 3/ x 43/ - 1313/ UU Spacers (2) 3/ x 4 - 117/
4 4 AA Drawer False Fronts (2) 4 4 16 4 8
H Side Top Rails (2) 3/ x 3 - 11 BB Drawer Bottoms (2) 131/2 x 121/8 - 1/4 Hdbd.
4
I Side Bottom Rails (2) 3/ x 61/ - 11 CC Legs (4) 3 x 3 - 281/2
4 2
J Side Panels (4) 1/ x 43/ - 283/ DD Shoulders (2) 3 x 4 - 161/2
2 8 4
K Face Frame Stiles (2) 3/ x 3 - 371/ EE Feet (2) 3 x 51/2 - 181/4
4 4
L Face Frame Top Rail (1) 3/ x 21/ - 30 FF Stretchers (2) 13/4 x 4 - 28
4 2
M Case Edging (2) 3/ x 3/ - 28 GG Drawer Sides (2) 1/ x 31/ - 151/
4 4 2 2 4
N Case Panels (3) 141/2 x 33 - 3/4 Ply. HH Drawer Front/Back (2) 1/ x 31/ - 261/
2 2 2
O Outer Dividers (2) 141/2 x 41/2 - 3/4 Ply. II Drawer Bottom (1) 143/4 x 261/4 - 1/4 Hdbd.
P Center Divider (1) 141/4 x 41/2 - 3/4 Ply. JJ Drawer False Front (1) 3/ x 37/ - 273/
4 8 4
Q Cabinet Top Panel (1) 161/2 x 35 - 3/4 Ply. KK Box Sides (2) 1/ x 13 - 117/
2 8
R Cabinet Top Edging (1) 3/ x 3/ - 96 LL Box Panels (3) 1/ x 123/ - 273/
4 4 2 4 4
S Cove Molding (1) 3/ x 3/ - 96 MMDrawer Divider (1) 1/ x 123/ - 27/
4 4 2 4 8
T Shelves (2) 3/ x 143/ - 323/ NN Drawer Runners (10) 1/ x 1/ - 121/
4 8 8 2 4 2

16 WoodsmithPlans.com SN08016 ©2020 Active Interest Media Holding Co. All Rights Reserved.
17 WoodsmithPlans.com SN08016 ©2020 Active Interest Media Holding Co. All Rights Reserved.
 MAIL Project Sources
ORDER
SOURCES All the hardware needed to build
the heirloom tool cabinet is avail-
Rockler
800-279-4441 able from Rockler (as well as other
rockler.com sources). To start with, you’ll need
a couple pairs of 2" hinges (25668)
for the doors. The drawers require
a couple of different sizes of wood
knobs (88783 and 36509). Then
you’ll need some door catches
and leg levelers (30546 and 24315).
Finally, to mount the drawers, I
used 14" Accuride fullextension
drawer slides (89674)
Manufacturers and retailers will
periodically redesign or discon-
tinue some of their items. So you’ll
want to gather all the hardware,
supplies, and tools you need before
you get started. It’s easy to adjust
dimensions or drill different-sized
holes to suit your hardware.

18 WoodsmithPlans.com SN08016 ©2020 Active Interest Media Holding Co. All Rights Reserved.