Chest

[mouppe]

Finished this chest today. Used the full arsenal of hand tools and Festools on this chest, but not always where you would expect!

The carcass is eastern pine, as is the panel in the top. The skirts and lid frame are made of avodire, a pale African hardwood in the mahogany family. It's stable, really easy to work, and polishes nicely. Not expensive either. I wanted to use a harder wood for the parts of the chest that would be abused, but the chest would have been far too heavy if I had used it throughout. I think the grain contrast between the two woods is quite pleasing.

The chest is dovetailed throughout- there are over 100 of the buggers!

The hardware is from Brusso- damn expensive but worth it. I used the domino to mortise all the holes for the lid pulls and the lid stay. They came out really precisely, and were far easier and quicker than using a chisel. Because of the dust seal on the carcass, there was no way I could use a router, but even I could I would still use the domino in the future. Amazing how you always find more and more uses for good tools.

The inside of the chest is planed smooth but left unfinished. I have read that this is the traditional technique for chests. The bottom is tongue and groove joinery with a bead- all hand cut.

The outside has a gel stain, followed by a cherry buffing wax, nothing more. I polished the wax with a white Vlies pad (496511) and my Rotex. I wrote a review of these NAINA pads a while ago, and all I can say is that i hope NA gets them soon. They are terrific. This colour was very popular in the art deco period, although the pictures make it appear much redder than it really is.

Hope you enjoy looking.

[attachthumb=#]

[attachthumb=#]

[attachthumb=#]

[attachthumb=#]

[attachthumb=#]

[attachthumb=#]

[attachthumb=#]

[attachthumb=#]

[attachthumb=#]

 

[AlexThePalex]

Nice piece of work Richard. How did you make the dovetails?

 

[mouppe]

Nice piece of work Richard. How did you make the dovetails?

By hand...

...slowly!

 

[Sparktrician]

Very nicely done!!!  I admire the dovetail joinery. 

[smile]

 

[Administrator_JSVN]

Nice piece of work Richard. How did you make the dovetails?

By hand...

...slowly!

[not worthy] Kudos.

 

[mtnsona]

That is a beautiful piece of work.  But no surprise, based on your previous work.  Congratulations

 

[Jesse Cloud]

Richard! Darn it!  Not only do you do beautiful work, but you seem to turn it out in no time at all.

Love the 'waterfall' effect on the end skirting.

 

[deepcreek]

Beautiful chest and nice shop.  I like the use of cabinet pulls for your Systainer dock.

There's no way I have the patience (or talent) for the hand cut dovetail.  It's all Leigh jig for me.

 

[mouppe]

Thanks all, they were my first dovetails. Makes a change from the Domino which I use for pretty much all my joinery. They took a while at the beginning but once I got going they went along steadily and came out well.

This is my hobby, so time is not so important for me. I want to end up with something that looks as good as I can make it at the finish line, and learn new skills on the way.

Hey Jesse, it took me at least a couple of months all told. That's pretty slow for a single piece, no?

 

[woodguy7]

Richard, nice work.  First time doing Dovetails  [eek] I'm impressed.

One question, on the main carcase the tails are facing the front but on the top apron & the base the tails are on the end ?  It just caught my eye straight away & wondered if there was a reason.

Much nicer chopping away than taking the easy & noisy route by getting the router out eh  [big grin]

Woodguy.

 

[mouppe]

Hehe, good eye, woodguy.

Yes, I did it deliberately. Because the tails on the aprons are larger than the ones on the carcass, I thought it could look a little odd if they were all on the same side. Also, because the aprons are chamfered, it can make the single tail look very out of proportion. You would have too much end grain showing. Look at the tails on the top apron next to the lid pull and imagine they were on the front. See what I mean?

[attachthumb=#]

 

[woodguy7]

OK Richard, i will let you off just this once 

 

[mattfc]

Lovely job! The Brusso hardware looks great quality. For the hand beading did you use one of those Veritas beading hand scraper things?

 

[Mac]

Richard, this is a beautiful piece. Inspirational, as always  [thumbs up] [not worthy]

Rick

 

[mouppe]

Thanks Mac.

Yes, I used the Veritas beading tool. I tried making my own scratch stock but I couldn't get it to hold the blade firmly enough. In the end, I gave up and pulled out the credit card! It's a good tool, but I found that once the profile is started it is easier to just scratch the bead holding the cutter in your hand.

The Brusso hardware is really well-made. You can buy it at Lee Valley amongst other places. I felt it was worth the extra money considering the time I had put into the chest.

www.brusso.com