Travel Tool Chest & Workbench Build Process

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I've been having fun practising the idea of woodwork on holiday...

(I turned those clamps over after taking the photo as they were, quite predictably, getting in the way!)

I'm sure I brought a lot more stuff than I needed too, but I didn't want to be frustrated on my first attempt at taking stuff with me. The woodwork-allocated boot space was dominated by the portable workbench anyway (which will be much better when I've got a toolchest-cum-workbench). One thing it has convinced me of is that I want the top part of the tool chest (not modelled at all yet), which will hold the bigger stuff like planes, to be completely detachable so I can carry the two "halves" separately to minimise the amount of weight I have to lug around in one go.

I haven't done very much so far: just planed a few planks flat and shot them square. I'm going to turn four of them into a very simple dovetailed box (with through dovetails); the other two were used for a bit of practice for when I start making drawers for my "holiday toolchest":

I was quite pleased with that, given it was my first ever half-blind dovetail. It looks a lot worse without the clamps holding it together as it's very slightly loose, but it's still a lot better than I expected for attempt #1.

I am a hobbyist metalworker and woodworker. I work as an electronic design engineer and spend most of my working days in front of a computer so I enjoy having the opportunity to use my hands and make things in my spare time. I particularly enjoy making tools as I can then use them on other projects. This website showcases some of the things I've made.

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