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Thread: Pair of Quarter Sawn White Oak Greene & Greene Inspired Blanket Chests

  1. #16
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    Quote Originally Posted by David Eisenhauer View Post
    "My name is Mike and I am a handsaw addict". Thanks for the chamfering tip (pre tail cutting) Mike. For your square plugs, what will the finish bring your QSWO to? I don't always care as much for a strong contrasting feature (like plugs), but do like a slightly darker complimentary hue to go with the carcase coloring. From here, the middle plug blanks (Bubinga?) look ok. Who knows where the purple heart will settle in and the cocobolo I've used (while very pretty) ended up pretty dark. Hard to say know in my opinion. Glad to see that you are off and running on another build. I am particularly interested in this project because I strongly considered that extended-end dovetail look for a blanket chest i did last year. I did not use it, but it has stuck in my brain since then.
    David, thanks for your interest – hopefully this build thread will help you decide if you want to build a similar project. One unique thing about the Greene Greene "extended finger joint" design is that cleaning up glue squeeze out is a real headache as compared to dovetails when you can simply plane the whole side of the carcass clean. Cleaning up the squeeze out required quite a bit of time with chisels/sandpaper etc. guess I won't know if I succeeded until I put on the finish.

    Using Matching/contrasting woods in a project is always a headache for me as "design" questions like this are absolutely not my strength. That's why I prefer copying existing designs were somebody else already made the decision.

    The original design was Walnut with ebony pegs which IMHO, looks great. That was my first version of this chest and probably one of the first things I made that the boss allowed in the house. I made this in QSWO before and I thought the reddish tint of cocobolo/but bingo/Purple Heart look a little better than the black ebony. Again the boss decided cocobolo was way to go. I've had the same experience – cocobolo darkens pretty significantly over time and sort of loses the reddish hue. I'm thinking about maybe putting on a protective coat of shellac over just the plugs before finishing the rest of the chest, in an effort to try and retains much of the reddish color as I can.

    Thanks for looking, Mike

  2. #17
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    Quote Originally Posted by Jim Matthews View Post
    Nice illustration of the overlooked, essential skills in making panels. Aren't the G&G pegs traditionally made of Ebony?

    I would suggest the material which can take "pillow" sculpting easily and stain darkest.

    Personally, I like the lightest color with the Oak as shown.
    (Unstained)

    https://youtu.be/HLopA6NF7dk
    Jim,

    Thanks a lot for providing the link to William Ng's video describing his method for making the "pillowed" plugs. I wish I would've seen this before I made mine – nice to be able to substitute electrons for little bit of elbow grease!

    After ripping plug stock to correct dimensions, I glue down 3 grit sandpaper: 220, 400 and 600. I just drag the edges over the grits of sandpaper respectively and then buff on a cotton buffing pad in the drill press with a little bit of abrasive grit. End result is my plugs have more of a pronounced chamfer around the edges, rather than a rounded "pillow" look. I'm okay with that – the chamfered plugs sort of mimic the chamfered edges of the finger joints. I'm gonna call that happy accident – "carefully thought-out design choice"!

    Best, Mike

  3. #18
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    Quote Originally Posted by Brian Hale View Post
    Hey Mike

    This is a Toy Chest i recently finished and is heading for Texas this Sunday. For the plugs i used mahogany stained with Minwax red mahogany. The end grain really soaks up the stain and they come out dark. In general i prefer softer woods for plugs like this, a slight taper with a chisel and they conform well with the hole.

    Attachment 416010

    Very nice Brian – looks beautiful! Thanks for sharing the pics

  4. #19
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    Quote Originally Posted by Andrew Hughes View Post
    White oak is such a nice wood to work with. I just love the smell.
    This is a nice pic you captured Mike.
    Andrew great to hear from you – thanks for the feedback.

    Funny you should mention the smell of white oak, when Sherrie walked in the shop the other day she said the same thing – "most great in here – where did you move all your running shoes?"

    This quarter sawn white oak has been a challenge to plane without tearout. Particularly for pieces with reversing grain around where branches were growing etc. I ended up getting a lot of use out of the card scraper, but still couldn't completely erase some of the tearout. I'm hoping with enough rubbed out shellac/grain filling no one will notice.

    Best, Mike

  5. #20
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    Quote Originally Posted by Christopher Charles View Post
    Hi Mike,

    Congratulations on having fledged all the chicks from the nest! My first (of two) flew last month!

    Great to see another build thread from you. I like the panel jig-can you post a picture or two without the panels? The QSWO panel look fabulous. Do you plan to go full traditional with an ammonia fume? (pretty easy actually-I know you're such a fan of finishing, LOL).

    And, I must say that it is a relief to see a new bandsaw in your shop. Here's a potential upgrade for when you win the lotto:

    https://www.theequipmenthub.com/buy-...ical-band-saw/
    Chris,

    I have to confess having the Boys out of the house is been a bit of an adjustment – pretty quiet around here now, which I guess just makes it that much better when they visit.

    I'll try and take/post pictures of the panel marking jig; I made 2 large and small for different size jobs – both work pretty well.

    I couldn't possibly imagine trying to do the traditional ammonia fume finish – rather have needles in my eye! I'll probably go with my usual – oil/varnish mix followed by French polish shellac and paste wax. Knowing my nephew, probably not a practical choice for durability, but at least it will look good when he picks it up (I hope).

    Many thanks to our fellow Creeker Mike K. for the 14" Gizzly bandsaw in my shop. It's a huge upgrade from the 30-year-old Delta knockoff I had previously that I was constantly repairing/nursing/tweaking to try and get a straight cut. Mike K. You're the best!

    OMG the 36 inch Yates bandsaw in your link is an absolute monster! Although I'd like to have something bigger/more powerful. Something like the Yates is way out of my league – although I guess I can dream!

    Cheers, Mike

  6. #21
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    >I'll probably go with my usual – oil/varnish mix followed by French polish shellac and paste wax.

    Do you pre-seal with a shellac layer first? This sounds similar to what I've been gravitating towards: TT Varnish/oil then shellac/alchohol mix on top. Then paste wax over that.

  7. #22
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    Matt, finishing is my least favorite part of woodworking. My experience is lots of opportunity for screw up and little chance of making the project appreciably better. Please take my coments re: finishing with huge grain of salt.


    My go to finish is Watco oil/varnishask first. I think sanding the Watco with 600 grit sandpaper helps a little bit with filing grain , particularly in open grain woods like Oak. Also I think it helps bring out the figure.

    After that I pad on shellac (I strongly prefer fresh made from blonde flakes). For me, shellac allows me to quickly build a a finished surface with depth.Again I’ No expert- I’ve just learned to make this finish work for me over time. Please know YMMV.

    Best, Mike

  8. #23
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    Quote Originally Posted by Mike Allen1010 View Post

    Design calls for contrasting, ornamental square plugs aligned with carcass joinery. In the past, making these chests out of walnut ebony was a no-brainer choice consistent with original design. For QSWO I’m considering Purple Heart, Bubinga and Cocobolo. I very much appreciate any advice/suggestions about which you think looks best?



    Thanks for looking.

    All the best, Mike
    I use rosewood or walnut. I prefer rosewood as shown below.

    AA264D0D-DABB-4523-BDE8-600E7CD8B4DB.jpeg
    Sharp solves all manner of problems.

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