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The Studley-est chest you've ever seen

By Rain Noe - December 16, 2010

in Object Culture

If Henry O. Studley had lived 150 years later, he'd be designing circuit boards. As it stands, Studley was born in 1838 and worked as a piano maker, carpenter and mason. Sometime in the 1890s he designed this amazing tool cabinet, which has become known in woodworking circles as the Henry O. Studley tool chest.

God knows how many years it took him to perfect this thing, but it holds 300 tools in precisely-fit locations, measures just 40 inches tall, 20 inches wide and 9 inches deep, and is so heavy it requires three men to lift.

Studley made the chest while he was an employee of the Poole Piano Company in Massachusettes, and presumably acquired the cabinet's materials from piano-factory cut-offs: The chest is made from mahogany, rosewood, walnut, ebony, and mother-of-pearl.

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Thad Hedrick

8 years ago

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I saw this chest in the Smithsonian museum in DC awesome !!

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litle saw

8 years ago

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wow..so amazing

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Aaron Gurish

11 years ago

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Not only is it a kick-ass tool-chest, but it's also a very functional resume for the man's skills. Basically, he just shows up to a job interview at a new cabinet maker's or something like that, and pow - instant hire. "I made this tool chest."
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cabinet maker new york

13 years ago

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I think that it would just be great to have a tool chest like that. Man that just looks so beautiful. I would be too scared to pull any of the tools out and use them just because I wouldn't want to ruin the overall look and feel of the whole chest.
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Richard

13 years ago

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As a cabinet maker looking to become a furniture maker/designer, that tool chest has me drooling, though I'd be wheeling it around on a dolly, and I'm sure some of those tools have changed in size since then.
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ian

13 years ago

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imagine if you accidently spilled everything and had to put it all back
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Stephen

13 years ago

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My mom got my dad a framed copy of this for Christmas when I was a child. I had no idea what the tools were, but I loved looking at it.
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lucas c.

13 years ago

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just amazing craftmanship, never seen nothing like it
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-Joel-Kramka-

13 years ago

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Studley is the perfect name for this cause that's what it is. As a woodworker I would love this. I guess I'll have to settle for making it my wallpaper.
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