Cherry Ceder Chest - Wedding Present

[Gene E Miller]

Greetings & Salutations,

I made this last summer for my nephew as a wedding
present.

Was the very first major piece I made since setting
up my shop.

Now it seems I have to build 2 more just like it as my
granddaugher is graduating high school this year and
I got luck and when my insurance agent was here
last fall I still had the original sitting in the dining room
and he has a daughter in Med school and ordered one.

So what I got from him just about covers the 2 that I built
for presents. :D

86008

86009

86010

In between all that I am working on 2 clocks, 2 weather stations
a redwood porch swing and about 4 cutting boards.

Isn't life grand.

Gene

[Ken Genovese]

Gene,
Great looking chest. I had the same thing happen to me. I built one for my grand daughter and then her sister wanted one for her birthday. I do like the lock you installed. Can you shed some light one which one you used?
Thanks,
Ken

[Joe Little]

Great job Gene. That is beautiful. I am a newbie and have sort of committed to building 2 hope chests for 2 daughters getting married in 08. I am encouraged by your work. Did you use a set of plans?

[Gene E Miller]

Gene,
Great looking chest. I had the same thing happen to me. I built one for my grand daughter and then her sister wanted one for her birthday. I do like the lock you installed. Can you shed some light one which one you used?
Thanks,
Ken

Hi Ken,

I used a full mortise chest lock that I got from Rockler
and the item number is 28241.

I mortised the first one by hand but I am going to make
a jig to do these two.

I wanted on in antique brass but after looking everywhere
the only thing I could find was that one in polished brass but
I got an escutcheon to match the pulls and it worked out
pretty good.

Gene

[Gene E Miller]

Great job Gene. That is beautiful. I am a newbie and have sort of committed to building 2 hope chests for 2 daughters getting married in 08. I am encouraged by your work. Did you use a set of plans?


I got the plans from Plans Now and I think they were originally
a plan from the Woodsmith Magazine. I did some modifications
in that the original plan called for mitered corners for the
riser base but at the time I did not have a very good miter
fence for my TS and so I decided to make the corners with
dovetail joints which matched the drawers and main box.

The two I am doing now I have modified to the extent that I am
making the entire chest 2" bigger in all directions with the exception
of the drawer depth. I also kept the two smaller drawers the original
size and just added the extra 2" to the width of the center drawer.

Gene

[John Timberlake]

Great job. They are all going to love the gifts for many years.

[Paul O'Halloran]

Gene
I uded the same plan & made the same one for three grandaughters . I also made them a couple of inches larger, then I cut the 2 outside drawers short & put secret drawers behind them that are only accessible by removing the centre drawer, I also carved their full name & birth date on the inside of the lid.
http://pohallor.fp.execulink.com/chest.jpg
paul

[alex grams]

Gene,
That is a nice piece, i especially like the pieces of cherry you used for the top, those are nice boards, and well matched.

[Grant Davis]

Gene,
That is one gorgeous piece.

[Gene E Miller]

Gene
I uded the same plan & made the same one for three grandaughters . I also made them a couple of inches larger, then I cut the 2 outside drawers short & put secret drawers behind them that are only accessible by removing the centre drawer, I also carved their full name & birth date on the inside of the lid.
http://pohallor.fp.execulink.com/chest.jpg
paul


Nice chest Paul.

I see that you put some lid supports on and I was wondering
what you used since I had some questions as to what would
work with the lip moldings that the plans called for.

It would of been nice to be able to order the hardware kit that
was originally with the plans but it is no longer carried by
woodsmith.

Gene

[JohnT Fitzgerald]

Those are beautiful pieces. I'm curious why you are going for 2" bigger in all directions (and why not 3", or 4"...)

[Gene E Miller]

Those are beautiful pieces. I'm curious why you are going for 2" bigger in all directions (and why not 3", or 4"...)

Hi John,

I got to comparing with most conventional store bought cedar chests and if I were to go that much bigger then the over all dimensions would be larger than most cedar chests.

I also considered that if I were to make the box much taller then I would not be able to cut the dovetails on my akeda dovetail jig.

Just making the whole thing 2" larger makes for a pretty good size chests. It will be 46" long x 21" deep and 22" high.

Gene

[Sam Yerardi]

Gene,

Beautiful work!

[Dave Verstraete]

Gene
Great looking chest. she will treasure it for a lifetime.

[JohnT Fitzgerald]

makes perfect sense - I didn't know if I missed out on some 'trick of the trade' to optimize space or lumber used or something.

[JohnT Fitzgerald]

Paul - what did you use for a finish?

it's beautiful.

[Gene E Miller]

Paul - what did you use for a finish?

it's beautiful.


I am not sure what Paul used for his finish but I used the 2 part
finish that has Sam Maloof's name on it from Rockler.

The first part is tung oil and Poly that is applied and then wiped
off. Then let it dry for 24 hours and steel wool with 0000 then
apply again. I put 5 coats of that on then 3 coats of the finish
which is tung oil and wax mixture.

On these next 2 I am going to use what David Marks uses
on Wood Works. I also got it from Rockler.

It is Seal-A-Cell clear and Arm-R-Seal Gloss can only wait to see
the out come.

Gene

[JohnT Fitzgerald]

I think I either used the wrong name or replied to the wrong post. LOL.

Thanks for the info - I really need to learn more about finishes....

[Paul O'Halloran]

Gene
I got the hardware from Lee Valley
http://www.leevalley.com/home/Search.aspx?c=1&action=n
I used Piano hinges on the lids.
John T. Why 2" / I built previous one for a neice & it looked small So I added 2" to the next three It also gave me more room to work in the hidden drawers. We both picked 2" does that mean that great minds think alike.
John T. the 1st coat of finish was BLT and thinners wiped on followed by several coats of high gloss wipe on varnish. The wipe on varnish was made by mixing the varnish with thinners ( 50/50 mix) It takes several thin coats
Paul
http://paul.ohalloran.ca (http://paul.ohalloran.ca/)

[Ron Jones near Indy]

Very nice chest Gene. Sure to be in the family for generations. Thanks for sharing!

[Bill Wyko]

Absolutly Beautiful!!!!:d

[Gene E Miller]

Very nice chest Gene. Sure to be in the family for generations. Thanks for sharing!

Thanks Ron,

BTW my granddaughter lives in Fortville and I grew up in Indy and
graduated HS there and didnt leave until I was over 50.

I have to admit I don't miss the Indy weather much but do miss
some of the metro stuff as I now live in a rual area just outside a
small town that is only 15,000 population.

I will be bringing the cedar chest for my grandaughter up there the
end of May.