Warning! Stupidly long post - skimming advised.
Details
I started by pulling out the measuring tape and coming up with some dimensions for the chest. Then it was a matter of looking at images of chests to see what kind of design struck my fancy. I ended up liking a couple rather different designs - one that was heavily carved and another with a raised-panel design with contrasting woods. I sort of preferred the carved version but I was a bit leery about the amount of work it would take so I did a check and concluded that it was "lots" and that I'd get pretty bored by the time I was done. Based on those conclusions I switched the other choice, which is what the plans below represent.
The raised panel chest
Wrong grain but approximately the right colors
Contents:
• The Problem
• Carving Test
• Rail Construction
• Chest Back
• Top Cover
• Legs
• Panels
• Panel Cutting Jig
• Wood Comparison
• Test Assembly
• Finishing and Assembly
The Problem
The bag collection (about half missing)
We have a fair number of reusable grocery bags from a variety of stores. There are more than you might expect as Sue buys groceries for one or two other people and the bags don't always come back in a timely manner so we need enough to maintain a minimum stocking level.
The bags are just piled in an unused corner of the living room which is also convenient to the front door. This way when you are walking out the door and realize you forgot to take bags, you can just reach around for them without worrying about footwear.
The bags are just piled in an unused corner of the living room which is also convenient to the front door. This way when you are walking out the door and realize you forgot to take bags, you can just reach around for them without worrying about footwear.
After coming up with some rather arbitrary dimensions, I thought it prudent to whip up something in the correct size to better judge how it would fit. Being cheapskates forward thinking, we had saved the box from a water heater and that provided the ideal raw material for the mock-up.
Cutting up some thick cardboard
Taping it into a chest-like shape
That looks better already
So that looked fine for size; not too intrusive and it should have enough capacity (after a bit of specialty bag thinning). It should also be an OK height to sit on, should the need arise.
So now I just need to, like, make it.
So now I just need to, like, make it.
Carving Test
As mentioned in the detail section, my first preference was a carved design for the chest. I kind of enjoy carving and it would sidestep the more-complex joinery typically seen on other chest designs (and about which I wasn't too enthusiastic). However, I was leery about the amount of work involved and thought it might be prudent to get a better feel for that before committing to the carved version.
A carved version of the chest
This is a render of what I would be aiming for. The construction could be pretty simple but there were three large panels to heavily carve and sand.
I've done carvings like this before on a smaller scale so I had an idea how much effort it would be but I thought I'd better do a closer-to-realistic check.
I've done carvings like this before on a smaller scale so I had an idea how much effort it would be but I thought I'd better do a closer-to-realistic check.
Well, if I contemplating carving 5 or 6 square feet of panel, it should be comparatively trivial to carve a test board of half a square foot or so. I had been thinking of Cherry for the chest so I grabbed a Cherry scrap, milled it to the correct 3/4" thickness and got to carving.
Marking the pattern
Chiselling out the holes
Carving the weave
The test board, as done as it will get
Well, it was certainly doable and in fact my technique and efficiency improved even over the limited section seen here. But chopping through 3/4" of hardwood takes a fair amount of effort and time. I think I would like the finished look but after the first dozen holes, things get pretty repetitious and I decided not to subject myself of a month or two or three of that. And that's not even considering the amount of sanding required to prevent it looking like it was carved with a hammer and chisel.
So I'll chalk that one up to "nice, but might as well do something I'm going to enjoy".
So then, on to that.
So I'll chalk that one up to "nice, but might as well do something I'm going to enjoy".
So then, on to that.
Fallback Plan - Raised Panel Chest
This was the other design that I thought looked reasonable. It was modified from a something a bit more curved but I hoped to keep the general look of the simple raised panels and the contrasting wood tones.
Exploded view
The chest is composed of twenty-odd pieces.
It incorporates mortise-and-tenon joinery which I had been hoping to avoid but there were still hundreds of chiselled holes glaring malevolently at me from the alternative so I forged ahead.
It incorporates mortise-and-tenon joinery which I had been hoping to avoid but there were still hundreds of chiselled holes glaring malevolently at me from the alternative so I forged ahead.
Slotted rails
Raised panel designs usually have the panel "floating" to prevent seasonal expansion of the differently-oriented wood pieces from causing cracking problems. The panel has a narrow edge that fits into slots in a frame composed of horizontal rails and vertical stiles.
Like that
The center of the panel is thicker or "raised" over the thin edges, giving the style its name.
Rail Construction
I kicked off chest construction by building the rails. There are six short rails for the sides and three longer ones for the front.
The rails alone
All the rails are unique although the left-side rails are mirror images of those on the right.
It will be a fine challenge for me to get all the slots and cutouts on the correct sides and edges for all the different rails and not screw up. "Measure six to eight times, cut once!"
It will be a fine challenge for me to get all the slots and cutouts on the correct sides and edges for all the different rails and not screw up. "Measure six to eight times, cut once!"
Sapele and Koto planks fresh from the Windsor
The frame of the example chest used Sapele (sah-PEE-lee), a mahogany-like wood from Africa along with Quartercut Oak panels. I was able to find Sapele locally but not the proper cut of Oak so I browsed around for a substitute and ended up with Koto, a pale yellow-toned wood from West Africa. I hadn't actually heard of it before but it had an intricate grain and the color was a nice contrast to the Sapele.
The Koto was set aside for later as the Sapele would be used for the rails. The first step was to make blanks using my standard procedure;
Straightening the first edge
Cutting to approximate width
Flattening a face
Cutting to exact width
Blanks done for the short rails
Shorter pieces are always easier and I made those first. These are the proper dimensions but will need tenons, slots and reliefs cut into them.
I decided to cut the mortises using the band saw. The cuts leave a fairly rough surface but that may actually be an advantage for a glued joint.
Cutting the tenons
Removing scrap
Trimming a long rail
The chest also needed the longer front rails and they were made using the same procedure as the short ones.
In this shot one of the rails is being trimmed to final width. The cut edge will get a single pass over the jointer to smooth off the roughness from the band saw blade and then the rail will have tenons cut like their shorter siblings.
In this shot one of the rails is being trimmed to final width. The cut edge will get a single pass over the jointer to smooth off the roughness from the band saw blade and then the rail will have tenons cut like their shorter siblings.
All rails with tenons cut
That's all the rails made, with tenons formed.
Rounding tenons
The legs would have round-ended mortises due to being cut with a router while the tenons were square due to being cut with the band saw. It would be the classic square(ended) peg in a round(ended) hole; something was going to have to give.
Conflict!
I decided it was easier to round the tenons than to square the mortise holes and a bit of chisel work made that happen.
Routing slots
The main feature of the rails are the 3/16"-wide slots to hold the panels. These were cut on the router table with successively-deeper cuts up to the final 0.406" depth.
Bottom rail end profile
As this profile shows, the bottom rail also had a 1/8"-deep relief into which the chest floor would embed. That was likewise routed in.
All the rails completed
And that's all the rails, complete.
Chest Back
The back of the chest is mostly just a flat panel. For stability it would be made as a laminated part so that it had a similar expansion/contraction characteristic as the legs to which it was attached.
The - very plain - back
The back would use the same Sapele as the rest of the chest but just as a veneer over a stable plywood core. It also got the same bottom notch for the floor as the lower rails.
Cutting plys
A couple planks were squared and flattened and then each was cut into three plys.
Planing plys
Those went through the planer to clean up the cut sides and get them all to a consistent thickness of about 0.12"
A little stack of completed plys
And that resulted in a little pile of plys, ready for lamination.
Cutting the core plywood
The core was to be 1/2" Birch plywood and here I'm cutting it up, a bit oversized.
Taping together one side's plys
After arranging the plys for the best-looking grain combination, I ensured that the joints went together without gaps and then added tape to hold them tight for when the glue came into the picture.
Spreading glue onto plys
Despite doing this before and therefore theoretically knowing better, I made a couple of blunders in the glue-up. To wit;
1. Using regular wood glue. The moisture in the glue can warp the wood, potentially resulting in a warped panel when it is all dry, and
2. As this photo shows, adding the glue directly to the plys where it has more time to work its warpy evil.
The plys each had over a quarter-inch of cupping by the time I mated them to the core. Fortunately most of it was clamped flat and the rest I was able to sand out.
1. Using regular wood glue. The moisture in the glue can warp the wood, potentially resulting in a warped panel when it is all dry, and
2. As this photo shows, adding the glue directly to the plys where it has more time to work its warpy evil.
The plys each had over a quarter-inch of cupping by the time I mated them to the core. Fortunately most of it was clamped flat and the rest I was able to sand out.
Spreading glue onto core
After that warped layer of plys was added to the core, the combination was flipped over to do the other side.
By this time I had realized the folly of my ways and while it was too late to do anything about the glue type, at least for this side I could add the glue to the core instead of the plys.
By this time I had realized the folly of my ways and while it was too late to do anything about the glue type, at least for this side I could add the glue to the core instead of the plys.
Adding some mats & Melamine
I used a piece of 5/8" Melamine on top to distribute clamping pressure. To account for imperfect flatness, I added a piece of carpet and a floor mat on either side of the wood.
Clamping with long cauls across the whole table
Then the whole stack was clamped using long cauls to pull the Melamine down towards the table.
This sort of worked, but you won't find me recommending the floor-covering-&-long-cauls technique to anyone.
This sort of worked, but you won't find me recommending the floor-covering-&-long-cauls technique to anyone.
The post-gluing panel
Despite the, umm, unconventional clamping technique, it worked not too badly. This shot shows the resulting panel.
Trimming to size
The back piece was made a bit oversized so it could be accurately trimmed to the final size, and here I'm accurately trimming it to the final size.
Clamping on some edge trim
Of course the edges reveal the three layers - Sapele-plywood-Sapele - so the top and bottom needed to be capped so they looked like solid wood. The sides are hidden by butting up to the legs so are fine as they are.
In this photo, 1/4"-thick trim is being glued and clamped to the top and bottom edges.
In this photo, 1/4"-thick trim is being glued and clamped to the top and bottom edges.
The completed back
The edging had been made a bit oversized so it needed to be sanded flush with the faces of the board. After that, all surfaces were given a final sanding with this photo showing the finished back.
Top Cover
The cover - your basic wooden rectangle
The cover was even (conceptually) simpler than the back - a rectangle of wood. It needed to be reasonably strong and was unconstrained by any other pieces so it could either be solid wood or a composite like the back.
There were pros and cons to either method of construction so I thought I'd start by assuming solid construction and see how that looked.
There were pros and cons to either method of construction so I thought I'd start by assuming solid construction and see how that looked.
Standard make-a-nice-plank operations commenced:
Cutting to width
Flattening a side
Cleaning up the other face
Three mismatched grains
With three Sapele planks cleaned up, I put them together to see what a solid cover would look like.
And maybe "discontinuous" is the word? The grain on each is interesting on its own but they rather clash when together.
The best way to get nicely-matched grain is to get it all from a single plank. Of course that means a laminated cover, but hey - I know how to do that.
And maybe "discontinuous" is the word? The grain on each is interesting on its own but they rather clash when together.
The best way to get nicely-matched grain is to get it all from a single plank. Of course that means a laminated cover, but hey - I know how to do that.
Turning a plank into plys
I selected two of the planks - one each for top and bottom faces of the cover - and cut each into three plys on the band saw.
A rather better grain match with plys
This is the three plys layed out from one of the planks. It looks pretty nice so I'll use that for the top side.
Finding the best-looking arrangement
Usually the best-looking grain match comes from a book match, but there are a few different combinations that will give that. Here I'm checking the look of different combinations.
Location & orientation marked
Once I decided which sides were showing and in which order the plys sat, I marked the edges.
First side plys taped up
For the cover, I decided to glue up only a single side at a time. These are the top-side plys taped together with 3M "binding tape" which is a strong, stretchy masking-tape-like product made for just this purpose.
I've also changed away from my floor-covering-based clamping procedure and will be using those "timbers" visible under the cover.
I've also changed away from my floor-covering-based clamping procedure and will be using those "timbers" visible under the cover.
Whipping up a batch of epoxy
This time I would use epoxy as the adhesive, which will eliminate any moisture effects.
I'm using an epoxy with a long open time (upwards of an hour) to give plenty of time to glue and assemble things. It takes around 24 hours to harden but that's not a problem.
I'm using an epoxy with a long open time (upwards of an hour) to give plenty of time to glue and assemble things. It takes around 24 hours to harden but that's not a problem.
Spreading epoxy on the core plywood
I spread the epoxy on the core - the same 1/2" birch plywood as used for the back.
I used a notched spreader which works well - it can scrape from thicker-glue areas to thinner-glue areas without removing too much glue.
I had mixed up the appropriate amount of epoxy to achieve an average layer thickness of 0.004" (0.1 mm), a quantity that has worked well in the past.
I used a notched spreader which works well - it can scrape from thicker-glue areas to thinner-glue areas without removing too much glue.
I had mixed up the appropriate amount of epoxy to achieve an average layer thickness of 0.004" (0.1 mm), a quantity that has worked well in the past.
Taping on the first side
Then on went the top layer of plys, which were taped down to keep them in place through the clamping process.
Adding clamps
This time I used newsprint - 8 sheets thick - to take up any unevenness, added an MDF sheet to the top and then top-side timbers which were clamped to the bottom-side timbers. "Timbers" in this instance just being thick pieces of wood that help distribute the clamping pressure across the cover.
Once the epoxy had hardened, I repeated the procedure by gluing on the bottom-side plys.
Once the epoxy had hardened, I repeated the procedure by gluing on the bottom-side plys.
The cover sandwich
The plys for the cover were pretty thick - almost 0.2". That should help make the cover strong but it will probably be pretty heavy as well.
Like the back, the cover strata are exposed on the edges, so those will - all four - need to be capped.
Cutting to width
Cutting edge trim
Clamping on edge trim
Sanding the cover
Again the edge trim was made slightly oversized to avoid the need for perfect width and alignment. The excess was sanded flush, mostly with coarse sandpaper on that little green sander in the background.
Then the orbital sander was used to smooth both faces, with some final hand sanding to 320 grit.
Then the orbital sander was used to smooth both faces, with some final hand sanding to 320 grit.
Rounding the edges
The front and side edges were rounded using a hand-held belt sander and then sanded smooth.
Note: The profile of that "rounded" edge looks kind of wonky in this shot but I think it ended up looking better by the time I was done.
Note: The profile of that "rounded" edge looks kind of wonky in this shot but I think it ended up looking better by the time I was done.
Cover - complete
Complete.
Legs
The legs are rather integral to the design since they tie the rails together and hold a side of each of the panels. They also incorporate feet holding the chest an inch off the floor.
Left front leg in repose
The leg machining is fairly involved. They need mortises to receive the rail tenons, slots for the panels and a cut-away and stepped inner corner.
Mortises could be cut with a chisel or router, but the router is the only practical way to make the slots, so I thought I may as well use the router for all the operations.
Mortises could be cut with a chisel or router, but the router is the only practical way to make the slots, so I thought I may as well use the router for all the operations.
A couple of thick Sapele planks
The size of the legs requires wood thicker than the standard 1 inch that Windsor had available but I was able to order some 2" pieces from KJP Hardwoods in Nepean. These two planks will be enough for the four legs.
Microrant
So what is it with delivery people these days? The vast majority of them silently drop off a package in plain view on the front step and then just as silently slink away. I did have one Canada Post delivery where the fellow deigned to tap on the sidelight glass with a knuckle. Have none of them heard of the doorbell? The lighted button just at finger height on every door? There is such a thing as porch pirates (one considerate(?) pirate ripped open the cardboard box and stole the contents so at least we could figure out what happened. Thanks, bro.). C'mon people, it's not a complex job and it takes literally zero time to push the doorbell.
Sheesh.
Sheesh.
Sized, stacked and marked with profile
After cleaning up and cutting to size, a couple blanks were stacked together and the leg profile was traced onto the top.
Smoothing curve after cutting
The stack (double-sided-taped together) was cut to the profile line on the band saw and then the curve was smoothed on the spindle sander.
Checking curve by eye
My leg profile line had hand-traced wiggles artisinal characteristics so I couldn't try to shape the wood exactly to the line.
Instead I cut and sanded to the general shape of the line and then sighted down the curve to identify any imperfectly-curved sections that warranted a bit more sanding attention.
Instead I cut and sanded to the general shape of the line and then sighted down the curve to identify any imperfectly-curved sections that warranted a bit more sanding attention.
Final curve fairing done by hand
There's always slight curve imperfections that are hard to see but can be felt by running fingers over the curve. So as a final step I hand-sanded areas of concern with a curved form until my fingers were happy.
Once the legs were correctly shaped, the next step was adding all the details using the router table. However it's a bit risky to try to, for example, route a specific-length slot by just starting and stopping by hand. I really needed some stops but the legs would extend well past the edges of my router table and fence so I needed some custom-made stops to help out. That meant it was Jig Time:
Router Stops
Cutting some MDF arms
Countersinking for screws
Trimming a stop
Attaching a stop
Installing the right stop
Marks used to set stop positions
A leg between the stops
The stops were pretty simple and didn't really need any plans so I just grabbed some appropriate scraps of wood and hardware and got to work.
Cutting some MDF arms
Countersinking for screws
Trimming a stop
Attaching a stop
Installing the right stop
And in a relatively short time I had a pair of MDF 'n Sapele stops. They just screw to the fence at the desired location as shown here.
The MDF rails extend a few inches past the actual Sapele stop in case I need further-out stops in some future project.
The MDF rails extend a few inches past the actual Sapele stop in case I need further-out stops in some future project.
Marks used to set stop positions
The legs were marked with the ends of the slots (on little strips of paper for better contrast) and the extents of the router bit were marked on the fence.
I aligned the appropriate marks and set the stop positions based on that.
I aligned the appropriate marks and set the stop positions based on that.
A leg between the stops
This shot shows a leg positioned between the stops.
Due to the near-uniqueness of the four legs, I could do only one or two legs with a given setting and bit before having to change the settings again.
Due to the near-uniqueness of the four legs, I could do only one or two legs with a given setting and bit before having to change the settings again.
OK - Back to leg making.
Slot alignment check
After cutting mortises and slots, I plugged a rail into a leg to see how things lined up. Looks like I failed to screw up on this one!
Removing the inside corner
The leg also needed the inside corner removed to provide an (admittedly, not very critical) rectangular profile to the chest interior. This photo shows one of the passes.
This routing operation - like all of them when making the chest - were done with four or 5 passes of the router bit at increasing depths. That provided cleaner edges and easier cutting.
This routing operation - like all of them when making the chest - were done with four or 5 passes of the router bit at increasing depths. That provided cleaner edges and easier cutting.
Trimming the leg bottom
The bottom is enlarged to accept the floor of the chest. After routing the corner cutout 1/8" larger, a chisel was used to square up the round-ended router cuts.
Four legs, ready to go
That was it for the legs.
In this photo they are done except for some biscuit slots that will be added to the rear legs to help hold the back in position.
In this photo they are done except for some biscuit slots that will be added to the rear legs to help hold the back in position.
Panels
So finally we get to the panels themselves. The chest will need six - two long ones in front and 2 shorter panels for each of the ends.
One of the short panels
This render shows one of the shorter panels, which is about 15" long. The edges are just under 3/16" while the middle portion is 3/4" thick.
Raised panels like this one are typically shaped with a router or shaper. Of course you then need the correct cutting bit for the profile you are aiming for but there isn't a great variety of panel bits out there. Unsurprisingly I couldn't find a bit for my arbitrarily-designed profile so I'll need to shape it another way.
It's a pretty simple profile so it can be cut with a plain bit on the router if the panel is held at the correct angle. So that means another jig coming up:
It's a pretty simple profile so it can be cut with a plain bit on the router if the panel is held at the correct angle. So that means another jig coming up:
Panel Cutting Jig
Cutting ramp
Cutting the base
gluing the stop
Gluing the frame
Cutting a support
Assembling the jig
Jig ready for action
The job of this jig is to hold the panel at a specific angle (27°, thanks for asking) over the router bit. I used Melamine to support the panel since it provides a low-friction surface on which to slide the panel; the rest of the jig is plain old plywood. Here's a few shots of that coming together;
Cutting ramp
Cutting the base
gluing the stop
Gluing the frame
Cutting a support
Assembling the jig
Jig ready for action
This shot shows the completed jig on the router table.
The bit height and jig position (set by the fence it will be clamped to) determine the exact cut.
The bit height and jig position (set by the fence it will be clamped to) determine the exact cut.
What's this - another tangent? When do we get to the panels?
Well, soon. I mentioned that the model for this chest used Quartercut Oak for the panels but that Windsor had none in stock. I was able to find some at KJP when I bought the thick Sapele so I thought it was worth the gamble to get some Quartercut Oak too and see if it looked any better than the Koto.
Well, soon. I mentioned that the model for this chest used Quartercut Oak for the panels but that Windsor had none in stock. I was able to find some at KJP when I bought the thick Sapele so I thought it was worth the gamble to get some Quartercut Oak too and see if it looked any better than the Koto.
Wood Comparison
Prepping an oak panel
Trimming an end
Trimming the side as well
Wood comparison
In this little aside, I compare Quartercut Oak with Koto for the panels. When an oak log is quartercut, the planks are perpendicular to the growth rings which can result in some striking figure in the wood, but of course the effect varies from sample to sample. We'll see what the piece I bought looks like by making a raised panel from a larger piece of 2"-thick Oak.
Prepping an oak panel
Trimming an end
Here the raised panel router jig comes into play.
In this shot the angled part of the panel end is being cut by the flat-topped router bit as I slide it over.
In this shot the angled part of the panel end is being cut by the flat-topped router bit as I slide it over.
Trimming the side as well
The sides of the panel are run over with the same settings.
Wood comparison
I made a Koto panel with the same method and here they are both mounted in one of the side frames; Koto on top, Oak on bottom.
The oak isn't showing much obvious figure but more importantly it is a similar tone to the Sapele frame. I ended up preferring the contrast provided by the Koto.
Guess I'll need to find some other use for the Oak...
The oak isn't showing much obvious figure but more importantly it is a similar tone to the Sapele frame. I ended up preferring the contrast provided by the Koto.
Guess I'll need to find some other use for the Oak...
OK - now I think we can finally get back to making panels.
A few nice Koto planks
The Koto planks were pretty nice - straight, smooth and no cracks or knots. They were also pretty long - about 10' before they were cut. I'm guessing those came from a pretty big tree.
Once again the standard operations were performed to get blanks that were straight, flat and the correct size as the evidence in this composite attests:
Prepping the Koto blanks
Blanks ready for shaping
And before too long I had blanks for the five of the six panels required (one panel having already been made).
Cutting to a thin edge
The first step in the blank-to-panel journey was to thin the edges to just under 3/16". That was done with a straight router bit along the four edges of the panel.
Removing excess wood using band saw
The resulting piece was sort of a wide and square top hat shape, but those sharp corners were going to need to be made into slopes.
That's a fair amount of wood to remove so instead of routing it all, I cut the bulk of it off with the band saw as seen here.
That's a fair amount of wood to remove so instead of routing it all, I cut the bulk of it off with the band saw as seen here.
Trimming the slope on the router
The angular slopes were trimmed on the router where the jig held the panel to get the exact angle needed.
I took a sequence of light cuts to "sneak up" on the proper point to stop since the slope needed to end exactly at the thin edge.
I took a sequence of light cuts to "sneak up" on the proper point to stop since the slope needed to end exactly at the thin edge.
Hand-sanding the slope
Once everything was routed, the faces were hand-sanded to clean them up.
All the panels this chest is going to need
There's the six panels done.
Test Assembly
The chest pieces needed to have finish applied before final assembly so I wanted to make sure everything was going to fit before starting the finishing.
Leg with spaceballs inserted
The panels sit in a slotted frame that is larger than the panel to allow for expansion. In order to have the panel not sit in a random spot, spaceballs are used to center the panel. I hadn't run across the term spaceballs before and if I had, panel spacers probably wouldn't be the first thing to spring to mind.
That being said, these aren't actually ball-shaped and go by the less-interesting term of panel barrels. At any rate they are a soft elastomer than will expand and compress to compensate for the contraction and expansion of the panel induced by seasonal humidity variation - thus keeping the panel roughly centered in the frame.
That being said, these aren't actually ball-shaped and go by the less-interesting term of panel barrels. At any rate they are a soft elastomer than will expand and compress to compensate for the contraction and expansion of the panel induced by seasonal humidity variation - thus keeping the panel roughly centered in the frame.
Assembling the frame
Each side was assembled and then inserted into the flanking legs. Fortunately everything seemed to fit with a satisfyingly small amount of struggle.
Test fit
That's the three panelled sides plus the solid back which is currently just taped in place. It all looked good.
Unloaded / one Russ load
Now I wanted the chest to be strong enough to sit on but with the raised panel construction there's no direct vertical support except at the corners. What I needed to do was see how much the top rail was pushed down in the center while I sat on the cover.
This composite photo shows the effect of my sitting on the chest which I read as about 1.2 mm of deflection. That looks reasonable and I think it should be small enough to avoid damaging glue joints or the rail integrity.
This composite photo shows the effect of my sitting on the chest which I read as about 1.2 mm of deflection. That looks reasonable and I think it should be small enough to avoid damaging glue joints or the rail integrity.
Floor fit checked
Once the walls were together I took measurements and cut another piece of 1/2" Birch plywood for the floor. In this shot the chest is upside-down and the floor is in place, complete with taped-on temporary handles so it can be pulled out.
The traditional ritual of final sanding
OK then - time to get to the end game. The last bits involved doing final hand sanding to 320 grit on all the pieces - a rail in this particular shot.
Adding some initials in case I forget who made it
I also added initials and the year to the bottom of one of the end rails.
Slotting the back for biscuits
The back sits between the two back legs. For a stronger connection, I added three (#20) biscuits per side. These require 1/2"-deep slots in the back and legs and in this shot I'm slotting one of the back locations.
Rear legs and back glued together
The back along with six biscuits and a dose of wood glue were combined with the two rear legs. A couple kludged-together extra-long clamps held things together as the glue dried.
Finishing and Assembly
Then it was a matter of varnishing everything.
Starting in on the varnishing
I started with the panels as seen here.
This group of photos shows the first coat of varnish going on to various parts. I used Minwax Fast-dry Poly and ultimately I put three coats on the chest components.
First coat on panels
Getting inside the slot
No varnish on to-be-glued areas
A still-wet cover
I haven't found a finish that is not annoying in one way or another. The particular posterior pain caused by polyurethane varnish is that each coat needs to be roughed up (light sanding) before applying the next. Then of course the dust must be cleaned off in preparation for re-varnishing.
Sanding those #$!&* slots
...and all other surfaces
Getting most of the dust off
Tack cloth gets up the last bits of dust
All the pieces with all the coats of varnish
After about a week's worth of varnishing (well, not like it was 24/7 - just when I felt like it) all the pieces had the target three coats and mostly looked pretty decent.
So I made a get-it-all-into-one-photo pile.
So I made a get-it-all-into-one-photo pile.
Starting to assemble the left side
The plan was to assemble the sides and then glue them one at a time.
Here the spaceballs are being inserted in a rail slot as I assemble one of the sides.
Here the spaceballs are being inserted in a rail slot as I assemble one of the sides.
Adding glue to the front rails
The mortise and tenons were the only parts to receive glue. Here I'm brushing it onto a top-rail tenon for the front.
Front rails and legs glued together
With the joints amply gluebricated, the front section with the two legs was reconnected with the other pieces (to make sure everything stayed the correct shape) and the joints were clamped using my makeshift long clamps.
Everything but the cover done
A few more rounds of gluing and the walls and floor were together.
Analyzing hinge action
The hinges for the cover were multi-element parts similar to those used on cabinets. They didn't come with any instructions so I clamped together a few scraps to determine the spacing needed.
Drilling close-to-edge hinge holes
I put the hinges right at the edges since the screws could go directly into the leg rather than the chest back. I thought that might be a bit stronger.
That put the pilot holes for the hinge screws about half an inch from the edge so conventional drills couldn't get in there. Instead I used a shaft on a rotary tool to drill the holes.
That put the pilot holes for the hinge screws about half an inch from the edge so conventional drills couldn't get in there. Instead I used a shaft on a rotary tool to drill the holes.
Attaching the cover
And then hinges and cover were screwed together.
And it was complete.
And it was complete.
Chest closed
Chest open
