A few weeks ago I was at a garage sale, and picked up a few old tools for just a few bucks. One of the things I got was a little tool caddy for $1. It basically is a box with a central handle, constructed from 1/4″ plywood and divided into a number of compartments.

In the weeks since, I’ve found it to be remarkably handy. I can load it with tools like hammers, wrenches, tape measures, rulers, my coping saw, my box cutter, and whatever, and then move them all from my workbench to my desk to my floor.

As it happens, I had a quarter of a sheet of 1/4″ plywood lying around and I thought it might be fun to make another one, basically copying the same design. I thought that this one might be good to hold various painting supplies, like brushes, cans of spray paint, masking tape and the like, but the general design is sufficiently versatile that I thought it might be useful regardless.

And, I’m trying to build skills and familiarity with using my tools.

So, last night I ripped most of the pieces, used my (imperfect) cross cut sled to cut them to size, and duct taped the basic design together, copying (not slavishly) most of the dimensions from my garage sale find. Sadly, I don’t have a picture of the original, but here’s the basic layout of the existing one.

Tonight, with a little bit of luck, I hope to get the sides glued and pin nailed together, and then cut the bottom to fit. I may route a 1/4″ slot to allow the middle divider slip in. Then, with any luck tomorrow I’ll measure and fit some dividers, and finish up with some finishing.

This isn’t really amazing woodworking I know, but it is a baby step along the way of gaining some basic competency. I could definitely use practice in just the basics of measuring, cutting, and assembling boxes. It is also a project that I can easily complete in small chunks of 30 minutes, which means I can get them done during the week.

Stay tuned for a final update later this week.