Traveling Disaster Tool Chest: SketchUp

Now that Thanksgiving is over and all of my pants seemed to have shrunk, it’s time to get back to work. I made a quick SketchUp model of the traveling tool chest that I’ve decided to build in case of roadside emergencies.

The Plan
I’m going to build the disaster tool chest out of pine and cover it with milk paint to match my Dutch chest. It’s going in the back of my SUV and will surely get knocked around when traveling with two 70+ pound dogs, suitcases and fishing gear. Pine is plenty strong for a tool chest and there’s really no need to use an expensive hardwood in this setting.

I think I will dovetail the carcass. As I said in my previous post, I know this is probably overkill but I could use the practice hand-cutting dovetails. I was happy with how the dovetails came out in my Dutch tool chest, so I am pretty confident these will look even better. (Note: I still miss the dovetail machine from the shop I got my start in.)

For the bottom, I will use a 1/4″ piece of plywood. I’ll use a router plane and run a rabbet all the way around the inside of the chest before I assemble it. Then I will assemble it all as one piece.

I am still trying to figure out how I will build the lid. I am leaning toward the English tool chest style of lid so I can use it to store smaller items.

Since this chest is going to be custom built to fit in the back of my SUV, I will tweak the design to fit perfectly. You can download my quick SketchUp Model in our warehouse here (if you own a pre-2008 Jeep Liberty it should fit perfectly…).

For our full SketchUp warehouse click here. The warehouse is full of models from most of the Popular Woodworking Magazine projects, so take some time and look around. If you don’t need a tool chest, you will surely find something else that you would want to build.

Now it’s time to get to the shop.

— Jon Russelburg