5 Barns Tool Chest (w/Pics) (long)
Moses Yoder in White Pigeon, MI
>I can understand why someone would want to give away an old tool chest. It is not much to look at, and probably would never actually be used by most people. It would set around in someone�s basement until it was totally ruined. On the other hand, this happened to be the kind of tool chest I have dreamed about finding ever since I started looking for old tools. I just happened to be at the right place at the right time. I have written my usual long drawn out boring description, so you can opt to simply look at the first pic and then go on to something interesting, or if you are an insomniac, read the whole thing and wait for the rest of the pics to load ;)
This appears to me to be a fairly old chest. It measures 16" high, 16-1/4" deep, and 37-1/2" wide. The main box is made of single width pieces of what I think is yellow pine, dovetailed by hand. The bottom is made of a single width board of the same wood as the sides, simply attached to the four sides with screws. The bottom has split from shrinking, and has some small spots of decay, but is in pretty good condition overall. The molding around the bottom and under the lid is simply mitered and attached with screws, the screws covered with wood plugs. The molding around the lid is dovetailed at each corner, and also attached to the top with screws covered with plugs. The lid is not a frame and panel construction as I thought at first, but is a single width pine board with the molding attached around the outside, a thin panel glued and nailed to the top, with thin walnut boards glued and pinned to the interior to give it a look of a frame and panel. The tills are missing in action, and I plan on making new tills for it. You can see the ledges for three tills on the inside of the box. I plan on making a saw till that will lift out, and then three tills about half width that can slide from front to back. The lock looks to be original, and I think will be the best clue to its actual age. I don�t know much about locks, but there is an old local locksmith that can probably help me out with the age. I originally thought the chest might be late 1700s, but am thinking after looking it over more carefully it might be late 19th or even early 20th century. The handles appear to be cast brass.
I am really fortunate to have this chest, and will have to make it up to the previous owners somehow. I hope to get a good picture and whatever available history of the previous user of the chest, as the history of the tools I use always make the tools take on a character of their own. It seemed somewhat surreal to load it into the Neon and drive home the whole way unable to see out the rear view mirror (I did have the side mirrors though) . I did not look it over carefully at the picnic, just long enough to know the joints were dovetailed and then it went into the car. Cleaning it out a little and looking it over it is better than what my first impression was, and I hope it will be eventually be passed on to someone who will appreciate it as much as I do. The chest really can talk. I set on it for a little while, and it has some very interesting stories to tell. I plan on filling it with period appropriate tools and using it both in my shop and at demos. I will probably build a sturdy oak base with casters to set it on so it can be rolled around my shop, and I already have a spot planned for it in the shop.
I would of course be interested in hearing any comments you have, especially concerning what time period you would think it was built and why.
