DIY Garden Tool Box

A simple garden tool box is a great project that you can use for all sorts of things. You can use any type of wood you'd like, however cedar is great for keeping outdoors. With a garden tote like this, you can keep plants in it, you can take it to the nursery, or you can keep your garden tools in it among other things.

These boxes are very useful to have around, so you might end up making more than one!

Step 1: Building Process

Cutting

I started with cutting up some rough sawn cedar on the table saw. I was aiming for 1x2 boards, so I cut them 3/4 of an inch wide, and then I cleaned the sides up on each board. Then I cut them to size on the miter saw.

Gluing

Next up, gluing the basic box together. I'm simply staggering the boards so they overlap, and I use staples to clamp everything down as it's gluing. I'm also adding some screws to connect the levels, and I'm marking out where each screw is going, since when the next level goes on, I can't see where the screw is, and I don't want to screw in the same place twice. And then it's just a matter of building the levels up. I made the box four levels high.

Sides

Next up, the sides. Now I wanted to continue the same design, so I glued four pieces together. I also wanted to slip in the handle here, so I left a hole for where the handle will be going, then I clamped all the glued pieces together and let it dry. Once the sides were dry, and marked out the slope and cut it on the band saw. I also wanted a lighter design, so I cut out some holes with the hole press, removed the excess wood with a chisel to achieve a oval hole in each side. Then I cleaned that up with a rasp.

Handle

Next up it was time to cut the handle to size and glue that in. So I marked out how long I wanted it, cut it, and then glued in the handle.

Clamping

After that I glued on the sides to the box. I made sure everything had some good glue coverage, and then I clamped it down.

Finishing

Now you really should add some screws to connect the sides to the main box, to get everything a little bit stronger.

Once it was dry, I started sanding. I also used my spoke shave to round off the handle a little bit. This tool works great for that, and does a good job of round the sides. And then I just finished sanding.

Type of Wood

Cedar is great to leave natural because it's naturally insect resistant but if you build this out of pine of something like this, then you could always paint it.

Step 2: Conclusion - Watch the Video

For a more in depth look, please take a look at the video that goes over the various steps.