All done – image time!
This is of course WAY overkill for shop furniture – using such nice wood for a utilitarian thingamajig! But to quote one of the Apollo 18 astronauts, as portrayed in “the moon shot”: “There’s something to be said about the exploration of beautiful places”. And to me, having nice things in the shop is inspiring.
The deep red felt makes the case look rather posh, I must say…
And finally, with the chisels in their new home!
I took the tray with me to take a few pictures in the living room, to get more interesting light.
The reflections in the felt comes from the polished, razor sharp edges.
A shot of the bottom. Osmo TopOil Natural with white pigment renders oak rather beautiful – slightly pale, less yellow yet still with the warmth.
Here’s a daylight shot of the inside – look at those rays!
Daylight shot of the bottom.
A near perfect corner, and a tight miter. Not bad for my first go at this!
Lastly a shot of the dovetails. I could’ve taken one more swipe off of the side there, but it’s fine. Those dovetails are straight off the saw – something that makes me proud! It shows that I have gotten my skills to a certain level. Of course, I need more practice and my dovetails needs to be more refined. But five years ago, I could not have done this. That is something!
Overall, a fun little project and a good practice run for my skills. I am looking forward to making the tray for my bench chisels, and then the rack so that the chisels can be mounted on the wall.
Because I do think that having the tools at the ready, on display, helps the creative juices flowing. I have also experienced the joy of doing home maintenance tasks where I can just walk into my shop and grab the needed tools off of the wall or from an organized drawer. Those tool carts that mechanics often use is INCREDIBLY practical – you have the tool you need in a particular place, neatly organized so that you can grab it and go. And you immediately spot it if a tool has not been returned to its place. Certainly a better method of organizing that what the crow in “Mama Moo” (by Jujja and Tomas Wieslander) does:
“I put everything on top, then I know where it is!”