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Making the Carcass

Get started on your organizer by cutting the side panels (pieces 1) to size. Set up a 1/4″-wide dado blade and raise it to 5/16″ to cut the 12 tray dadoes into each side panel. Position the bottommost tray dado 1-1/8″ up from the bottom edges of the sides. Space the dadoes 3/8″ apart.

Now re-stack the dado set for a 3/4″-wide cut, and lower it to 1/4″ to cut the bottom panel rabbet and the top panel dado. Position this dado 3/8″ above the top tray dado. Wrap up the milling process by raising the dado to 1/2″ and cutting 3/4″-wide rabbets for the back panel.

Cut the top, bottom and back panels (pieces 2 and 3) to size. Sand the inside faces of all the carcass parts, and apply finish now. When it cures, assemble the carcass with glue and brad nails.

Building the Blade Trays

Each tray consists of a base and a built-up guard that protects the blade teeth. Cut 12 bases (pieces 4) to size. When you study the photos, you’ll see that the positions of the finger pulls on these trays are staggered in two rows of six. That means you really only need to lay out three pull positions for trays 1, 2, and 3, then flip them to suit 4, 5 and 6. The second tier of trays, of course, matches the first. So, I taped the blanks into three groups of four to speed up the machining process. Lay out the three different finger pull positions, one on each group of blanks. Tray positions 1, 6, 7 and 12 make up one group. Trays 2, 5, 8 and 11 form the second group. Trays 3, 4, 9 and 10 round out a third group. Bore the finger pull holes through each of the taped-up groups. Then gang-cut the pulls to shape on the band saw, ease the corners and untape them.

Re-group the trays, one set for 10″ blades and another for 8″ dado blades. Mark and drill the 3/4″-diameter blade release holes through these two new groupings. Follow the Drawings to locate the holes on the 10″ blade trays. Move the release holes 1″ further in to accommodate the smaller dado blades. Follow the same layout process to mark and drill pairs of 1/16″-deep pockets for the 3/8″ magnets.

Set your trays aside and cut 12 blade guard blanks (pieces 5) to size. Use a compass to draw a blade cutout on each guard. Make these openings 10-1/4″ in diameter for 10″ blades and 8-1/4″ for dado blades. Cut the openings with a jigsaw or on a scroll saw.

Sand the trays and blade guards up through the grits to 180, then glue and tack one guard to each tray, making sure to select the correct guard size for your full-sized blades or dado blade trays.

Once that work is done, you can apply finish to the trays and the outer surfaces of the blade holder. Install two rare-earth magnets (pieces 6) into each tray with dabs of quickset epoxy. Label each finger pull with the blade type the tray will house. I used laser-printed paper labels glued in place, then sealed them in with a few coats of shellac.

Installing the Fixture

Cut two strips of aluminum angle to length and bore pilot holes for screws to create hanger brackets (pieces 7). Fasten them to the upper edges of the holder with 3/4″-long panhead screws. Install the project on your saw where it’s most convenient, fastening the brackets either to the underside of your side table or its framework. Now you’ve got a proper and convenient “condo” for a big blade collection!

Download the Drawing and Materials List.

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The banding is made up of cross grained mahogany with black edges. I ordered dyed black veneer that came in 4 x 36″ pieces.

In order to get the cross grain, a piece of mahogany about 6 inches wide was selected and cross cut into 5/16″ wide strips. These were then glued into 4 inch wide stacks. The ends of the stacks were trimmed square and the stacks were then glued into a long strip.

This long strip needs to be laminated between two sheets of the black dyed veneer, so one face was scraped smooth, and then planed/sanded until the glued up substrate and the black veneers measured 3/8 inch thick. The three parts were then laminated together.

With the blank dry, all that remains is to rip it into thin strips.  The wide black faces now become thin banding on the outside edges of the cross grained mahogany. It is a fair amount of work to complete, but you can cut a great many strips from the blank, and the final effect is well worth the effort.

Holly Stringing

The thin strips used for the string detail on the legs of the table were cut from a wider sheet of holly veneer. A knife can be used for this, but it is hard to hold securely and maintain clean edges. A veneer saw was designed to cut these thin strips.

For consistency, I cut a narrow kerf into the edge of a piece of hardboard (two came as packing around the holly veneer) and clamped them together on my bench. I slipped the holly under the lip of the hardboard and sawed along the edge. This gave me very clean and consistent strips of holly to use for the stringing.

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