After I finished my Anarchist’s Tool Chest, my son needed a tool chest, so I built this Dutch Tool Chest following the plans from Popular Woodworking #206.

I can’t emphasize how much easier this chest is to build than the Anarchist’s Tool Chest. Go the easy route and get your tools protected. Then you can start a huge project.

My son didn’t like the lid of the tool chest smashing his fingers, so he designed this mechanism to hold the lid open. He tied a string to the front of the lid and then hung two pounds of weight from the string off the back. The weights keep the lid open.

Forget the Anarchist’s Tool Chest. Go to the home center, get some pine 1x12s, and build this easier chest. It’s a great hand tool project.