Tool Tote

I’ve been doing work remote from my shop, and was getting tired of carrying tools back and forth in bags, boxes and unorganized piles in the back of the SUV.  I’ve always wanted a nice wooden tool tote, and now I had a real reason to make one.

My son recently remodeled his kitchen and tore out a drop light ceiling with a red oak frame.  He was going to throw it out, but I rescued it and piled it in a corner of the shop.  It was sized perfectly for this project.

Design parameters?  Long enough to carry my Disston D-42.  Wide enough so that the dimensions looked fair to the eye.  I wanted a nice curved handle, not only to lift the handle out of the way, but because I like that look.  Oh, and I wanted to try some tusk tenons.  Never done that before.  Cut nails would be used to bang it all together.  Ok, we’re done with this detailed design.  We don’t need drawings – off to work!

The build went fast, and I didn’t bother to take pictures along the way.  But here’s a dry fit, sans the handle tusk tenons.

I know, you are looking at the ends/corners, and wondering why they are proud of the sides and ends.  Well, I wanted the edges on the front to be proud a little bit, so that was planned.  It turned out the boards I was using for the ends weren’t quite wide enough.  So I rustled up some scraps and glued them on either side.  The scraps happened to be thicker, and I planned to plane them off flush.  But after I did the dry fit, I decided I liked the way it looked.  Looks even better with the cut nails, you’ll see.

The saw that determined the tote length:

A pine raised panel was used for the bottom.  It’s held in place with maple slips.

Tremont wrought-head cut nails were used to nail the tote together.  Holes were pre-drilled before driving the nails home.  These things grip like nothing I’ve ever used before – this tote is going to last forever.  Tusk tenons are also in place, and a coat of danish oil and wax was applied.

Here’s a couple of final shots, showing some of the items it will routinely carry.  This thing will hold a lot of stuff!