Project - Hand Planes Cabinet

A cabinet for my hand planes

Tools that are not close at hand tend not to be used. I have had to stow away most of my hand planes because of lack of storage space in the area where I do my woodworking.

This became a problem because I found Jack Planes were the most useful whereas the ones I had space for in my work area were all number fours. Thus sprang the need for a cabinet for hand planes particularly my Jack Planes.

A STACK OF PLYWOOD FOR THE PROJECT

The aim was to quickly put together a plywood cabinet with pocket hole joinery, white glue and a few housings.

The basic carcase came together quickly as it does when using pocket hole joinery but then things slowed down a bit.

HOUSING ROUTED FOR THE SHELVES MAKE FOR ACCURACY

 BASIC CARCASE CLAMPED

6MM PLYWOOD BACK IN PLACE

I needed to glue on wooden strips on the exposed plywood edges for which I had to painstakingly edge clamp each piece and wait for it to dry.

GLUING AND CLAMPING WOODEN  EDGES

I also decided to use real veneer ply for the sides to cover the plain plywood. Real veneer is available laminated on 2mm plywood sheets. Prices range from Rs. 40 to Rs 200 per square feet depending on the kind of wood used; great looking burls can cost upwards of Rs 400 per square feet.

PLYWOOD VENEER STAINED AND POLISHED

VENEERED SIDES

I usually go for the cheaper varieties as it serves my purpose, which is to cover raw plywood with a material that can be stained and polished. I prefer stain and polish exteriors to painted ones, though there are times when paint is preferable.

One lesson I learnt while painting the interior of the cabinet, which is difficult if the gap between shelves is narrow, is that it is better to paint the shelves before assembling the cabinet. I'll keep that in mind for any similar projects in the future.

FETTLING THE DOORS

Making the doors took longer even though they were made with mortise and tenon joints and were of a plain Shaker style. For the panels, I laminated oak veneer on plywood and nailed it into rebates routed in the insides of the frames.

I lightly stained and polished the oak fame and panel. The doors are stopped by two magnetic catches on the top. It is a simple but functional home for my three Jack Planes (which I find myself using all the time), one old but great Ambika jointer plane, a couple of block planes, a small shoulder plane and an assortment of scrapers.

The other lesson I learnt was that its far from easy to get things done as quickly as one would like to.

THE COMPLETED CABINET

Indranil Banerjie
17 February 2017