This is a build thread for a pair of quarter sawn white oak, Greene & Greene inspired blanket chests that are roughly 35” long x 16” tall x 14” deep. I built this design a couple times before in a larger size, typically Walnut with ebony pegs for accent, which is consistent with the original design.

I’m using QSWO for these pair of chests because I really enjoy the ray fleck figure and I’m intentionally making these smaller/lighter to be more appropriate for smaller spaces. One is a gift for my twentysomething nephew and the other will be a grand experiment in trying to sell handmade furniture. I fully recognize the arrogance of the idea someone would pay money for furniture I made which reeks of hubris and likely disappointment. That said, I don’t really have any other options for my woodworking addiction – my wife and I’ve just become empty-nesters and are looking to downsize. We have way more furniture than we need and I’ve already made full sets of furniture for both our boys. Bottom line is if I want to keep making furniture I gotta find something to do with it – hence my “intention” to sell the 2nd chest, which realistically means are probably end up sitting in the garage until my wife gives it away. Space is currently occupied by coffee table I made for our youngest 6 months ago that he doesn’t have room for in his tiny apartment

Enough digression - Back to the fun build stuff:

Here’s a picture of the lumber layout in the shop. My intention is to use a single board to “wrap” the grain from the left side of the carcass across the front to the right side and then re-saw it so I can have a consistent, book matched grain pattern across the 3 show surfaces.





For me this initial lumber selection/laying out process is one of the key things that differentiates handmade furniture from commercial. I typically end up changing my mind multiple times in the layout process so easily re-erasable chock is writing instrument of choice.



Since I built this design a couple times before plans are super minimal. I like to attach the cut list with blue tape wherever is most visible in the shop during the stock breakdown process. My only stationary power tool is a bandsaw so rough dimensioning is done with hand saws at the saw bench. For me, saw bench is one of the most used fixtures in the shop.




After crosscutting to rough dimensions, I had to rip the stock to accommodate the 5 ½ inch resaw depth of my 14 inch bandsaw, resaw to ½” thickness and glue up panels. When I win the lotto/Rob a bank my first purchase will be the biggest, most powerful bandsaw I can find. To hold the work when jointing adjoining edges in panels to be glued up, I like to use either bird’s mouth clamping jig on bench shop or my twin screw face vice.





Here’s a picture of the re-sawn carcass stock for left side, front, right side laid out prior to glue up to ensure I’ve got all the pieces in the right place. Yes, the reason I go through this step is I’ve definitely screwed this up before and ended up with grain that doesn’t match across adjacent show surfaces.



This is a shop made panel glue up jig out of MDF and aluminum angle iron that I use all the time. My experience is time invested in gluing up panels so there flat with Tite joints always pays off and less time spent surfacing.