Tool Chest Handsaw Till
2011.08.30
The saw till has two uprights with a series of kerfs spaced far enough apart to accomodate several saws and their handles. I started by drilling a hole in the board I would use for the uprights. This involved unsafe operations with a hand drill and very large bit, which I do not recommend. In the end, it was not as smooth as I had hoped. A better approach would be to cut the arcs with a coping saw or turning saw. I sawed through the circle, creating the arc shape for the top of each upright. Honestly I am not entirely sure of the purpose of this shape, but I have seen it on old tool chests and it was shown in Chris Schwarz’s book. Maybe it is just aesthetics, but there is probably some functional reason I am not considering.
I laid out the kerfs at 3/4″ apart, which is a little tight. I started the kerfs with a backsaw, then sawed them through with a 6-point ripsaw. The kerf was not really wide enough, however, so I followed with one of those impulse-hardened handsaws from the home center. Terrible saw, but it did make a wider kerf. Schwarz says to make the kerfs 1/8″, and that would give plenty of room, but the only way I could think of doing that safely would be with a tablesaw, which I do not have. The snug kerfs make it more fussy to replace the saws, but it works.
To the uprights I added a dividing board to separate the saw till compartment from the rest of the floor of the chest. I used some of the “select” pine, a piece that just happened to be almost the right size. Clamping these pieces together to predrill and drive the screws turned out to be a head-scratcher, but I figured out a solution. I attached each upright to the divider with two countersunk screws.
The divider wall and attached saw till are held with just friction between two nailed cleats at each end. A few tests suggests the weight and friction are enough to prevent the till from pulling out as I pull a saw out (even with the somewhat narrow kerfs), but the saw till can be replaced in the future if needed.
2011.09.14
I decided to widen the kerfs after all. At first I thought to use the plow plane, but then I realized that because the kerfs are stopped, the skate would prevent the blade from cutting all the way through. Then I remembered I had recently purchased a 1/8″ blade for my Veritas router plane, and I had the fence which I had never used. So I put that combination together. It worked, if a little messy, but it was very tedious and slow. So after doing a couple that way, I did the rest with the compound miter saw. The saws are now much easier to slip in and out.
2013.03.10
Later I built a separate backsaw till.
Lid IV