Anniversary Chest Build Pics

[Mike Allen1010]

If I play my cards right the LOML and I will be married 30 years next year (I’m hoping for solid 8 to 5 odds. Of course completely dependent upon whether I screw up epically between now and then).
Here is a little carving of our wedding date that will go inside the top of the chest.
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The top of the chest is curved/Coopered - here are the components and the completed top. As you can see, I added a Holly inlay just framing the top (primarily because Sherrie said I shouldn’t).

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Here are the panels for the 4 chest sides and dimensioning of rails and styles.
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A unique aspect of this design is that top and bottom rails are joined via dovetails, while stiles determining the vertical dimensions are M&T joints.
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Here is creating the front shoulder of the stile M&T.
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[Mike Allen1010]

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Because the bottom rail is a quarter inch bigger than the rest of the carcass, that rail/style joint is a lap.
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The frame panel components of the carcass with joinery completed.
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Here is sawing the Tennons, and how they’re supposed to fit:

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[Mike Allen1010]

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I should have plowed the grooves for housing the panels before cutting joinery, Just one of many mistakes (you think I would be better the second time around with this design – but it seems not so much).
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Here is cutting the rabbits for the panels in the lower rails.
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[Mike Allen1010]

The glue up of the front/back and side panels.
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This is just about the time I realized I had made a horrible mistake! I laid out the pins/tales of the DT's joining top and bottom rails, before gluing the panels via their M &T joints – important because this is what crystallizes the vertical dimension. Problem: - the final vertical dimeeension of the M&T’s shifted the DT’s just enough to make the glue up of the carcass a nightmare! This was especially disappointing because if I would have just planned the joinery sequence correctly everything would have fit together no problem.

Here are the regrettable consequences.The glue up of the front/back and side panels.
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In addition, when I glued up the chest top, I neglected to get the rails square to the vertical plane (must be something about too many curves bamboozling me).
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As a consequence, fitting the top to the chest carcass required significant planing beyond level/plum/square just to make the two pieces fit.
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O.K. at this point my computer is giving me a hard time so I'll just show the rest of the pics.

Thanks for looking,

Mike









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[Mike Null]

That is simply magnificent! I can empathize with mistakes but yours don't seem to show.

What finish did you use?

[Jebediah Eckert]

Really nice, thanks for posting. Maybe I got mesmerized by the pictures and missed it, but is it Mahogany?

[Brian Holcombe]

Looks nice Mike!

How would you change the sequence, given the opportunity? I assume build the top and bottom surrounds first?

[James Pallas]

Well done Mike. Great recovery too. Courageous of you to share the errors as no one would have noticed.
Jim

[Derek Cohen]

Great piece, Mike. Love the design, and the execution is excellent!

Now where are pics of the important interior?

Regards from Perth

Derek

[Mike Allen1010]

Here are a few more pictures, I took it outside because I am a horrible photographer and I'm hoping the light is better.The design of this chest is modeled after one in "blanket chests" published by Tauton Press. I don't have it in front of me can't remember the name of the guy who built the original. His is much cooler – his top curves in two dimensions (both front to back and side to side) and is built with lapstrake construction like a boat hull - Yeah there was zero chance I would even attempt that.


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Hi Derek, here some pictures of the inside of the chest. I lined the bottom with cedar. You can see rails inside the chest front and back. I'll build a little sliding till that will sit on these rails. I I carved this with our wedding date. Thanks to excellent design advice my fellow meanders here, I put it on the inside top of the chest, instead of the front where I was originally planning. I think it looks much better there and so does the Boss.
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Mike, the finish is Watco natural (oil/varnish blend) followed by blonde shellac and paste wax.

Jeb, you're right the wood is African mahogany– I think. Living in the desert of Southern California, this might be my first ever lumber gloat – I found the wood in the discount cut off bin outside my local Rockler.I'm jealous of all my fellow meanders living in other parts of the country where hardwood trees and lumber is more plentiful.

Brian, you are exactly right; what I should've done is assemble the four frame and panel assembly for the carcass front/back and sides, and then Layout and cut the dovetails. Embarrassingly, this is the only time I've built the same project twice and when I built this chest out of pine the first time, I did assemble it correctly. This time, I have no idea what happened – so much for experience making things easier!

Here is my feeble attempt at trying to carve a floral garland with a couple of hearts in the middle (sappy I know!).If I can make this happen, I plan to put it on the front of the chest. I have no idea how I will attach it. I think it highly unlikely I will end up with anything resembling my intent, and even then the odds of successfully removing it from the backing board and transferring it to the chest I have to believe are extremely low.
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Here's a closer picture of where I started roughing out the first part of the Carving. I am a novice Carver, And I have to say I don't really enjoy it. I am horrible at trying to envision objects in three dimensions. My approach is strictly "paint by numbers", with no overall artistic concept of the process. This little 5 inch carved segment represents about five hours of work and one aching back! I can already tell I should have used 3/8" thickk stock instead of the 1/2" I used. Was hoping
the thicker stock would reduce the risk of breaking the finished carving, but now I can see thicker stock, means more of the whole three-dimensional thing- arghhh!
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Thanks for looking,

Best, Mike

[Karl Andersson]

Hi Mike,
everything looks great so far - thanks for sharing your projects. Something that might help with your swag carving; if you can release it from the backing now without breaking it (looks like you used Mike H's suggestion for 2-sided tape?), it would be easier for you if you used a coping/ jeweler's saw to cut out all those leaf profiles on the edges before you carve the relief. That's if you are sure of the design as drawn on the wood, of course. If you try to chisel down between the leaf ends to the backer, you'll risk either sloping the cut (making the leaf look distorted or wider than designed) or slitting the wood. Or adding more leaves underneath because the chisel won't fit all the way down (DAMHIKT), changing the clean lines of the drawn design. With the basic silhouette already neatly shaped, carving the leaves would be more relaxing and quicker.
Keep up the great work,
Karl

[Mike Allen1010]

Thanks Karl for the advice – I'm a big fan of your work!

I'll see if I can separate the carving from the backing board. I attached it with two-sided carpet tape as you mentioned. With a little repetition I have gotten a bit faster and more relaxed. As a novice Carver, it takes me a long time because I don't know the techniques/tools I should be using and I kinda have to rediscover them along the way. What's working better for me is outlining the leaves with a gouge and then using a small veining tool working from the top of the carving, down to the side/bottom to begin to define the individual leaves. Getting the appropriate relative height/layering of the individual leads is still kind of slow going, but at least I have a general idea of what to do.

Best regards, Mike