Project Pics: Shaker Blanket Chest

[Jeff Craven]

I started this back in october and I've still got a ways to go, but I've made some good progress. I started with a pile of rough cherry. This board will become the front of the chest. The boards for the sides are standing upright on the bench.

http://img229.imageshack.us/img229/1486/img8289ct2.jpg

I got a new toy, but no dust collection, so I covered the patio in wood chips.

http://img229.imageshack.us/img229/4682/img8294vq7.jpg

The first dovetail joint completed.

http://img229.imageshack.us/img229/3691/img8305ia1.jpg

Laying out the pins from the tails.

http://img229.imageshack.us/img229/5025/img8312at5.jpg

Marking the waste so I saw on the right side of the line.

http://img212.imageshack.us/img212/5479/img8313ke5.jpg

This is how i clamp the boards to my crappy bench.

http://img229.imageshack.us/img229/668/img8309ak1.jpg

In this picture I was fixing some cracks, because I got tired of carefully paring the dovetails and I forced them together with the mallet.

http://img212.imageshack.us/img212/2007/img8315ds6.jpg

[Jeff Craven]

The case is all glued up.

http://img212.imageshack.us/img212/2172/img8316xs5.jpg

This is the rabbet I cut to accept the bottom.

http://img212.imageshack.us/img212/6388/img8320iq9.jpg

http://img259.imageshack.us/img259/4819/img8321hj9.jpg

It took me four months to get this far, so it'll probably take me another three or four to make the top and the plinth. :cool:

[J. Z. Guest]

It took me four months to get this far, so it'll probably take me another three or four to make the top and the plinth. :cool:

Excellent. You're making me feel better about also being slow.

Question: Did you get that nice DeWalt planer after you spent a month hand planing that first board, and decided that is for the birds? :D

Seriously though, it looks quite nice. When something is going to be around for decades or centuries, taking months to build it isn't anything to be ashamed of.

Kind of like the churches in Europe. Who cares (nowadays) that they took 125 years to build? They're still there 1000 years later. ;) Do you think any of our strip mall churches that took one or two years to build are going to be around in a thousand years?

[Bryan Giles]

Jeff, I see you are in my county.. Where did you get your cherry from?

[Jeff Craven]

Question: Did you get that nice DeWalt planer after you spent a month hand planing that first board, and decided that is for the birds? :D
Yep, but I still did all of the jointing by hand. ;) In that first picture I planed off enough to decide where to cut (the chalk marks). Then when the boards were a little smaller it was easier to feed them through the planer.


Jeff, I see you are in my county.. Where did you get your cherry from?
Most of it came from a guy posting on craigslist, and a little came from Dave Spacht's Sawmill near norristown.

[Bryan Giles]

Yep, but I still did all of the jointing by hand. ;) In that first picture I planed off enough to decide where to cut (the chalk marks). Then when the boards were a little smaller it was easier to feed them through the planer.


Most of it came from a guy posting on craigslist, and a little came from Dave Spacht's Sawmill near norristown.


Would that be the guy in Coatesville? I have been planing to make a run his way...

[Dave Verstraete]

Jeff
That is going to be an awesome family heirloom. Make sure that you post pics when it has the finish on it.

[Jeff Craven]

Well, two years later and I'm still not finished, but I have made some progress in the past week or two. This is the plinth:
http://a.imageshack.us/img832/1002/img1272ng.jpg

[glenn bradley]

Moving right along. I really enjoy following others work methods. Keep us posted.

[Mike Cruz]

Jeff, you are Da Man! I love it that A) 2 years later, not only haven't you finished it, but you are still trying to get it done, B) you are keeping the thread alive and keeping us updated (even so I wasn't even on this forum when you started the thread), and C) you are owning up to the fact that it isn't finished yet.

I think most folks would just sulk into the abyss and hope everyone forgot about that project they started but didn't complete. Good for you, and I hope I'm still on this forum when you complete it in another 2 years! :D Please, do keep us posted. Great documentation, BTW. I never have the patience to do that...

[Michael Peet]

Cool looking joint, Jeff. Is that a new bench there in the latest pic?

Mike

[Jeff Craven]

Cool looking joint, Jeff. Is that a new bench there in the latest pic?

Mike
Thanks, I plan to put a bevel on the mitered part of the joint instead of adding a molding to it later. I'll certainly post some pics when I do it.

And yes, that is a new bench. I was working out of my parent's basement in the beginning of this thread. Between working on my new house, fixing an old pickup truck and getting married, I haven't had much time for woodworking, but it is gaining momentum. I picked out the board for the lid, I have some cedar to line the inside, and I ordered custom hand forged hinges that are absolutely perfect for this chest.

Here is my new bench: :D
http://a.imageshack.us/img144/1890/img0856f.jpg

http://a.imageshack.us/img100/6213/img0857l.jpg

[Terry Beadle]

This is definitely a sneaky gloat ! The "you suck" birds are circling for sure.

What a pleasure it must be to use!

Nice chest. I'm watching carefully as I need to make one for a grand daughter.

Please keep posting !

[Jeff Craven]

I'm still not done. :o But I'm getting a lot more motivated.
http://img828.imageshack.us/img828/7829/20110117211050266.jpg

http://img255.imageshack.us/img255/9830/20110117213019680.jpg

[Dave MacArthur]

In this picture I was fixing some cracks, because I got tired of carefully paring the dovetails and I forced them together with the mallet.

Hey I love this thread! And that quote above made me laugh quite a bit, it SO made me empathize with you!

Is this the design from hmm, woodwrights shop? Or maybe Norms? I seem to recall videotaping a similar chest where the sides were all dovetailed and the bottom wrap around plinth had that odd mitered dovetail design on the top?

Great to see you plugging along on it, and I'd love to hear more about that bench, especially if you built it--looks great either way. Keep posting, I'm rooting for ya!

[Ben Arnott]

Looks great so far. The Cherry is beautiful! I'm looking forward to seeing the finished project.

Ben

[Jeff Craven]

Hey I love this thread! And that quote above made me laugh quite a bit, it SO made me empathize with you!

Is this the design from hmm, woodwrights shop? Or maybe Norms? I seem to recall videotaping a similar chest where the sides were all dovetailed and the bottom wrap around plinth had that odd mitered dovetail design on the top?

Great to see you plugging along on it, and I'd love to hear more about that bench, especially if you built it--looks great either way. Keep posting, I'm rooting for ya!
The design isn't anything in particular. I just found a bunch of different versions of shaker chests and choose the features I wanted, then simplified it. I didn't want the complication of building a drawer, so I made it a little shorter than some of the designs. I think the traditional way was to apply a molding between the plinth and base, but I wanted to do the mitered dovetail, because I was comfortable with that.

I did build the bench, it was a class offered by the Philadelphia Furniture Workshop, so it was built in one week, about 50 hours total, alongside 10 other students doing the same thing.

[Jeff Craven]

More progress!
http://img718.imageshack.us/img718/5240/20110119203036184.jpg

[Jeff Craven]

And now glued up the base. Now matter how many clamps I own, I will always use them all.
http://img202.imageshack.us/img202/4412/20110119215341511.jpg

[Donny Lawson]

Looks like a new "Maple" top to me. I would love to have some maple like that for me a nice bench. Also, I wish I could make dovetails like that too. That's something I can never figure out.
Donny

[Jeff Craven]

http://img15.imageshack.us/img15/5495/20110121072239696.jpg

[Martin Shupe]

Nice work! I have a partially finished chest that needs a base. I have a couple of questions....

1) I don't see a rabbet on the inside of your base, so what supports the chest?

2) It looks like you cut the base dovetails first, then cut the curves on a bandsaw? How did you keep the straight parts straight?

3) Are you going to glue up the base, and the route the cove?

4) How will you attach the base to the blanket chest?

Sorry I have so many questions, but you look like you know more about this than I do.

Thanks!

[Jeff Craven]

I've never done this before, so I am improvising. My plan was to glue up the base, then bevel the top edge. Then I'll glue the base to the case, and add corner blocks on the inside for more support.

[Mark Blatter]

Waiting to see how you do the lid. I built three similar (one for each daughter) and each one had design changes as I learned and progressed. I didn't like the idea of a base as I thought it was more of a dust catcher, but I still wonder if that was the right way to go.

Do you plan on putting a lock on it? How about a shelf on the inside near the top?

Waiting with anticipation for the final pics.

[Jeff Craven]

Embarrasing thread bump. :o It still isn't finished. I got a little distracted the past few years. I just cut the lid, profiled the edges and started fitting the hinges.

http://imagizer.imageshack.us/v2/800x600q90/854/dyk6.jpg

http://imagizer.imageshack.us/v2/800x600q90/513/ikdj.jpg

http://imagizer.imageshack.us/v2/800x600q90/823/7s1q.jpg

[Will Boulware]

Looking good! Keep it up! If it makes you feel better, it took me 18 months to build a workbench, so you're among friends here! :D

[Mike Cruz]

Jeff, this is classic! Glad you not only got back to the project, but that you weren't TOO ashamed that you wouldn't keep the thread alive. Good for you. The chest is looking good. Looking forward to the completed pics. Of course, that'll be in 2017 or so, but I'm still looking forward to them! :D

[Rick Moyer]

October 2007 til now. You're making me feel better about my procrastination woodworking. It "only" took me two or three years to finally getting around to completing the clock I made. Thanks for keeping us up to date. Looks good and you'll be happy with it whenever you get it completed.

[Jeff Craven]

I made a little more progress, attached the lid and made the bottom out of cedar.

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[Scott M Perry]

Man - them's​ some hinges! Great project - enjoying the thread.

[brad jansen]

Beautiful work!