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Greg has been building and installing custom cabinets in North Yarmouth, Maine for going on 25 years. About ten years ago, after a particularly challenging installation, he made this set of cabinet jacks with a couple of bar clamps and some cabinet scraps. Well, okay, there’s a little more to it than that, but it is a fairly simple, inexpensive design.

Each jack is comprised of:

• 3/4″ pipe—15 1/2 inches, threaded one end
• Pipe clamps
• 3/4″ plywood—22 1/2″ x 5 1/2″, 4″ x 10″
• 1/2″ plywood—(2 pcs) 7 3/4″ x 10″
• 1 1/8″ hardwood—(2 pcs) 3 1/4″ x 10″
• 1/2″ hardwood cleats—(2 pcs) 3/4″ x 18 1/2″
• 3/4″ pipe flange
• 1/4″ steel—3/4″ x 9 7/8″
• 1/2″ UHMW-PE—-3/4″ x  9 7/8″
• 2 1/4″ latch
• Drywall screws

The jacks nest together for transport, with the clamps cradled and secured by their own weight.
Casement latches lock the two jacks together for transport and storage, one latch at each end.
Keep the jacks horizontal when transporting, as the bar clamps are only held in place by gravity.
To use the jacks, first remove the clamps from the cradles.
Then unlatch and separate the jacks.
The rail strips on the base of each jack help secure the jacks in a single package for transport.

The UHMW-PE is friction-fit into the dado and can be adjusted using set screws. This ensures a snug channel in which the pipe clamp sits.

After the set screws are adjusted, the UHMW-PE is snapped into place.

The bar clamp is then inserted into the jack.
And we’re ready for some lifting!

This may start a firestorm of debate, but Greg finds it easiest to set his base cabinets before his uppers. He then places his jacks on the level bases, lifts his upper cabinets onto the jacks, and raises them into position.

Greg is always finding new ways to use his jacks to save his back.

One of the driving forces in Greg’s design was the weight of his large, custom boxes. He hated lifting those behemoths up and down as he scribed them to fit perfectly. So, he sought to eliminate the need to take each cabinet down to the ground in order to plane it to fit wall variations. He figured that if he made the jacks sturdy enough, he could do the alterations with the cabinet in place. Lift it once, scribe it, plane it, and screw it to the wall. Then it’s on to the next beast.

Greg designs all of his cabinets with a 1/4″ scribe to accommodate wall undulations. In order to make this fitting easier, he rabbets the back edge of his panels so that he only has 1/4″ of material to remove at the scribe locations. After plumbing and leveling the cabinet on the jacks, he pivots it away from the wall just enough so that he can use his backsaw to cut away the bulk of the material. He then uses a low-angle block plane to finish the scribe.

With the jacks adjusted to approximately the right height, the cabinet is lifted into position.
The jacks are adjusted and the cabinet is shimmed away from the wall, so it sits level and plumb.
Greg anticipates the wonky walls of an old house, so he designs all his visible panels with room for scribing.
After marking his scribe line, Greg pulls the cabinet away from the wall and uses a backsaw to cut close to his line.
He then finishes with a low-angle block plane.
The cabinet now fits tight to the wall and is ready for final installation.

Greg designed his jacks for use with his unwieldy custom cabinets, but also uses them to install stock cabinetry. They work great and eliminate the need for a helper on many installs. So, whether you are a custom cabinet maker installing hundred pound boxes, or a trim carpenter hanging a bunch of 24/30s, I think you will find these jacks a great addition to your arsenal.

(Video: Blackfly Media. Photography by Trudy and Ben O’Connell.)

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AUTHOR BIO

Ben O’Connell landed in carpentry when, at the age of 24, he realized he’d better hurry up and learn a useful trade. After four years of production trim work in upstate NY, he headed for Portland, Maine, where he knew he wanted to be. He soon bought a fixer-upper, found the woman of his dreams, and started his own business. Sounds like a perfect story, but then the bubble burst, and carpentry became less awesome and more stressful.

After some soul searching, Ben decided to call it a day and move on to the next interesting career. Ben and his wife, Ana, recently opened a catering business featuring Ana’s recipes from Spain and the Basque country. As a final project in his carpentry education, Ben built a food cart, which he operates on the streets of Portland.

When he isn’t schmoozing on the streets, Ben enjoys carpentry, golf, and hangin’ with the band.

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.

Years ago, good tools came with quality steel boxes that housed all of the components, but, for the most part, this is a thing of the past.

Many of today’s tools come with a plastic case or a carrying bag. Unfortunately, the hinges and snap connectors on plastic cases don’t last very long, as they get banged around in the back of a truck or van. And nylon bags, while nice, don’t really protect the tools at all, making this kind of bag useless as a permanent storage solution. Don’t get me wrong, nylon bags have their uses. As a matter of fact, I use a big red Milwaukee tool bag at the end of the day to gather up all of the little things that make their way from the van into the project site: extension cords, drop cloths, leftover hardware…you get the picture.

Here's a box I make for my Collins clamps.

Some tools come with good cases but end up casualties of their own success: Tools by DeWalt, Milwaukee, Bosche, Festool, and all the other top brands, practically scream “Steal me!” depending where you are on a given day. For this reason I’ve gotten to the point of making my own storage boxes for new tools as soon as I get the chance, even when they come with adequate boxes. These homemade boxes are generally made entirely of scrap material, so they are very cost-effective, as well as utilitarian.

For the purpose of this article I’ve chosen to make a custom container for my Central Pneumatic flooring nailer/stapler. Not exactly a high-end target for thieves, but it does meet the other criteria: a tool with a lot of ancillary parts, which, if left to their own devices, would probably be lost in a year’s time.

I start by gathering up all of the things that I plan to store together, and lay out the individual components as I would like to have them in the box. Now I can get my measurements for height, length, and depth.

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First, cut out both sides according to length and depth, and tape them together end-to-end. Be sure to make your measurements from short point to short point or it may be too narrow.

After all the pieces are taped end-to-end, flip the whole assembly over, spread glue into all of the corners,
and fold the assembly together into a box.

Before the glue sets, cut the back piece from 1/4″ plywood. Glue and nail the back in place, squaring up the box. I cut the back piece a little proud on length and width, then trim it off on the router table with a flush cutting bit. This not only looks neater but keeps things from getting caught on the edges.

I cut the face frame out of solid stock. In this case, 1×2 pine. Mill a 3/8” groove in the end of your stock so the 1/4″ plywood—which you will be using for your front cover—will be able to slide freely.

Note: I usually keep the piece that will be the top (or handle) separate from the rest. Since you’ll be fitting and gluing the front cover into this piece, you want the groove to be a bit tighter in this one.

For the face frame, cut all four sides equal to the sides of your box (measuring from long point to long point). Tape and glue these pieces together like you did with the sides, only do not glue the piece that will be the top/handle of the box (see photo, right). For now, just tape this piece together with the rest to form a rectangle, square it up, and set it aside to dry.

Spread glue on the bottom of the finished box, and on the left and right sides, but don’t get any glue on the top piece of the box. (see photo, left)

Next, orient the face frame properly on the box, with the sides and bottom set precisely in position (but no glue on the top/handle piece!), then nail the three sides of the face frame in place.

At this point you can remove the top/handle piece and trim off any excess at the router table.

To complete the project, all you need to do is cut a piece of 1/4″ ply for the front and glue it into the groove of the top/handle piece.

Now you can set the tools into the box and glue up whatever cribbing or stops you need to keep everything in place.

Add a carrying handle, and there you have it—a finished box with a slide-out front cover!

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AUTHOR BIO

Dan Broadbelt has spent all of his adult life building and fixing things.

He joined the Army in 1980 and spent the next 25 years in C/E (communications electronics) Maintenance, fixing everything from AM/SSB radios, FM radios, Microwave radios, Teletype equipment, mine detector sets, multiplexers…ad infinitum. This career wasn’t really a choice, it just kind of happened.

During this time he also began to build furniture and cabinets as a hobby, reading every book or magazine on woodworking that he could get his hands on.

After retiring from the Army, Dan spent time as a carpenter, cabinetmaker, and then handyman. As a handyman he found a new calling. It was an opportunity to put his knowledge of all types of work and trades to good use, helping others, and working for himself. Alas, starting a new business in your 50s leaves precious little time to do the things he used to enjoy, such as competitive swimming and running. He hopes he’ll have more time for these activities in the future.

Dan’s handyman service is called “In a Fix Property Maintenance.” He currently resides in the Reading, Pennsylvania area.

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A miter saw is probably the key tool for any good carpenter. While other tools may or may not be in a carpenter’s arsenal, one thing you can count on is that everyone has a miter saw. One very important element to the miter saw is the stand on which it rests. If the saw does not have a good stable place to rest, operating the saw will be tedious and frustrating.

On various job sites, I have seen “carpenters” using miter saws which were set up on the ground, on top of saw horses, and precariously perched on all variety of stuff.

I remember seeing some guys with a miter saw set up on a couple saw horses, with no extension wings, cutting crown molding for a coffered ceiling. The guy was using the palm of his hand to hold the crown against the fence while the other fifteen feet of crown was hanging off the saw and drooping on the ground across the driveway. I thought “Man, that has got to be a pain.”

I used to have a saw set up on a small adjustable height scaffold, like the ones you get from the big box stores. I made some extension wings out of plywood. The plywood had dowels set into the end which would slip down into corresponding holes which were drilled into a block of wood that was bolted to the side of the miter saw.

This setup worked fine for a while, until I started doing more work for this one particular builder, who would hire me to do more than just build and install his cabinets. On one particular job, he wanted some small shelves, built on-site, to hang on a wall. These shelves were made from 1 x 8 materials, and had to have an angle cut on them to fit the 45^o corner on which they were to be installed. Well, my little 10-in. saw was not able to make the angled cut for these two shelves, so I had to “make do.” The cut was not perfect and I was frustrated.

It was then that I vowed to upgrade my saw at the next opportunity. Especially if I was to continue to work with this contractor.

I came across an individual selling a brand new 12-in. slider for a great price, so I jumped on the deal. I quickly realized that the old setup I used for my 10-in. saw was entirely too small to accommodate this beast. This new saw was back-heavy and would try and tip off of the back of my skinny scaffold. Even if I clamped the front down it would try and tip the whole set up over.

Thus began the search for the perfect miter saw stand.

Reading a lot of articles and forum posts about stands led me to one of the more popular stands among carpenters, made from steel with extruded aluminum wings. Unfortunately, the company I was looking at no longer builds those stands, and they were cost prohibitive. But I liked the design, and, being the self-respecting woodworker that I am, decided that anything built from metal could also be built from wood.

I wanted the stand to be high enough for me. I am not exceedingly tall, but with most of the portable stands I see at the retail stores, I would have to bend over too far to see what I was doing. Then again, it may just be these old eyes don’t see as well as they used to. I also wanted a solid extension wing, not just a roller stuck out two or three feet to the side, because I often use the wings as a work top.

I like to think of myself as the type of person who can learn from other people’s mistakes. So, during my research, I tried to find out what people liked and didn’t like about their stands—the idea being to take a little bit of wisdom from a lot of different people. Thanks to the countless years of experience from other carpenters (who are far more skilled than I am), I came up with this current model of miter saw stand.

I knew that, first and foremost, I needed the saw to be stable. Using 2 x 4s for legs was out of the question, due to bulk. Being a cabinet maker, I have a lot of 3/4-in. thick lumber laying around the shop. I happened to have some Hickory leftover from a recent cabinet job. I knew the Hickory would be strong and heavy enough to provide a good base for my 65-lb. miter saw. I thought about using 3/4-in. plywood for the top, but figured 1/2-in. would work fine, especially after edging it with solid wood.

During the assembly of the legs, I realized that I had to weave them together before I could close each complete set, which is a little troublesome (see below). If I were to build another stand, I would probably build the legs so that one set fit inside the other set.

I used simple door hinges to attach the top to the legs (see below). I rounded the edges of the legs to get rid of any potential splinters, being careful to leave square all areas of intersection. Pre-drilling the screw holes was absolutely necessary, because that Hickory is h-a-r-d hard!!

On my previous setup, the wings were attached to the saw. On my new stand, I attached the wings separately, which I like a lot more. I made a little tab to slip the hinge pin through to make pulling the pin easier. I also filed down the raised/knurled portion of the pin near the head so it would not stick in the barrel as much.

The wing design is pretty much a carry-over from my old setup, as it worked just fine. It’s important that the weight of the wing bear on the leg and not the hinge. I also made sure that when in the “open” position the leg would be angled outward a little and not straight up-and-down.

The legs for the wings also had to be adjustable. I put a threaded bolt with a knob on the lower section, with a dowel inserted above it to guide it up and down through the slot in the upper section.

Overall, I am happy with the setup. I like that it folds up flat and tucks away on one wall of my van. I don’t always work around a lot of different trades—mostly home owners, who are as impressed with my stand as they are with my cabinets. Also, one contractor I do work for has a few guys that ohh and ahh over it. That makes me smile.

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!

Although I have owned pickups, which are great for framing work, my choice for work vehicles has always been a van. And for finish/trim/cabinet installers, it’s hard to beat an Express Access Van. I first saw this vehicle advertised in The Journal of Light Construction and decided that, if possible, I would own one some day.

Fortunately, that day came.

This is my 2004 1/2 ton Chevy Express/Access van. It came factory equipped with AWD (a must when you live above the snow line) and the access panels. GMC was running a promotion when I bought my van, whereby the interior shelving and cab door were installed at no cost to me by Carter Industries. I also went for the roof rack and tow package.

This is the only van I use for my business, which is interior finish and pick-up work on mostly new construction.

Some benefits of a work van:

• No trailer to drag around, but if I do need to pull something, the tow package has a button for electronically shifting to a tow gear.

• Even more than a truck with a cap (for you west-coast carpenters, that’s a shell), a van keeps tools organized, dry, and out of sight at the local parking lot.

• The shelving is adjustable.

• Cords and hoses can be hung on the front wall and rear shelf side, to get them off the floor.

The side flip-up panels (see above) allow easy access to small items, which are organized in bins on the shelves. There are three panels total, two on the driver’s side and one on the passenger side (see below). Each access panel can be opened remotely by pressing a marked button on the key fob.

This is the passenger side panel which opens to a cabinet with three drawers for small parts. There’s also space for three nail gun boxes, one nail gun bag, a tool bag, and there’s a shelf on top which holds levels and my 3rd-hand telescoping poles.

Note the fluorescent light on the underside of the panel (above). Each panel has its own switched fluorescent light, which is great for when it gets dark; the cargo area has two additional fluorescent lights besides the cargo light.

The van’s double side doors allow easy access to the floor and shelving in the front of the cargo area, eliminating crawling over stuff from the back doors.

The shelving package came with a cab/storage divider that has a door to access the back from the cab (to the right of the bins in the photo, above). The door can be propped open to allow inside transport of material up to 12 feet long. It also provides a safety barrier between the load and the cab, but still allows me to see through it (see below).

Here’s a view of the rear. Doors and small cabinets can fit inside for transport. There are two shelves on each side which are easily accessible from the interior (there is a lockable door on the lower left). I can get eight-foot pre-hung doors, full plywood sheets, or small cabinets inside this van. Cords and tool bags are stored here for easy access. Also, a portable table saw, chop saw, other larger tools, and full 4×8 sheet goods can all be loaded at the same time without worrying that the sheet goods will crush the tools, like they would in my old pickup.

My chop saw and table saw are mounted on portable stands which I can easily load, one end at a time into the rear of the van, which is much lower than most pickups.

This is what I carry most of the time when starting a job. The Trojan Miter stand has seen about 15 years of duty. The Ridgid table saw is heavy, but has performed well. The small Senco compressor is totally adequate for my needs and doesn’t require a lot of amperage or a large cord. The Rubbermaid cart is my buddy for door hanging, as it carries my gun, nails, shims, etc. Notice the swivel fitting on my nail gun, which makes the hose last much longer.

Sure, a pickup with a cap can work great for certain types of work, but I think it’s hard to deny that when it comes to flexibility, security, and ample storage space, nothing beats a good van.

Please feel free to share pics of your work vehicle, and especially any customized accessories you’ve added that make your job easier!

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AUTHOR BIO

Doug got started doing small projects as a teenager, having always been interested in tools. His grandparents owned an old hardware store near Muncie, Indiana—the kind with 16-foot ceilings that had rolling ladders on each side, a wood floor, a hand-operated freight elevator, and a penny peanut machine! When Doug got out of the Air Force in 1978, he took a job as a laborer for a framer, then did handyman work, then a stint with a sauna company (which is where he first learned to hang doors). His next major move was to a larger builder who put him on the finish crew, where he had the opportunity to supervise some commercial projects.

Next, Doug and his wife started a retail portable spa store. That lasted for about eight years, during which time he got his contractor license in order to be able to do installations (decks, gazebos, etc.) for their customers. Doug continues doing various finish work, both for himself and other contractors.

Changing steps

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I made the box from 5/8-in. fingerjointed pine screwed and glued together, and for appearance I sealed the wood with a clear coating after. I cut out a hand hole on the center of the top center to pull the box around, and added two holes on the sides to lift the box when going over a threshold or anything else that I feel it should not take the weight of the tool box as I pass over it.

As a door hanger I always needed a short step ladder, so I added steps when I built this new box. As a step ladder, it is very steady. I stand on the lower step to check the reveal on top of the door and I step on the higher one when I need to plane the top of the door if the reveal is a little tight. I use the steps as small work tables.

The steps fold up and out of the way. The bottom step opens to get to the tool tray. It folds all the way over and becomes a place to hang my hammer. The top step has a small fluorescent light mounted below. The light comes in handy and the step lifts up if I need even more light, which has been of great help in a few occasions while installing locksets on interior doors late in the evening in poorly lighted homes. The top surface of the top step is recessed to hold hinges and screws while I am installing hinges on the jamb or lockset hardware when installing locks.

Tools on the move

Mobility is a must for a working tool box. The old box had heavy duty castors, but on the new box, I used 6-in. diameter wheels–good enough to climb curbs, steps and every obstacle I encounter. I could have gone bigger, but it was not necessary, 6-in. is good enough. I mounted the wheels on regular 1/2-in. galvanized electrical tubing for an axle.

To move it around, I just tip the box back and wheel it like a hand truck. Even fully loaded, it is very easy to load and unload from my truck. It is a one man tool box–on the heavy side like most tool boxes–but I have lifted it and carried up and down the stairs many times without problems.

Built in juice

Even with all the cordless tools that I own, I still need electricity for plug in tools. So I turned my tool box into a giant extension cord. I mounted a single receptacle on the back of the box that is fed by a 16-ft. power cord. The power cord coils up and stores in a space in the back of the box.

The rest of the bottom area is for tools or objects that I don’t need quite often or that are too big to be in the upper shelf where all the other tools are. I put magnets under the middle shelf intended to hold chisels temporarily while using them. But I found that I never had any real need to use them–they were unnecessary after all. But all in all the box has turned out very useful and complete for all my needs.

Read this article in its original format (with more images) at TiC Issue 1!