Chainsaw Box

Honestly, I don't know how many of these I have made over the years, I think this will be about #4. I used to work in NE Sask at a small hardwood lumber mill. I was given the opportunity to become part of the bush team as a faller. Wow, That was a tough job. I was nothing but gristle and bones, much the opposite of my current physique.

Anyways, the stipulation was that you have your own saw, so I asked Dad and he agreed with buying me one as long as I took care of it. Husquavarna 272XP. What a great saw. Used it for about 2 years before I retired from my bush work career. Taking care of this saw meant that I had a heavy duty case to keep it in, as well as the associated stuff. So that was the first one I made.

I think our entire family likes making boxes. Grandpa Bohn made a box for his chainsaw way back in the day. I think Tim has it now. Dad made at least 2 boxes, one for a MacCoulough 10 which looks more like a stealth bomber from all the crazy angles he used, and later made one for his Craftsman saw with he adored. Grandpa Reilkoff never made one for his chain saws, but did make a nice box for his ice auger. Awww..what can I say, nothing more fulfilling than making a nice box!

Anyways, like normal, I cheated and used Solidoworks to draw up the box including all the dadoes, rabbits, and other features. Pumped out the single part drawings for each part, and simply cut the pieces and dadoed as nessesary. I didn't get to fancy with this box, mainly because I had only a few days to make it before the first camping trip of the year. I'm proud to say that there are only about 8 brad nails in the whole thing. The joints were a great fit, and I took my time gluing and clamping.

One thing that I did and that I would do again for any box it to make it as one piece, then split the lid off on the table saw. This worked like a charm and prevented me from having to make an additional 4 small pieces and glue them together to match the main piece.

I should have painted the inside pieces before installing them, but hind sight is 20/20. I kind knew that I would have a hell of a time getting paint in there. I painted it this color because Tristan left a can of on my garage floor. It's the color of his rental house. I figured it would be a little souvenir of living there for the last few years. I CNC'd the handle cutouts in the ends and made caps so that the box is pretty much weather proof.

Anyways, the saw is a Husquavarna 353 E-Tech with an 18" bar. It fits excellent and there's enough room for the small axe and Japanese backsaw, as well as chain oil, gas, and tools. I'm happy with how it turned out. As far as material, it was basically one 5'x5' sheet of 1/4" baltic birch plywood, and the bit of hardware you see.