Woodworking Project - Shop Cabinet

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As you can see, I got pretty serious about organizing the shop. I wanted a central location for my tools and hardware, but couldn't find a functional, but affordable shop cabinet. So, once again, I built my own. This shop cabinet is a combination of several ideas that I found in other shop cabinets. Its sort of a 'form follows function' affair. I made the shell, shelves, and door panels of 3/4" AC plywood. The face frames and door sides are made from ripped down 3/4" #2 pine. The cabinet is 48"w x 30"h x 18"d and the doors are 1-1/2" deep. Total cost: less than $50.



When I moved the old shop cabinet from the garage to new workshop in the barn, it became very obvious that something had to be done. The old shop cabinet was very good for its intended purpose, but it was too bulky (and down right ugly) for its new home. So, I set out to replace the cabinet. After reading The Toolbox Book, by Jim Tolpin, I decided to build a traditional style tool cabinet. After all, the new workshop already has good storage for my power hand tools. I just needed a suitable home for my expensive (and somewhat delicate) hand tools. This time around, I wanted to cabinet to be as actractive as it was useful, so I used cabinet grade oak plywood for the case and the door panels with solid oak face frames and door frames. The demensions for this cabinet are 44"w x 30"h x 11"d and the doors are 2 1/2" deep. The cabinet is finished with gloss polyurethane. Now, my hand tools all have a safe place to call home.