I contacted blacksmith John Switzer of the Black Bear Forge in Beulah Colorado to make the hardware for the Dutch Tool Chest. Well, those pieces arrived last week and they are even better than I could have imagined! Every piece is incredibly well made and beautiful. The hardware includes the lifts for the sides, the strap hinges for the lid and a hasp and catch for the front of the lid.
While I was placing my order I also had John make me a planning stop for my bench. I’ll create a mortise in my current wooden planning stop and this should dramatically improve the workholding on the top of my bench. I saw a post a while ago from Chris Schwarz discussing how sharpening the teeth of the planning stop can help improve the grip. I might have to give that a try.
You can find my Dutch Tool Chest build series here: