The Kist is Complete

[Derek Cohen]

Here is the final chapter..


Returning from Cape Town, with my wife staying on for an extra week with her folks, I had the whole weekend to myself in the shop. :) This was doubly helpful as the kist was to be a birthday present, and she is due home tomorrow, Tuesday (today being Monday).


I needed to ..


1. Fit the drawer
2. Fit the mouldings (already made with rounds and scrapers)
3. Round all edges
4. Oil and de-nib
5. Install the hinges in the carcase and lid
6. Complete the lid (fine tune the breadboard ends, trim to size, glue and peg the breadboard sections - I chose not to drawbore these as I did not want the pegs to extend through the lid and show at the outside)
7. Oil and de-nib again
8. Install the lid stays (I'd never used these before, and I already had a headache trying to work out how to with a template or manual)
9. Oil and de-nib
10. Wax
11. Lug the thing into the family room, stand back and - hopefully - admire my hand work. Hopefully.


Before I left on holiday I needed to work out a method of hanging the drawer. I had considered running it along a groove with the idea that it would aid in preventing it tipping as it was extended. In expectation I had planed a rebate for the tongue. Here is the drawer resting on the tongue ...


http://i13.photobucket.com/albums/a262/Derek50/Furniture/Blanket%20Chest/Drawer3_zpseaad82c8.jpg


Bill made me see sense and, consequently, I removed the tongue, planed a rebate, and glued and screwed a filet to the runner. The drawer would run in the filet. The reason for planing the rebate was to raise the height of the filet (and drawer) ...


http://i13.photobucket.com/albums/a262/Derek50/Furniture/Blanket%20Chest/Complete1c_zpse154f5f4.jpg


To ensure that the drawer would move square to the carcase, the drawer was aligned with the front of the carcase, then one runner was glued in place ...


http://i13.photobucket.com/albums/a262/Derek50/Furniture/Blanket%20Chest/Complete1d_zpsbd41cb4e.jpg


The drawer was then removed, the other runner slid into its mortices, the drawer returned, and the second runner butted against its side. Easy-peasy alignment ...


http://i13.photobucket.com/albums/a262/Derek50/Furniture/Blanket%20Chest/Complete1e_zps91b8ac45.jpg


The applied drawer front could now be attached ...


http://i13.photobucket.com/albums/a262/Derek50/Furniture/Blanket%20Chest/Complete12_zps10927dd7.jpg


The moulding were installed with the use of a MF Langdon mitre box and saw and shooting board. I decided that the mitre box is totally overkill for small mouldings - the 28" saw is cumbersome and the 11 ppi teeth too coarse, although freshly sharp. My next project will be to build my own mitre box for use with a smaller saw. Later ... Of coarse I totally forgot to take pictures of the mouldings at this stage.


I imagine that a butt mortice plane is used in a similar manner for hinges ...


http://i13.photobucket.com/albums/a262/Derek50/Complete13_zpsa1d5665d.jpg


Anyway, it was all done, and I'll spare you pictures of the mundane. Instead we can skip to the end result. I will apologise in advance for these photos. It was late in the day, the sun was down, and the light came instead from two side lamps in the family room as well as a somewhat pathetic flash.


Dimensions: 3'0" (900mm) long x 1'8" (500mm) wide x 2'0" (600mm) high)


http://i13.photobucket.com/albums/a262/Derek50/Furniture/Blanket%20Chest/Complete10_zps45abc070.jpg


http://i13.photobucket.com/albums/a262/Derek50/Furniture/Blanket%20Chest/Complete9_zps0c16ba6b.jpg


http://i13.photobucket.com/albums/a262/Derek50/Furniture/Blanket%20Chest/Complete6_zpsf33dd634.jpg


This project continues my interest in hidden drawers ...


http://i13.photobucket.com/albums/a262/Derek50/Furniture/Blanket%20Chest/Complete2_zps467671d3.jpg


http://i13.photobucket.com/albums/a262/Derek50/Furniture/Blanket%20Chest/Complete4a_zps73b26177.jpg


The drawer has 1 1/4" (30mm) of internal depth. This should be plenty for a thick book or several magazines.


http://i13.photobucket.com/albums/a262/Derek50/Furniture/Blanket%20Chest/Complete3_zps9e9b1811.jpg


The moulding is attached to the drawer and acts as a stop.


Here is an earlier picture of the drawer with applied front to attach ..


http://i13.photobucket.com/albums/a262/Derek50/Furniture/Blanket%20Chest/Drawer4_zps959ea712.jpg


The front was standard through dovetails (here you can also see the applied front and moulding in cross section) ...


http://i13.photobucket.com/albums/a262/Derek50/Furniture/Blanket%20Chest/Complete7_zpsa5113b26.jpg

[Derek Cohen]

The rear was a sliding dovetail (to allow longer sides to stabilise the drawer as it reached full extension ...


http://i13.photobucket.com/albums/a262/Derek50/Furniture/Blanket%20Chest/Complete8_zps17c7c8c5.jpg


Context - for use as storage and a place to rest a mug or glass ...


http://i13.photobucket.com/albums/a262/Derek50/Furniture/Blanket%20Chest/Complete11_zps4dcce80f.jpg


This was not a particularly complicated or difficult build. It was, however, one of the most frustrating I have experienced owing to the extreme difficulty in working with Curly Marri. Near the start I came close to just burning the wood. Several times I asked myself why did I choose to continue. I purchased the wood because I thought it was striking. I think I was right. The real beauty of this timber can only be appreciated in reality, not in photos. It has chatoyance and amazing figure. It is Devil Wood nevertheless and should not be worked with hand tools, or by anyone sane.


Thanks for persevering.


Regards from Perth


Derek

[David Weaver]

Looks great, derek, complete with the usual exceptional workmanship that we have come to expect from anything you make.

Do you have any thoughts on the decision not to wrap some moulding around the front of the lid?

As I know we've said on here already, when you showed those boards, and they looked so interrupted at the joints, I never would've guessed the matching would have turned out as well as it did. Without having seen the original pictures of the lumber, though, I never would even have a thought about the matching of the glue up, it really turned out nice.

[Bobby O'Neal]

Stunning work. Your efforts were worthwhile.

[Derek Cohen]

Hi David

Many thanks for your kind words.

I have not altogether ruled out an applied "moulding" to the front rim of the lid to act as a handle. My hand automatically goes to to the front to lift the lid. Still, I am getting used to using the sides. It is not difficult. The reason I have not done it is that I like the clean line of the lid as made. Adding anything to it will emphasise the horizontal and make it look thin.

Regards from Perth

Derek

[Tony Wilkins]

Great craftsmanship is always Dereck. Wish her a Happy Birthday.

[Sean Hughto]

Great looking chest!

I can relate to your comment about ornery woods. Sometimes it's the swirling grain, or the splintering brittleness, or the softish spalt, and on and on. It makes you appreciate why certain woods appear consistently in furniture - so much can go wrong with some species and you put so much effort into a project. That said, sometimes persevering through the challenges is worthwhile and yields something orginal and beautiful - like this. Good on ya, Derek.

[Mike Allen1010]

Derek,

Thanks so much for sharing your Kist- an inspirational project as always!

I always appreciate your high standards for fit, finish and execution -- your work inspires me to set my own standards a little higher.

Your piece is not only well done, but is an excellent choice for displaying the beautiful Curly Marri! the Neanders here in the Cave can appreciate the challenges of working with such a difficult grain and still achieving the beautiful surfaces you produced.

All the best, Mike

[Chris Hachet]

Thanks so much for sharing this....I need to build a similar chest for our family room, and this project of yours has me motivated!

[glenn bradley]

Despite your trials and tribulations, that is a wonderful piece and fits the setting perfectly. What a great room to settle into with a good book. Thanks for taking us along.

[Chris Griggs]

Lovely work as always Derek. I enjoyed following this build. The job you did matching those boards really is impressive. Like Dave said, when you first started posting about this build I too wasn't confident you would pull it off from an aesthetic/grain matching standpoint, but it really came out very nice. It really is remarkable how uniform you made those panels look (joinery ain't too shabby either, but that was never in question). A great piece!

[Jonas Baker]

Wow, Derek, beautiful work as usual! I can only imagine how difficult that wood is to work. If you had trouble with that wood, then it must be out of this world in terms of difficulty to work; since you're already used to so many australian timbers.

I know you like to leave a hand tool finish in terms of leaving the planed surface when finishing, at least on some of your other pieces you did, so was this surface also done with only hand planes and no sand paper?

I am still not able to get a hand plane surface on any of my projects, I always need to resort to sandpaper in the end, and I almost always prefer the look of the freshly planed surface, so it's something I'd like to be able to do some day.

Thanks again for the informative and inspiring posts.

Jonas

[Shawn Pixley]

Beautiful work per usual. The craftsmanship is outstanding. I also wonder about the design choice at the top. But you only need to make yourself happy... SWMBO wants a new linen chest. I will use your work as a reference point. I am hoping to get halfway to your level...

[Derek Cohen]

I am still not able to get a hand plane surface on any of my projects, I always need to resort to sandpaper in the end, and I almost always prefer the look of the freshly planed surface, so it's something I'd like to be able to do some day.

Hi Jonas, I try and hand plane all surfaces if I can. By-and-large I get decent results, even with some of the gnarliest woods. I am not against the use of sandpaper - I use it when necessary. I used it here to break/round all edges. However I prefer using a card scraper instead, and used this here on flat surfaces as well as the mouldings. A fine, smooth hook will leave a finish nearly the equal of a smoother.

To all - Dave, Bobby, Sean, Tony, Mike, Chris G and H, Glenn, Jonas and Shawn - many thanks for your kind words.

Regards from Perth

Derek

[Christopher Charles]

Hi David

Many thanks for your kind words.

I have not altogether ruled out an applied "moulding" to the front rim of the lid to act as a handle. My hand automatically goes to to the front to lift the lid. Still, I am getting used to using the sides. It is not difficult. The reason I have not done it is that I like the clean line of the lid as made. Adding anything to it will emphasise the horizontal and make it look thin.

Regards from Perth

Derek

Beautiful work Derek! I particularly like the bottom drawer. Hope the birthday was enjoyable and a success.

And will be curious to see what you decide about the lid / upper molding. To my eye your current design has a clean modern/shaker look and a wider applied molding would have a more classic look where the dark base molding would be paralleled by a (dark?) upper molding.

Only other question-- what's next :)

Cheers,
Chris C.

[Andrae Covington]

I didn't manage to follow all the trials and tribulations, but of course you overcame them. The secret drawer is pretty slick, can't even tell it's there in the "closed" photo. It's probably a little more defined in person, but even yet, it would appear to just be a joint between the foot and the apron.

[Gary Muto]

Derek,
You did a great job as usual. The proportions of the piece and in that setting make it truly belong there. What I mean is that you have a great design that fits the room well. As Glenn mentioned, the space is very inviting. Thanks for sharing.

[Matthew Hills]

I needed to ..


1. Fit the drawer
2. Fit the mouldings (already made with rounds and scrapers)
3. Round all edges
4. Oil and de-nib
5. Install the hinges in the carcase and lid
6. Complete the lid (fine tune the breadboard ends, trim to size, glue and peg the breadboard sections - I chose not to drawbore these as I did not want the pegs to extend through the lid and show at the outside)
7. Oil and de-nib again
8. Install the lid stays (I'd never used these before, and I already had a headache trying to work out how to with a template or manual)
9. Oil and de-nib
10. Wax
11. Lug the thing into the family room, stand back and - hopefully - admire my hand work. Hopefully.

...

The drawer has 1 1/4" (30mm) of internal depth. This should be plenty for a thick book or several magazines.


http://i13.photobucket.com/albums/a262/Derek50/Furniture/Blanket%20Chest/Complete3_zps9e9b1811.jpg



That PW magazine will be a nice surprise for her!

I'd also like to echo others' comments about nice work and result.
And amazing closure rate over that last weekend to produce good work.


Matt

[Jim Koepke]

It is Devil Wood nevertheless and should not be worked with hand tools, or by anyone sane.


Well now that that is clear...

It does look very nice in place.

jtk