Pirate Chest Build- part 3

[Mike Allen1010]

Earlier parts of this build are described in previous posts.

I used Holly stringing inlay in a few different places on this Walnut chest. Cutting the grooves of the inlay is fairly straightforward, however thicknessing the stringing to fit that groove has always been a challenge for me; too thick and it doesn’t go into the groove, too thin and you leave unsightly gaps.

One solution is to thickness the stringing in a wedge shape to fit the groove tightly. Here’s a picture me trying to do that with a LV thickness scraper and a jig told the stringing.

https://farm5.staticflickr.com/4563/38653701716_de18c6a7e1_z.jpg (https://flic.kr/p/21TGjR3)1 (https://flic.kr/p/21TGjR3) by Mike Allen (https://www.flickr.com/photos/157847244@N02/), on Flickr

Regrettably, I forgot to scrape the stringing into a wedge shape on this project so here’s some pictures of trying to cram stringing into groove.

https://farm5.staticflickr.com/4565/38653701596_96f16bc3c5_z.jpg (https://flic.kr/p/21TGjNY)2.5 - Copy (https://flic.kr/p/21TGjNY) by Mike Allen (https://www.flickr.com/photos/157847244@N02/), on Flickr

https://farm5.staticflickr.com/4569/38653701536_510e3feef3_z.jpg (https://flic.kr/p/21TGjMW)2 (https://flic.kr/p/21TGjMW) by Mike Allen (https://www.flickr.com/photos/157847244@N02/), on Flickr

Construction of the chest is weird. Here is the side of the chest showing the dovetails connecting top and bottom rails and M&T’s for the Stiles. Straightforward chest construction/joinery is probably a way better choice – I’ve tried this construction couple times before and it’s a big challenge to get baseline of the top/bottom rails dovetails to line up with M&T's joints for sides so that you get a consistent reveal of the bottom rail proud of the frame members.

https://farm5.staticflickr.com/4570/38709350341_0a62f559a2_z.jpg (https://flic.kr/p/21YBxf6)3.5 (https://flic.kr/p/21YBxf6) by Mike Allen (https://www.flickr.com/photos/157847244@N02/), on Flickr


Couple pictures of assembly and cleanup.

https://farm5.staticflickr.com/4555/37991944944_9b7853b95d_z.jpg (https://flic.kr/p/ZTdDBw)4 (https://flic.kr/p/ZTdDBw) by Mike Allen (https://www.flickr.com/photos/157847244@N02/), on Flickr

https://farm5.staticflickr.com/4523/38653701196_e557ccd4cb_z.jpg (https://flic.kr/p/21TGjG5)5 (https://flic.kr/p/21TGjG5) by Mike Allen (https://www.flickr.com/photos/157847244@N02/), on Flickr

[Mike Allen1010]

Here’s some pictures of the ebony handle for the chest top. A simple compound curved shape. It was hard for me to get something symmetrical. Given the density of the wood, sanding through subsequent grades was essential. In this picture I’ve applied an initial coat of oil/varnish mix to the chest, which helps bring out the figure. Ultimately all pad on some shellac as a surface coat.

https://farm5.staticflickr.com/4555/38653701116_fae24ebe5b_z.jpg (https://flic.kr/p/21TGjEG)6 (https://flic.kr/p/21TGjEG) by Mike Allen (https://www.flickr.com/photos/157847244@N02/), on Flickr


https://farm5.staticflickr.com/4555/37991940964_1e8cb44818_z.jpg (https://flic.kr/p/ZTdCqU)7 (https://flic.kr/p/ZTdCqU) by Mike Allen (https://www.flickr.com/photos/157847244@N02/), on Flickr


https://farm5.staticflickr.com/4586/38653700906_a1a08102c7_z.jpg (https://flic.kr/p/21TGjB5)8 (https://flic.kr/p/21TGjB5) by Mike Allen (https://www.flickr.com/photos/157847244@N02/), on Flickr

https://farm5.staticflickr.com/4534/38653700686_d726d50159_z.jpg (https://flic.kr/p/21TGjxh)9 (https://flic.kr/p/21TGjxh) by Mike Allen (https://www.flickr.com/photos/157847244@N02/), on Flickr

Next part of the project is handles for the sides of the chest. I’m not much of a Carver but I thought I would try to pattern these handles after the “Concave Newport Shell” design in Tony Kubalak’’s excellent book “Carving 18th-Century American Furniture Elements”. I enjoy building furniture a lot more than carving. That said, I highly recommend Tony’s book; it’s the nuts and bolts of some of the most fundamental elements of carving you might be interested in adding to your projects.

https://farm5.staticflickr.com/4576/38653700656_a9f969932f_z.jpg (https://flic.kr/p/21TGjwL)10 (https://flic.kr/p/21TGjwL) by Mike Allen (https://www.flickr.com/photos/157847244@N02/), on Flickr


Here’s initial layout and setting in primary dimensions.

https://farm5.staticflickr.com/4515/37991943724_dcc378995e_z.jpg (https://flic.kr/p/ZTdDfu)14 (https://flic.kr/p/ZTdDfu) by Mike Allen (https://www.flickr.com/photos/157847244@N02/), on Flickr


It’s probably not helpful for me to talk about carving techniques because there are many more expert examples readily available. As a brief summary, dividing the lobes into equal dimensions across the perimeter was harder than it seemed – I used dividers. When I rounded over the outer perimeter of the shell, realized should’ve used a thinner blank. I sawed off the central “button” so that it’s about a quarter-inch above the lower surface. A “V” tools outlined the initial radial divisions.

https://farm5.staticflickr.com/4516/37991940764_7d33ab12cb_z.jpg (https://flic.kr/p/ZTdCns)17 (https://flic.kr/p/ZTdCns) by Mike Allen (https://www.flickr.com/photos/157847244@N02/), on Flickr

https://farm5.staticflickr.com/4579/37991943324_083f168814_z.jpg (https://flic.kr/p/ZTdD8A)19 (https://flic.kr/p/ZTdD8A) by Mike Allen (https://www.flickr.com/photos/157847244@N02/), on Flickr

https://farm5.staticflickr.com/4519/37991943144_7302f814df_z.jpg (https://flic.kr/p/ZTdD5u)20 (https://flic.kr/p/ZTdD5u) by Mike Allen (https://www.flickr.com/photos/157847244@N02/), on Flickr

Here’s some final pictures with the central element completed.

https://farm5.staticflickr.com/4547/26933667389_0f174a7737_z.jpg (https://flic.kr/p/H335XF)22 (https://flic.kr/p/H335XF) by Mike Allen (https://www.flickr.com/photos/157847244@N02/), on Flickr

https://farm5.staticflickr.com/4579/38709351881_e11cb81e64_z.jpg (https://flic.kr/p/21YBxGD)23 (https://flic.kr/p/21YBxGD) by Mike Allen (https://www.flickr.com/photos/157847244@N02/), on Flickr

[Mike Allen1010]

Re-sawing aromatics Cedar to surface the plywood bottom of the chest. Because my bandsaw is currently not working I had to re-saw thickness by hand. I’m sure this is a situation few of my friends have to confront; no one wants to re-saw by hand – if necessary I recommend a coarse pitch 4 – 5 PPI rip saw you can count on.

https://farm5.staticflickr.com/4564/37991942064_6b32e17c92_z.jpg (https://flic.kr/p/ZTdCKS)25 (https://flic.kr/p/ZTdCKS) by Mike Allen (https://www.flickr.com/photos/157847244@N02/), on Flickr

https://farm5.staticflickr.com/4576/38709350901_7889cb6aa6_z.jpg (https://flic.kr/p/21YBxpK)26 (https://flic.kr/p/21YBxpK) by Mike Allen (https://www.flickr.com/photos/157847244@N02/), on Flickr

https://farm5.staticflickr.com/4527/38709350691_0c73db4c25_z.jpg (https://flic.kr/p/21YBxm8)27 (https://flic.kr/p/21YBxm8) by Mike Allen (https://www.flickr.com/photos/157847244@N02/), on Flickr

https://farm5.staticflickr.com/4578/38709349761_9fc0632696_z.jpg (https://flic.kr/p/21YBx56)28 (https://flic.kr/p/21YBx56) by Mike Allen (https://www.flickr.com/photos/157847244@N02/), on Flickr



The last part of the build will be making sliding trays for the interior of the chest and carving a different type of shell to be applied to the front of the chest and final fishing with shellac. Thanks for looking.
All the best, Mike

[Christopher Charles]

Looks great Mike, thanks for sharing. I really like the ebony pull and your inlay on the lid came out great!

Best,
Chris

[Travis Porter]

WOW! Love all the detailed pics!

[Jim Koepke]

Great work Mike. If you do not show people your "difficult" spots, they likely will never notice them.

jtk

[Mike Allen1010]

Thanks guys – I really do appreciate the feedback.


JK, – the older I get the more I've come to the position that everyone makes mistakes; the real skill is in hiding them!


Cheers, Mike

[Jim Koepke]

Thanks guys – I really do appreciate the feedback.


JK, – the older I get the more I've come to the position that everyone makes mistakes; the real skill is in hiding them!


Cheers, Mike

Somewhere in my readings this line crossed my path, "the difference between an amateur and a master is how they handle their mistakes."

Learning to hide a feature be it intended or accidental is truly a skill beyond most neophytes.

jtk