I’ve been fascinated by machinist’s chests since the first time I saw one. Wonderful, warm, wooden chests of drawers filled with strange, precise, and unusually-shaped, finely-made tools. I chose a larger scale, that of 1/8th opposed to the more common scale of 1/12th, for the size of this miniature.  That way I could capture the fine details such as the engraved lines on the rules.

The chest is filled with miniature tools copied from originals I have collected. They’re listed in the captions below, often shown next to the full sized original.

The six chests were made of mopane, an African wood that looks like a miniature version of mahogany, or cherry. Pear wood was used as the secondary wood on the interior and ebony for the moldings. Hinges, handles and knobs are made in a shield shaped pattern. The lock works and is made from brass and steel. Inside the lid I pasted a scaled down version of a trade card from the Centennial Exhibition in Philadelphia, a decimal equivalents chart and photos of loved ones. That is a photo of my teenaged grandmother and aunt—two girls who would never expect to have their image on the inside of a tool chest.