Skip to content
Woodworking Masterclasses
Facebook Instagram
  • Register Now
  • Video Library
  • GalleryExpand
    • Bedside Cabinet GalleryExpand
      • Assembly Table Gallery
      • Bathroom Cabinet Gallery
      • Bench Stool Gallery
      • Blanket Chest Gallery
      • Bookends Gallery
      • Book Shelves Gallery
      • Breadboard-end Cutting Board Gallery
      • Carrying Tote Gallery
      • Chess Board Gallery
      • Chest of Drawers Gallery
      • Christmas Gallery
      • Coasters Gallery
      • Coat Rack Gallery
      • Coffee Table Gallery
      • Corner Shelf Gallery
      • Craftsman-style Lamp Gallery
      • Dining Chair Gallery
      • Dovetail Boxes Gallery
      • Fly Swat Gallery
      • Frame Saw Gallery
    • Foot Stool GalleryExpand
      • How to Make a Table
      • Joiner’s Mallet Gallery
      • Joiners’ Toolbox Gallery
      • Keepsake Box Gallery
      • Laptop Desk Gallery
      • Leaning Wall Shelf Gallery
      • Mitre Box Gallery
      • Occasional Table Gallery
      • Picture Frames Gallery
      • Rocking Chair
      • Sawhorse Gallery
      • Shaker-Style Bench Seat Gallery
      • Shaker Stool Gallery
      • Sofa Table Gallery
      • Stepladder Gallery
    • Trestle TableExpand
      • Tool Cabinet
      • Tool Chest Gallery
      • Walking Cane Gallery
      • Wall Brackets Gallery
      • Wallclock Gallery
      • Wall Shelf Gallery
      • Winding Sticks Gallery
      • Wooden Plane Gallery
      • Wooden Spokeshave
      • Wooden Tray Gallery
      • Workbench Gallery
      • Other user projects vol. I
      • Other user projects vol. II
      • Submit Photos to Gallery
  • About Us
  • News
  • FAQsExpand
    • General FAQs
    • Workbench FAQs
  • Contact
Account Login
Woodworking Masterclasses

Dust Seal: Quaint or Mandatory?

Search
Previous Back to: Joiner’s Toolbox Project3 Replies

Welcome! / Forums / Project Series / Joiner’s Toolbox Project / Dust Seal: Quaint or Mandatory?

  • This topic has 3 replies, 3 voices, and was last updated 5 months, 4 weeks ago by Julius Rumpf.
  • Author
    Posts
  • Julius Rumpf
    12 November 2022 at 9:59 am #780001

    Dear all,

    I am currently building Chris Schwarz’ ‘Anarchist’s Tool Chest’. (ATC) I have very limited access to quality lumber where I live, so I have to squeeze as much chest out of the materials at hand as possible.

    The ATC features a skirt at the top of the carcase and a dust seal that wraps around the lid on three sides. The upper skirt is glued on slightly below the rim of the carcase, while the dust seal overhangs the lid a bit. This creates a simple sort of labyrinth seal. This seems to be a very common design.

    Since I did not have sufficient lumber to build both the upper skirt and the dust seal, and my tool chest will be stored indoors in a relatively safe environment, I decided to forego the dust seal in favour of the upper skirt. The lid is rather heavy (around 6 lbs), so I figured that I could glue on some rubber/felt around the top rim of the caracase, which the lid would compress with its own weight and thus create a quite tight seal which dust cannot penetrate.

    Of course, after making the upper skirt, second thoughts have arisen. The dust seal design of the ATC seems to be nearly ubiquitous in old tool chests. And I suppose the old masters had access to thick felt, so maybe I have overlooked a fundamental flaw in my design.

    In hindsight, I could have just ditched the upper skirt and make the dust seal overlap a bit more – but it is too late for that, unfortunately.

    Your opinion would be much valued: can I carry through my original plan and build the chest without a dust seal on the lid?

    Many thanks in advance!

    Julius

    Settings
    ehisey
    12 November 2022 at 6:16 pm #780030

    Semi-Mandatory on Chris’s design, fully mandatory on a simple top like Paul’s. If you are making it for live indoors, I would run a slight rebate in the lid so that when it close it is just recess a bit into the trunk. This will help create the seal both for dusty and “climate control”. One of the reasons a trunk helps reduce rusting is the will fitted lid seal. It slows temperature change down enough in the chest to help prevent “sweating” on metal tools. This means less chance of the tools rusting.

    Tuscloosa, Alabama
    Lung T'an Hu Huesh Kung-fu Woodshop

    Settings
    Ed
    13 November 2022 at 1:29 am #780064

    Another reason for a lip on the lid of a chest, in general, is that without the lip, if the top isn’t perfectly flat, you will see a waggling gap between the lid and top of the chest. In this chest, the top is a frame and panel, which helps, but even still, a lip will help. On many chests on which the top is pretty much just a board, the lipping becomes more important for hiding gaps over time and can be incorporated into a decorative moulding.

    My guess is that you can add this feature later when resources become available and can use the chest in the mean time.

    Settings
    Julius Rumpf
    1 December 2022 at 11:00 am #782128

    Many thanks for your replies and sorry for the slow response… life tends to get in the way of woodworking 🙂

    I like the rebate idea, this would also reduce the immense weight of the lid a tiny bit. Also, climate control and hiding any irregularities and gaps seem important functions of the dust seal.

    However, I wonder: would a thin layer of rubber or felt around the top not achieve the same? The overbuilt lid would compress the rubber/felt and thus create a pretty tight seal that would also hide any gaps (?). The chest would only live indoors.

    For various reasons, adding a dust seal later would either be very labour intensive and/or look ugly. Thus, I would prefer to bite the bullet now if it’s inevitable.

    I would much appreciate it if you have any further thoughts.

    Settings
  • Author
    Posts
  • You must be logged in to reply to this topic.
Log In

About Our Company

Woodworking Masterclasses is a trading name of Rokesmith Ltd

Rokesmith Ltd



About Rokesmith Ltd | Privacy Policy | Terms and Conditions | About Us


Useful Links

© 2023 - Rokesmith Ltd

  • Register Now
  • Video Library
  • Gallery
    • Bedside Cabinet Gallery
      • Assembly Table Gallery
      • Bathroom Cabinet Gallery
      • Bench Stool Gallery
      • Blanket Chest Gallery
      • Bookends Gallery
      • Book Shelves Gallery
      • Breadboard-end Cutting Board Gallery
      • Carrying Tote Gallery
      • Chess Board Gallery
      • Chest of Drawers Gallery
      • Christmas Gallery
      • Coasters Gallery
      • Coat Rack Gallery
      • Coffee Table Gallery
      • Corner Shelf Gallery
      • Craftsman-style Lamp Gallery
      • Dining Chair Gallery
      • Dovetail Boxes Gallery
      • Fly Swat Gallery
      • Frame Saw Gallery
    • Foot Stool Gallery
      • How to Make a Table
      • Joiner’s Mallet Gallery
      • Joiners’ Toolbox Gallery
      • Keepsake Box Gallery
      • Laptop Desk Gallery
      • Leaning Wall Shelf Gallery
      • Mitre Box Gallery
      • Occasional Table Gallery
      • Picture Frames Gallery
      • Rocking Chair
      • Sawhorse Gallery
      • Shaker-Style Bench Seat Gallery
      • Shaker Stool Gallery
      • Sofa Table Gallery
      • Stepladder Gallery
    • Trestle Table
      • Tool Cabinet
      • Tool Chest Gallery
      • Walking Cane Gallery
      • Wall Brackets Gallery
      • Wallclock Gallery
      • Wall Shelf Gallery
      • Winding Sticks Gallery
      • Wooden Plane Gallery
      • Wooden Spokeshave
      • Wooden Tray Gallery
      • Workbench Gallery
      • Other user projects vol. I
      • Other user projects vol. II
      • Submit Photos to Gallery
  • About Us
  • News
  • FAQs
    • General FAQs
    • Workbench FAQs
  • Contact
Login Account
Search