Looking for a copy of The Tool Chest of Benjamin Seaton

Jim,

I just bought the book from Amazon UK and it is on its way.  We should talk, so call me @ 860-670-2584 Freddy Roman.

I am going to reproduce the chest and fill it with the silmilar tools in the orginial. I am already gathering the material for it. 

Small World.

Fred
 
Here is a link to a list of sellers who have it for sale:

http://bestbookdeal.com/book/compare/0947673075/Tool-Chest-of-Benjamin-Seaton:-1797.html
 
fred and jim, by coincidence i also am in the process of building this. I have just started and have the boards for the sides glued up ready to start dovetailing. I have been thinking  about this for awhile and started about two weeks ago looking for info on the net. I found a pretty good article about a fellow in Cal. that made a repro. but his name escapes me right now. I think he may be a sapfm member maybe he will read this and comment.  I do not plan on filling this with Seaton's tool inventory though. Not sure what I am gonna do with it but thought it would be an interesting project with a chance to do some veneer work.
 
the man's name is david nelson. i found his artile on the wkfinetools website. i actually sent him a couple emails about it. he said that he recommends frame and panel construction instead of the dovetails. also, he said that make sure you build it for the tools you have and not to follow  the dimensions in the book
 
You are correct it was the article by David Nelson that I was speaking of. I am going to try to stay faithful to the original I don't think that frame and panel is correct, although it is probably more stable. I saw one example that was put together with a box joint, I do not think that is right. I believed the case was dovetailed if anyone has more accurate knowledge of this please let me know.

 
I too will like to make an accurate repro.  The carcase was dovetailed.  I also think that the ovals on the piece are false ellipses and not true ellipses.  I think quartersawn pine is a great choice for this piece Air Dried. 

Fred
 
Karre Loftheim just gave a demo on veneering the tool till at the Jan 2011 PATINA meeting here in VA. I wrote a brief article that will be on the patinatools.org website and in the newsletter sometime soon. Although the demo was on veneering the till, he talked about the chest. Dovetails are visible on the front and back of the 7/8" thick, full width case sides.

As noted in my article, he said to dimension it from the inside out, but build it from the outside in, in other words, know what size your tools are and fit the drawers to them, as well as the length of the planes that would stand in the bottom, just below the sliding till. Otherwise, things wont fit.

I saw a photo of the top and it looked like it was a framed panel that was canvas covered.

I hope to make one in the future. I don't plan to match tool for tool but I'd love to get my hands on a Kenyon back saw.

John
PS Join Patina for only $12 per year. Its a bargain.

 
Kerry,
The PATINA that I refer to is a local tool club in the MID-Atlantic region. Its been around for 25 years or more. It stands for Potomac Antique Tools and Industries Association. The website is patinatools.org and is somewhat inactive now but will feature a lot of updates shortly. Although they meet every other month and have excellent speakers from Williamburg to Winterthur, Steve Latta and others, the raison d'etre is the March Tool sale and auction in Damascus, MD. Due to a Snafu, its a week later this year and will be held on March 19. It draws tool sellers from Maine to Georgia inside, but the parking lot sales draws a very large crowd of buyers and sellers, unless it pours like it did for the first time ever last year. Thanks for asking.
John
 
PATINA here I come.  For any information I can get will be so worth it.  I think I need to CW and talk to Karre Loftheim about this piece.  For I been wanting to make this chest for over 11 years now. 

Fred
 
John, did you also hear Karre mention that Jane Rees is planning to reissue the book soon on CD, with additional content from CW and other folks who have built reproductions?  I *think* he said it would be reissued later this year, but I could very well be mis-remembering that bit.

I agree that PATINA is a great bargain...for that matter, so is SAPFM.
 
I assume that most of you already know this, but for those who may not,  Mike Wenzloff and Sons make a reproduction set of all six of the Kenyon saws that are in the Seaton chest.
www.wenzloffandsons.com 
 
I've seen a set of the Wenzloff saws and they are really something.
John-What's a Kenyon backsaw?-Al
 
Al,
The Seaton Chest contained Kenyon back saws so they are quite early. I believe Kenyon made saws into the early 1900's, according to the Robert's book that you gave to me.

I could have bought a very nice one in 2010 but regretfully passed it up. I wasn't sure if it was an 1800 version or 1900.

The only other back saw that I lose sleep over is a sweet little Portsmouth NH saw that I've seen in South Berwick, ME. Maybe one day......

John
 
we should probably move this conversation to a new heading, but anyway, does someone know definitively how the bottom of the tool chest is attached to the sides. I recall that it was just nailed flush to the bottom with the moulding covering the joint.  I have dovetailed the sides together on my try of this and am about ready to get to the bottom of things.
 
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