Summer 2024
June 3-7

Aside from a workbench, a sturdy tool chest is one of the most important things to have in your shop. It organizes and protects your tools from damage, rust and loss. While many woodworkers have attempted to improve upon the traditional chest design that emerged 300 years ago, the old form has remained the absolute best way to keep the most tools in the smallest space. In this five-day class, you will be building a traveling version of the Anarchist’s Tool Chest that will fit into the back of a car or truck (14-1/2” high, 19-1/2” front to back, 39-1/2” long).

Class Description

In this five-day class you will build the shell of your own traditional tool chest using hand tools and techniques. This is an excellent first project for a new hand-tool woodworker – especially if you want to get good at dovetails! By the end of class you will have all the skills you need to complete the interior of the chest at your workshop at home, whether you want dovetailed tills or simple rabbeted and nailed tills. If you'd like to learn or improve your dovetails this is absolutely the class for you – you'll get plenty of instruction and practice as you make a handsome and (almost) bomb-proof tool chest

Skills you will learn in this class include:

• Traditional through-dovetail joinery

• Cutting basic mouldings by hand

• Fitting mouldings to casework

• Loose-tenon joinery

Tools:

PTSW will provide all the tools required to build this project. However, if you’d like to bring your own items, please refer to the recommended list below.

Recommended:

• Smoothing plane

• Jack plane

• Block plane

• Marking or cutting gauge

• Marking knife

• Dividers (two pair if you’ve got ‘em)

• 12” combo square

• Dovetail marking gauge or sliding bevel

• Dovetail saw

• Chisels ½” and 3/8”

• Mallet

• Rabbeting plane, moving fillister or a large shoulder plane

• Hammer

• Coping saw with extra blades (I recommend Pegas blades)

• .5mm mechanical pencil

• Flush-cut saw

• Drill and bits

And any other tools you just can’t bear to be without. For me, that includes my waterstones and honing guide, a 6” adjustable square, a double square (a.k.a. diemaker’s square or machinist’s square) and multiple pencils.

Oh, and if you’re driving and have long cabinet clamps (39” or longer) and don’t mind bringing a few, we can always use more clamps in this class!

Prerequisites

Open to all. However, having some knowledge of chisel honing and sharpening will go a long way in keeping you productive in this course.

Class Information and Registration

Class runs from 9:00 am to 5:00 pm Monday through Friday in Building 315 at Fort Worden. Map
Please read our What to Expect page for general information about the school.
Please also read our Registration Policy.

Class size: 12
Cost: $895
Materials Charge: $200

When you click on the Register link you will be able to register for the class or, if the class is full, sign up for the wait list.