Tool Tote

Red Oak and Maple Tool Tote

Like most woodworkers I am always scouring woodworking magazines and social media sites for new ideas and techniques. Fine Woodworking is one of my favorite sources.

This one caught my eye. Offered by Fine Woodworking, however I could not find the plans in their magazine, so I went ahead and purchased.

Unique to these plans, and what I am hoping is a new trend, was the inclusion of a SketchUp file of the plans. They provided a PDF with complete plans, but the SketchUp file was an added bonus. The thinking is that as a personal tool box you will have size requirements and with the file you should be able to adjust to your needs.

Although the tote was advertised as a "Dovetailed Tool Box." I substituted 3/8" box joints for the dovetails, reduced the size considerably, added another side tool rail. Construction is rather straight forward, however the directions warn not to start gluing together until you have all of the ancillary rests and other internal accommodations completed. While I appreciated the inclusion of the SketchUp plans, I ended up just marking-up the PDF plans and going for it.

The size of my tool tote was dictated by my locker size. The objective of the tool tote was to save me from all the trips to my locker for personal hand and marking tools.

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