If you decide to build one or have a friend or relative build you one,
please send me pictures and I will be glad to add them to this Web page.
A Place to Put Stuff by Jennifer Williams, Ph.D. Excerpt from September 2007 article on tack equipment. |
Locker Designs If you have the skills to build your own lockers but aren’t sure how to create the design, you can purchase tack locker designs on-line. Elite Tack Design (www.elitetackdesign.com) offers several different tack locker plans. Bill Tschorn of Elite Tack Design started designing tack trunks and lockers over 20 years ago when his wife needed a place to store her tack. They now offer different plans that cost $44 each and include a list of needed materials and tools, plywood layout sheets to help you cut the plywood, and illustrated step-by-step instructions. Tschorn, who is a technical illustrator, drafter and graphics artist by trade, says, “I have carefully designed and illustrated each manual for the average home carpenter. This allows people to construct the cabinet with their own personal touch. |
This early Total Tack Cabinet was built on consignment. Made with our “Saddle House” design, with 2 draws and a plastic crate for storage. Laminated in green Formica. |
This early Basic Tack Trunk was built on consignment. Made with a large sliding / take out draw and personal lid compartment door. Laminated in black Formica. |
I built this Armoire Tack Cabinet for my wife, “Chris”. It's 18 years in use and still strong as the day it was built. Painted black enamel and ¾” aluminum angle trim. |
Armoire Tack Cabinet by Bill Owen for his daughter-in-law Trina.. |
Basic Tack Trunk by Whit Prophet for her daughter Rebecca.. |
Total Tack Trunk by David Schircliff for Paige Buckwalter. |
Ken Smith built this Basic Tack Trunk with few custom draws. |
Thomas Lade and Tiffany Hart built this simplified version of the Armoire Tack Cabinet. |
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Lauren's Trunk (Shown) |
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Lauren & Elizabeth |
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Hello: I thought I would send you some pictures of the
box I just finished for my daughter from one of your plans. I modified it
to have a pullout saddle rack. I also changed the size of the lower compartments
to allow for the lowest shelf to hold a large water bucket. The top shelf
on the door was not cut out for polos but left to hold bell boots. - Nathan Onfrichuk Ottawa, Ontario, Canada |
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Hi Bill, My daughter Kelsey and I built her tack box from your plans. We used birch plywood and painted it. The materials were a Christmas present (from me and her mom) and together we constructed it. We had a blast and she loves it. It turned out great and is the envy of the barn. - Peter VanderMeer |
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Bill: I found the handles; they
were buried in a corner of the hardware section at Lowes. Thought you might
like these pictures. The trunk is currently sitting on a small mover’s dolly
tipped under it for ease of movement. I used Baltic birch laminate for the
box. The base is yellow poplar. I happen to like the natural 'green' color
of yellow poplar so you will see it used throughout. I even trimmed the hatch
door edge with it to clean up the edge of the laminate. The upper drawer
rails are red oak, as is the trim on the upper edges of the laminate for
the box, and the corner trim. The face piece inlay on the top is a maple-walnut-alder-birch
pattern. I stained it with a wipe on Honey Maple stain from General Finishes,
and used General's Arm-R-Seal wipe-on spar urethane to finish it. Both the trunk and the tack armoire came out to my wife's liking. Cheer! - Don Hooper |
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Hi Bill: Just wanted to share
with you some pictures of the tack cabinet we made from your plans.
My daughter has been asking for something like this for a long time, and
I wasn’t able to find anything (that I could afford) that would suit her
purposes, until I found your plans. It turned out really nice and
I wanted to share the pictures. My husband made it and he is such
a perfectionist! We kept telling him it’s going in a barn, but he
went all out anyway. We gave it to my daughter for her 25th birthday
and she really likes it, as do everyone else in the barn. Of course
they all ride western, so it wouldn’t work for them! Hope you enjoy
the pictures! - Judy Keener |
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Dear Bill I thought that I would send you some pictures of the Tack Cabinet I made for my girlfriend, Ransom Witt, for her birthday. She had some modifications that she wanted, so I used your Total Tack Cabinet template and made the changes accordingly. Your designs were very helpful and I know that she will love this... thanks again. Sincerely - Mickey Loftis |
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Hi Bill: Thanks for the compliments
of my work. I am a tenant in Maureen’s apartment building and she knows
I'm a skilled cabinet maker. So any time she, needs one of a kind masterpiece
she calls me. I have built some incredible things for her over the past
8 years that in the normal world would have paid very well. I am just a
poor carpenter, who loves woodworking so much, that even if I had millions,
I would be in my wood workshop everyday! Since I don't have any work space where I live, most of the trunk was built in my driveway, on saw horses, and concrete ground. Near the end we used Maureen mother’s garage to stain, varnish, paint and final assembly. It was also a good place to hide the trunk from Rebecca till Christmas. I got the hardware from ROCKLER.com. Maureen did reimburse me for the hardware, paint, varnish, brushes, sandpaper etc. The wood was free, leftover from my real job projects. It was truly a labor of love, having built my first tack trunk! It wouldn't have been possible without you Bill. Thanks, Marc Bonner |
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Hi: I recently purchased your
plans for the Basic Trunk. We were building it for our daughter who shows
steers in area fairs, she is a senior and we knew she would only use the
box for 2 fairs so we put a little extra work into so when she travels to
college she will take it and use it as a hope chest and storage. The plans
were very easy to follow even by those with little carpentry skills. As
you can see in the photos we added a few details, trim around lid and bottom,
wheels and name plates for the animals Janna has shown. Thank you and please
display photos and web site for others to see. - Sheryl Jo
Legg |
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Hello there: I just wanted to
write to thank you for your fantastic plans. My dad and I built your armoire
tack cabinet as a father-daughter project, in honor of my first horse. We
are SO pleased with how it turned out. Your plans were easy-to-follow and
complete, and we couldn't believe how well everything fit together and how
nicely designed the box was. Everyone is incredibly impressed and we are
getting many compliments. I'm directing lots of people to your website!
I've attached a couple of pictures of the finished box. It would be
wonderful to see them on your website! Thanks again for your fantastic design. We couldn't be happier. Sincerely, Katie Taylor |
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Hi! Wanted to share the pictures
of my new Western Tack Cabinet built by a friend and co-worker from Lexington
Fire Department (KY) Major Darryl Osborne with the help of FF David Gumm,
FF Rick Faulkner and Darryl's son Darrin. The pictures do not do this
cabinet justice- it is absolutely beautiful. I am using it to hold a saddle
seat saddle and all my stuff at a boarding facility. Your plans were great
and my friends did an incredible job-it is gorgeous and fits my needs perfectly!
(It is too pretty to put in a barn!) - Carrie Bowling |
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Hello there! So I finally finished
my tack box, I had ordered the plans from you, and I thought I would send
you the final pictures... There's still some saw dust/little wood ships/dust
in there (I just finished staining this afternoon!) but I absolutely love
it! There a couple of modifications, or I suppose I can call one a
"mishap", but nevertheless, it's awesome!!! My carpenter accidentally attached
the trunk lid on the wrong side! But the difference is negligible,
haha... Also we decided for the saddle house roof, instead of putting it
on a hinge, we have it lifting out, because my bridle hook I guess
was a little long, so it would've hit the hook, and plus it's actually pretty
easy just to have it pulls out! I hope you like and that we did your plan
justice! It was built here in Calgary by D. Parker Thanks again for all your help! - Heather Love |
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Dear Bill, I was delighted to
receive your Christmas card last month and I have since then been meaning
to drop you a line. In fact, I have been meaning to drop you a line since
I completed the tack cabinet based on your plans almost a year ago. I have
no woodwork training but I found the instructions very clear and easy to follow,
and I had a lot of fun making it. My daughter Heather is delighted with the
tack cabinet and it is the envy of all her friends. I cannot tell you how
many people have admired it since we put it in the tack room at the stables
where her pony lives. Certainly it stands out from the other tack boxes in
terms of design and finish. In fact the admiration makes me feel somewhat
guilty because whatever about the finish, credit for the design belongs to
you. I had intended to give it a better paint job and had envisioned all kinds of colors and stenciling, but Heather in her impatience to take possession barely allowed me time to lash on a few coats of varnish! Regards, Frank Henry - ( Ireland) |
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Hello Elite Tack Design:
Your web site asks for finished photos of your completed designs.
I've attached a photo of a variant of the "Armoire" that my husband built
for me. I am an eventer so I have 2 saddles, 3 different bridles and more
gear than most "one sport" participants. This version is 11" taller to
accomodate the second saddle rack and the doors have been switched. It is
stained and then poly-urethaned throughout. - thanks Judy Labovitz
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Bill: We built ours just like your plans call for and finished with
a coat of linseed oil. The oily linseed rag we used to apply finish to the
cabinet caught our trash can on fire in the garage, but everyone is safe.
The only thing we did different from your plans was to add a 1/8" sheet of
plastic under the tack box area, the area the two milk crates sit and under
the bottom drawer. You will see them in the photos. I thought
that the plastic tack box and plastic milk crates would slide in and out
smoother with plastic under them and it will also keep the wood from getting
soiled. We also put parafin on the bottom of the two wooden drawers
on the right side so the drawers slide in and out easier. Enjoy, David HoffNOTE: Elite Tack Design replaced David's burned plans for FREE! |