The Nicest Thing I’ve Ever Built | 100 Hour Hand Tool Cabinet Build

This wall mounted tool cabinet was built almost entirely with the hand tools it houses. This project took over 100 hours and includes 50 hand cut dovetails, 35 magnets, 100 brass slotted screws, and countless drops of blood, sweat, and tears. Now that the project is complete, I can confidently say this is the nicest thing I’ve ever built. Behind the swinging panel inside of the right-hand door are some of my grandfather’s old tools, including his slide rules. I don’t use these tools often, but chose to mount them in my cabinet to honor his memory. The carcass, drawer fronts, and tool mounts are made of African mahogany. The back panels and plane till are baltic birch plywood, and the front panel has a maple veneer. The drawer sides and backs are solid maple, and the bottoms are plywood. The finish used on the carcass is Arm-R-Seal wipe on polyurethane (satin), while I used spray-on lacquer for the tool mounts. The drawers are through-dovetailed, and the drawer fronts