Block front chest

[Brett Robson]

Hey guys,

Here's a few pictures of my recently completed version of a Massachusetts block front chest.

I used some wormy cherry for the bulk of it. I had a stack of it I had purchased a couple years ago but never settled on a worthy project. I figured this chest would be as good a project for it as any so into the planer it went.

I filled the worm holes on the top, sides and drawer fronts but left a few open elsewhere for some character. As the wood was rough sawn and very weathered I guessed it had been air dried for quite some time. When I planed it down from 5/4, I realized it had a large disparity in color from one board to the next which meant I had to scrap my initial plan for just a garnet shellac over an oil finish.

For the finish, I ended up first sealing all the cherry surfaces with some amber shellac. Next I gave it two glaze coats, wiping off the excess, of Zar's antique mahogany stain. Next I gave it two more glaze coats of Zar's cherry stain, leaving more stain behind on the final application. Next step was a spray coat of Sealcoat, followed by three spray coats of satin Enduro-var.

The drawers are made from poplar, which I just gave a couple quick brush coats of Sealcoat inside and out.

This was a challenging piece for me. I roughed out the drawer fronts on the band saw, but all the final shaping was done with my #78 rabbet plane, a card scraper and rasp. The drawer fronts were the hardest part. The dovetails are hand cut, which I'm reasonably pleased with how they turned out.

The brasses are from Horton.

Thanks for looking and as always, comments or suggestions are are always welcome!

[Paul Murphy]

It's beautiful, and a credit to your craftsmanship and to your finishing choices.

A question, did you shellac the outside of the drawer sides? I've always been afraid to try doing so, after being told a finished drawer side would scuff and stick. I'm always willing to learn, and the drawers look great!

[Brett Robson]

I did shellac the outside of the drawer sides. I always do, then apply some paste wax after sanding the shellac smooth. It makes the drawers slide much easier IMO.

[Andrew Hughes]

Really nice work Brett.The color is outstanding.Cherry is one of my favorites so hard to find decent stuff.

[Patrick McCarthy]

Brett, very, very nice. Ouite impressive.

Do you have any photos to post from when it was in the assembly process?

Thank you for posting.

[Cody Colston]

That's a very fine piece of furniture and excellent craftsmanship. The color turned out great, IMHO. Well done.

[Chris Hester]

That's beautiful!

I hope to be able to make something like that some day.

[Mike Wilkins]

Really beautiful piece and fine workmanship. This chest is on my bucket list of projects for the future.

[Jerome Hanby]

Not my favorite color for the finish, but that's just my own quirk, the job on the finish is top notch! Great job on the drawers and the rest speaks for itself.

[Brett Robson]

Thanks for the feedback guys! It's always nice to hear a kind word from those that know and understand the effort that goes into a nice piece of furniture.

[Mark Valsi]

Excellent in all aspects, design, proportion, wood choice, craftsmanship.

I LOVE those hand cut dovetails !!

Great job !

[Brett Robson]

Do you have any photos to post from when it was in the assembly process?


Patrick, I only have these two lousy cell phone pictures taken during construction. I know I took more, but I must have deleted them.

[Dennis Ford]

That is a beautiful chest, the workmanship is fantastic.

[Patrick McCarthy]

Brett, thank you. I am going to attempt something like that one of these days.

[gary Zimmel]

Sweet piece Brett. Thanks for the look see.

[Robert LaPlaca]

Love it, very nice work.. Wouldn't imagine that Cherry is too easy to find in Colorado, is it?

[Brett Robson]

Cherry is easy enough to find around here, most any hardwood supplier sells it, but what we get out here is mostly just your basic common or select grades though. Anything figured or otherwise visually interesting is pretty rare, if not nearly impossible to find locally.

It's not the cheapest wood by any means. I generally see select 4/4 selling for somewhere around $7/bf.

I got lucky a couple years ago in finding the wormy stuff I used. I bought about 70 bf of it just because it was special and unlikely that I'd ever see any of it again!

[Jim Kountz]

Incredible job, I love the attention to detail and the finish is awesome. Gives me some inspiration to get back to my shop!!

[Mike Allen1010]

Really beautiful piece and fine workmanship. This chest is on my bucket list of projects for the future.

Brett, +1 to the above comments -you did a super impressive job and the chest is a piece anyone would be glad to have in their home! Any suggestions for plans or rough dimensions for someone like me who would love to aspire to giving this piece a try?

Regards, Mike

[Cody Colston]

Brett, +1 to the above comments -you did a super impressive job and the chest is a piece anyone would be glad to have in their home! Any suggestions for plans or rough dimensions for someone like me who would love to aspire to giving this piece a try?

Regards, Mike

Mike, there is a similar project with the plans, cut list and mucho pics in "Glen Huey's Illustrated Guide to Building Period Furniture."

[John Lytle]

Brett,

Very nice outcome. I really like the color achieved from your finish schedule. I also Shellac, sand and wax drawer boxes. If fit properly to the opening, they should almost fly open.

Thanks for sharing.

John

[Jim Becker]

Outstanding looking piece!

[Bryan Cowing]

Horrible! I think you should put it out at the curb, let me know when I can pick it up! ;)

[TomKinley 01]

I appreciate your work and the best interior design and furniture are necessary for house different types of furniture. Decorating a room with different styles of furniture is given a new looking of your home.

[Gregory Peterson]

My only complaint is that you have this awesome chest sitting over a heat register! :)

I don't think the brass is up to the quality of your woodworking, personally. I think a heavier brass set would work better given the ornate nature of the chest. Looks a little flat and plain to me. Personal opinion :) Might just be the flash photography making it look washed out and flat and it may look better in real life.

[Gordon Eyre]

Brett, this is a very impressive piece. Your workmanship is first rate.

[Charlie Jones]

Nice piece. thanks for the pictures

[Andrew W. Thomas]

That is downright impressive. I am in the infancy of my woodworking development and could only hope to work towards being able to complete a project like that.