Toy chest

[Tony De Masi]

Morning All,

I will be building this as a toy chest for my grandson who will be born in about six weeks. There is no intention to have it done for his arrival so I have the time to really take my time with this project. Here is my question. If I wanted to use multiple wood types, meaning two, one for the rails and styles and one for the panels, what would be good choices? I have plenty of walnut and mahogany on hand but am not tied to using either of them. Also, what would be an appropriate finish for it's intended use?


Looking forward to any and all input.

Tony

[Jamie Buxton]

I'd build it with cherry for the frames and fancy maple for the panels. By fancy, I mean curly or quilted or the like. For a finish, I'd use a wipe-on varnish -- either the witch's brew popularized by Sam Maloof, or the premixed Minwax Wipe-on Poly.

Also, look into the standard woodworking catalogs for lid supports. They're devices which will prevent that top from slamming down on little fingers.

[Jim Becker]

I like what Jamie suggests. The walnut could also be substituted for the cherry with good results as it works well with maple panels.

[Dave Stuve]

Hi Tony,

Funny, I just finished the base for something very similar - I used 'sappy' walnut and cherry - I liked the contrast of the red/pink cherry and the chocolate colors of the sappy walnut. Today I'm trying to figure out the top - I'm making it from cherry, and am trying to decide on how much overhang on the front, sides and top, and then if/how I'm going to use battens/cleats to keep the lid flat over the years.

Here's what mine looks like right now....

Dave

[Tony De Masi]

Thanks for the replies men.

Dave, I will have to show this to my DIL to see if she like this contrast. Nice work too. I really like the raised panels you used but I think she likes the flat panels more but we shall see.

Tony

[Steven Bolton]

How do you make Sam Maloof's witches brew?

SB