Like many I’ve felt the tug of vintage hand tools. I discovered and acquired a Stanley #45 almost complete for a very reasonable price and got it mostly cleaned and sharpened and it’s been laid out on a side bench. Finally found time to make a storage chest.
I wanted to make a chest similar to the original ones with finger joints. So to get started I made a simple box joint jig.
Then I thicknessed Red Oak stock to 1/2” for the sides/ends/top and I also thicknessed a piece of pine to 1/4” for the bottom. Dimensions were set by the #45 with short rods installed and the two Iron boxes I made several months ago. The result is exterior dimensions of: 12-3/4” (L) x 7-3/4” (W) x 7-1/4” (H).
Then some cutting and making finger joints. There were a couple of minor blowouts, most of which ended up inside
No, I did not hand cut the groove for the bottom using the #45. The dado blade was in so I spent 45 seconds and zipped the parts through. And then assembly. The joints turned out nice and tight.
The top is a slab of 1/2” Oak. It was actually pieced together and as one piece of Oak was slightly short so a bit of Maple filled the gap – think anyone will notice that “Dutchman”?
The interior is nothing more than a several 5/16” battens that keep the #45 and boxes in place.
Check out how I made the Plane Iron boxes here Reproduction Stanley 45 Iron Boxes
The finish off is a swing latch from Woodcraft.
It’s finished with a single coat of satin poly and Johnson’s Paste Wax. I’m pretty pleased with the result and my #45 is happy 😉
Until next time – Good Making
Bill
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