Blanket chest project - starting

[Bill Brush]

Hello!

My wife and I just bought a nice bedroom set which has a dark cherry finish. Now I have the urge to make a matching blanket chest to sit at the end of the bed. Since I don't have a jointer/planer I am going to stick with the stock I can get at the lumberyard, and cherry veneer plywood. Anyone have some plans for something like this, or helpful info? I would like the top to be sturdy enough to act as a seat and a cedar liner is a must according to She Who Must Be Obeyed. :)

Thanks!
Bill

[William Duffer]

I don't have any designs but since you want to design it around your furniture I would draw it out yourself. You can also get on the net and search for designs. You can also post pictures of your furniture so we would have a better idea what kind of design you are looking for.

[Jim Rimmer]

I built one from a plan from Popular Woodworking. Give their site a look, they have lots of free, downloadable plans. I used the cedar t&g from the borg but didn't really like it. It wasn't straight and too thin to try to fix but then I saw another project on here where sombeody used it and it looked great.

[Bill Brush]

Thanks for the tip Jim, they have plans for a Shaker chest I can use as a starting point.

This is the bedroom set: http://www.broyhillfurniture.com/Furniture/Collection/Default.aspx?collectionID=100026

I'm thinking a solid cherry face frame on the four sides with a cherry ply insert. A simple flat lid made out of ply and a solid cherry frame. The base I'm a little fuzzy on at the moment. Maybe some pre-made turned feet. Drawers aren't in my current thinking but that could change.

[John Pohja]

Norm Abrams/NYW has a nice one that can be built with lumber from a lumberyard. No plywood in the plan though. I've probably built 6 or 7 of them as gifts to my children, grandchildren and friends.
Not sure how you can get the plan although i would guess that NYW has it for sale. John

[Gary Breckenridge]

Sounds like you are not sure of the design that you want. Do a Google or Bing image search to look at some ideas. When you get a plan that might work I'd make a mock up out of cheap cardboard. Then I would put the prototype in place for a few days to see how it works. Make changes in your plan as necessary. Don't let the idea of not having a jointer stop you; buy a decent quality plane, LN and tune it.:cool:

[Bill Brush]

Actually I just ran across this plan tonight. It's almost exactly what I want, I just need to figure out how to build it. http://woodzone.com/woodwork/CB/961529.htm

[Jim Eller]

Bill,

I just built this one and it was my first. http://www.sawmillcreek.org/showthread.php?t=135081

I just sketched what I thought I wanted and started. Kind of a seat of the pants approach but it worked for me. I did figured it out and tweaked thing as I was building.

Good luck with your project.

Jim