Simple Pine Box

[Jeff Wittrock]

This is a simple blanket chest I made from spruce (I think) boards I had laying around. I'm afraid this stuff was so soft and spongy I would never want to make something from it again unless I had to. Even with very sharp tools, I would still end up with a fuzzy surface after planing, and just pushing the plane over the surface with the blade retracted would leave tracks from the body of the plane compressing the wood.

I just used cheap zinc plated hinges that I soaked in vinegar to remove the zinc plating. I made the lid support from some 1/8" mild steel bar and just flame blued. It has no friction, so it does nothing to keep the lid from slamming shut. It just keeps it from opening too far.

Certainly not fine furniture, but functional.

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[Tony Shea]

I think it came out very nice. Certainly give yourself more credit.

[Gordon Eyre]

You certainly did a nice job on that "simple" box. Impressive!

[Chris Griggs]

I love it. A nice clean and simple piece of furniture that looks like it would be great to live with. I think it says a lot that to you "simple" is not synonymous with quick and dirty. It is a lovely piece, with good cleans lines and well executed joinery. Shaker furniture is "simple" but much of it offers great examples of craftsmanship. Your chest is no different. Thanks for sharing.

[Mel Fulks]

Agree with all. There are things learned by using less than easy to work materials. People love planed surfaces. Simplicity and integrity.

[Jim Koepke]

The chest looks nice.

Some of the fir family can be a pain to work, but most of the time it can be had fairly inexpensively.

A lot of my work is done in pine. Cedar and spruce tend to splinter or mark too easy.

jtk

[glenn bradley]

That looks very nice. Soft woods are indeed a challenge to work with.

[Andrew Hughes]

It's does have a simple charm,I bet it smells nice inside hope you left it unfinished.

[Bob Glenn]

Nice chest. I made one similar to that a few years ago. After I cut all the dove tails, I didn't assemble the sides right away. It was winter and I had moved them inside for the glue up. You can probably guess what happened........the dove tails would not go together due to the wood shrinkage when I brought them inside. I had to take them back out in the garage for a few days before I could get them back together.

[Bob Jones]

Nice. Cypress is a bit fuzzy after I plane it, too. I thought it was just me :)

[Frederick Skelly]

Thats very nice. I like its simplicity. I like the dovetails.
Fred

[Jeff Wittrock]

Thanks all.

I love to work with white pine and even southern yellow pine for larger scale things. This stuff was just much softer and "spoungier" than I have used before. If I were blindfolded, I would have guessed it was balsa :).
It now has blankets in it, so it is serving it's purpose.

-Jeff