I wanted some type of storage on my workbench and set out to make some tool boxes that mount to my double t-track.  They will act as a place for stuff that usually lays on the bench and gets moved from point A to B to C to table saw back to A.

Here is the finished product.  The brush won’t stay in there.

Starting Out

The project started as a bunch of left over birch scraps from the bench.  I only used a portion of these for the tool boxes.  I have two other projects going on.

As with most projects, jointing and planing were needed.   I think I ended up with pieces a little under 3/4 of an inch thick for the sides.  After reviewing the stock I had, I decided on 16″ Long X 6″ Wide  X 3 3/4″ Tall boxes.  The bottom of the box would be some resawn birch that ended up being a little under 3/8″ thick.

Making the Box Joints

I created the below jig from some MDF, oak runner and oak key.  I made it a while back and it is “just okay”.  The joints aren’t terrible, but the jig tips forward if I am not careful and clamping boards to it is a pain becuse of the support pieces in the back are in the way.  The jig only makes 3/8″ joints.  3/8″ seems like a good number to use since it is divisible by so many imperial sizes.

From the picture above you can see I cut both sides at the same time.  The very first cut is the tricky one to make sure everything is aligned.  After that is ver easy to move it along.

Once the joints are cut I test fit them and mark where the groove will go for the bottom.

I didn’t choose a wide enough board to make the bottoms from, so I have to place them horizontally.  (This is what happens when you don’t start with a plan)  I don’t think it will be a big deal and I will leave a little bit bigger gap for expansion.

I cut the bottom groove, reassembled, measured, cut the bottoms, reassembled, cut it again, reassembled, one last cut to get the right fit.  Since I will be bolting these to my T-Track on my bench I marked the locations for the bolt holes on the “back” piece that mates with the bench.  I drilled 5 holes per box so I could use different variations of bolt locations.  I had to do this because I have some voids in my T-Track. Based on box position I would need a differnt set of holes.

Time to glue it up.

Cleaning up the joints and finishing

After the tool boxes came out of the clamps, I cleaned up the glue and planed the joints flush.  I also added some chamfers to the box edges and flushed up the top and bottom edges.  The leg vise works wonders for this.

After some sanding, I applied 2 coats of Natural Danish Oil.

You can see the mounting holes in the below picture.

Using some 1/4 bolts, I mounted the tool boxes to my bench. I only had three wing nuts, so one box got those and the other got standard nuts for now.

These are going to be nice additions to the bench.  I can easily reach into them when I am on the opposite side of the bench.  I may make one more sometime down the road.