Scrap Wood Toolbox

Hi there! Welcome to this instructable of a very simple and humble toolbox made by scrap wood.

Old planks that I changed from our house, but still had some good wood in them.

This is not a beautiful nor fancy build. More like quick and dirty. If you use better timber, your's will look better. But that said - I like the rough way this looks, and I'm reminded of what the color of the house had.

When I'm renovating I try to sort out all old nails and screws and save them for other projects. I needed some storage and made this toolbox (or tool toot).

There is no plan, but I show you how you can think about the size and some tips on how to cut, shape and build it.

Also - if you change the bottom to a metal mesh or something, this would be perfect as a vegtable basket.

This is a great beginner woodworking project. And takes around 30 minutes to and hour to make.

For this build I recommend listening to something like... Blind Guardians or so, to set the mood.😊

If you like what I do, please consider to follow me here on Instructable or find me on other places here : https://linktr.ee/dekeros

Here is a link to the video that shows the build in moving pictures. Thanks for watching!

• Scrap wood. The boards is about 19 cm wide. You will geth the length later in the instructable.
• Nails
• Hammer
• Hand saw
• Meassureing tape
• Pen
• Sanding paper (optional)
• Circular saw (optional)
• and PPE

First picture - the layout of all materials and tools. From left to right: Circular saw, hand saw, hammer, nails, meassuring tape, pen and a sanding block.

The second picture show all the pieces cut. Here is the cut list from left to right.

• Two sides, 60 cm long.

• One bottom piece (shorther than the 2 short sides thickness. I will show you later on.)

• The handle. As long as the bottom pice. (you can cut this straight, but I use a small bow shape.

• The two short sides (40 cm long)

First I cut away the damaged and bad wood, so I have only good wood left.

Then I cut 3 boards, 60 cm long. ✂📏

One will be the bottom piece and for now it's oversized. This way, I don't have to meassure later on.

And then I cut two shortsides. They are 40 cm long.

I will use my hand saw as a square and straight edge. On these modern saws the usually have a 90 degree angle (and a 45 degree, but I don't use that in this build).

OK. Take your 40 cm short sides and locate the center of them.

To do that, use a straight edge (like the hand saw). And make a cross from corner to corner. That's the center of your piece.

Then align your straigh edge (90 degrees) from the bottom trough the center (this is the middle of the board). Make a straight line the whole way from top to bottom. (Hope this makes sense!) 😊

Put one board on top of the other horizontal. Make it flush to the bottom. This will be the height of the sides. See last pictures on how your both short sides should be marked.

For better comfort and access, you can taper the short sides.

To do that, meassure 2 cm (a bit shorter than an inch 📏) from the top of the short side from the center line, in each direction (right and left).

Then draw a straight line from the top to the line you made eariler. See pictures on how it should look.

When cutting these, please be careful. One side, cuts away from you and should be safe. The other side is a bit tricky and if you are doing this with a circular saw, please fasten you work pieces to a workbench and only cut safe cuts.

OK. Now the short sides are done. Now I know how thick they will be. Take both short sides and stack them togehter. Have them flushed to the long bottom piece and draw a line.

Cut away that piece from the the bottom.

I dont really know how thick that is. It depends on what lumber you use. But this way, I don't need to meassure and I will get the right size anyway. Hope that makes any sense. 😊

You can absolutly use have a square handle. Then you only need to make a long cut. But I wanted to make it in a bow shape.

The handle is as long as the bottom piece. So I use that to mark the lenght first.

Then I meassure about 6 cm down from the top side (the thickness of the handle). About two inches I think. 😋

Then I meassure about 6 cm from each side (right and left). I dont want the bow to go all the way out.

I put two temporary nails on each sides, sticking up. Then push the back of the saw upp to create the bow shape and trace a line with my pen.

Remove the nails and cut the shape. This is a bit tricky to do with a circular saw. Again, be careful. Make safe cuts. Do a lot of relief cuts if needed to avoid kick backs. Use a smaller saw - or if you have a jig saw.

Optional: To create a roundover, I push the circular saw into the wood and pull it towards me. Only do this if you are comfortable with a circular saw. You can also use a small plane, knife or just sanding paper instead.

This is so strange! All other builds and stuff made and showed are always made with beautiful dovetails or fancy joinery. I love that! But in this build I use just simple nails. 😊

Hammer it togheter. I use quite small nails so the wood don't split. 5,6 - 2.88 mm

I start with the bottom piece to the short sides. Then the two long sides and finally the handle.

Some sanding and it is done!

Functional, rough and rigid!

I like this look. But of course - You can make it beautiful by cleaning the timber first. Sand it better and/or paint it.

I'm not super happy with all the description on how to meassure this and build one. Did'nt feel super clear. Hopefully you get what I mean togheter with the pictures. I wanted to show a way to think, instead of getting exact plans or cut-lists. Make something with what you have at hand.

Thank you for checking out this little 'ible' and I hope you liked it! Please feel free to ask any questions or give feedback! It's always appreciated. 😊

Here is a link to the video of the scrap wood toolbox again.

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If you like what I do, please consider follow me here on Instructables and other places like YouTube, Instragram etc. You will find links here : https://linktr.ee/dekeros