I splurged a bit the other day, on several hundred Dictum nails and additional accoutrements. Not sure if I ever talked about my gouges, but I finally bought a tool roll for them. I also picked up a Japanese nail set, a drawbore pin and a mortise float, all of which are being put to immediate use (no spoilers!).

The traveling tool tote is basically finished now, other than the tray (which is the last and final step).  I really like the look of those Dictum nails and plan to use them assembling the tray also (the carcass used Tremont cut nails).  Tapered drill bits would have been invaluable, though, as there was some end-grain splitting in the pine lid when attaching the oak battens (the battens themselves held up fine).

The lid also doesn’t close as tightly as I’d like, but worse things have happened.

Some cyanoacrylate shored up the splits and the whole thing got slathered in more red paint.  After a few weeks of use, I’ll do a full retrospective on the project.  I’m already thinking about ways to improve the design for the next go-around.  Not the least of which will be painting the lid before attaching the oak battens.

There is always another go-around.

Sorry for the sporadic posts lately.  Things have been too busy for much writing.

JPG