I’ve hung cabinets a lot of different ways. With a ledger board screwed to the wall; ganging cabinets together and installing them as a unit; one at a time with a helper; one at a time solo. I never found a system that I really liked. Until I met Greg Soper and his super wicked awesome cabinet jacks. Read the full article…

Making your own tool storage solutions

A carpenter acquires many tools over time. Some of these tools come with decent storage containers, some don’t, and some come with nothing at all.

In this article, I’ll take you through my process of designing and building a box for a tool that has many accessory pieces and no box to keep it all together.

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I am a cabinet maker. I own and operate a small shop. I do it all, from making the sale to installing the pulls. Crown molding is standard on all my cabinets, unless the client wants something different. So on 99% of my installs there is crown molding involved. I used to use a small 10-in. single bevel miter saw that worked just fine for most of the crown I needed to install. Occasionally, I would run into something that was too big for my saw to cut, but I was always able to find a way to “make do.” Sound familiar? Read the full article…

Finish carpenters carry a lot of tools. In fact, we carry more tools than any other trade I know, maybe more than any two combined. Sure, plumbers carry a lot of weight, but that’s mostly pipe. We carry tools: table saws, table saw stands, outfeed tables, miter saws, miter saw stands, work tables, nail guns (at least four), drills (at least four), routers (at least four), planers, grinders, sanders, circular saws, track saws, compressors, air hoses, extension cords—and that’s just the big stuff. Then there’s the nails, screws, glue, sand paper…the list goes on and on.

You’d think that after 15 years in this business I’d hate tools, but I love them. The problem is, how to get them to the job, and how to store them so I can find them! Read the full article…

Long ago I built a version of Gary Katz’s tool box, but I wasn’t too happy with the way it turned out—too heavy and the wheels were too small. After that I decided to build the one I’m using now, and to be honest, this last tool box has won more praise from my clients than my door hanging. I would say that almost every client that sees it makes a comment about it. One older women went as far as to say that by looking at the tool box she could tell that I was a craftsman. I don’t take compliments too easily, so I just tell people that my tool box is a progression of Gary’s tool box, and in fact it is. I’ve been using this tool box for about 2 to 3 years and I have been very happy with it. Read the full article…