| Project by fixit | posted 386 days ago | 348 views | 1 time favorited | 10 comments |  |
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This is a blanket chest I made for our oldest daughter in 1985 while we were in Alaska (USAF assignment). I built it in our garage using my Shopsmith and a Porter Cable router. I used our one car garage as a shop but had to share that space with the car because of the cold, wet weather much of the time. The chest is made from cherry lumber and has aromatic cedar in the bottom of the box and under the three working drawers. I chose this design because the drawers worked while many designs have handles on the front but there are no actual drawers.
I had to use what lumber was available so the match on the panels isn’t the best. However, the cost of cherry lumber in Anchorage is about two or three times what it sells for here in the lower 48 states due to the cost of shipping it. You can find spruce, birch and pine in Alaska at very reasonable prices but other woods are scarce and expensive.
When I finished the blanket chest I had not yet learned about staining the different areas of the panels so the color matched when it was completed. However, after about 20 years it has developed a nice dark patina and you can hardly see the differences. Best of all, my daughter tells me this is the most treasured piece of furniture she owns. Makes me want to run right out to the shop and start another project. But it’s nearly midnight so I think I’ll wait until tomorrow to see what kind of project I can come up with next. Christmas is right around the corner you know!
-- fixit, Wood Goods Custom Woodwork, La Vernia, TX
10 comments so far
MsDebbieP
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14156 posts in 1055 days
posted 386 days ago
how very special!
It would be my most treasured piece as well….... !!
-- ~ Debbie, Canada (http://www.execulink.com/~yohan)
lew
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4486 posts in 650 days
posted 386 days ago
Beautiful piece. It must make you feel so wonderful that she treasures it.
mtnwild
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2013 posts in 421 days
posted 386 days ago
Beautiful craftsmanship! Can’t go wrong with any keep safe chest. They are always treasured and loved with memories.
-- mtnwild (Jack), It's not what you see, it's how you see it.
Dusty56
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3462 posts in 582 days
posted 385 days ago
The drawer fronts appear to be from one board or you did a heck of a job matching grains ! Don’t worry about the panels , give yourself credit for a job well done and a priceless heirloom in the family : ) I really like the overall design of this piece and the functional drawers make it all the better !
-- You know you're getting old when you know the difference between you're (you are) and your (belonging to you) AND how to use them in a sentence .
CharlieM1958
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7631 posts in 1113 days
posted 385 days ago
Great job! It has certainly stood up well over the years.
-- Charlie M. "Woodworking - patience = firewood"
HokieMojo
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1141 posts in 622 days
posted 385 days ago
I wouldn’t worry about the unmathed boards within the panels. It still looks really good and to those of us that have seen nice custom furniture, it jumps out to us that this is genuine material. not something else stained to “look like” cherry. Nice work.
fixit
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10 posts in 388 days
posted 385 days ago
Thanks Dusty,
The drawer fronts were made from a single board. To say I was a bit nervous when routing them would be an understatement! This was the only board out of the stack that I thought would look good to match the fronts. If I had made a mistake on one of them I’d have had to take out a loan to get more cherry lumber.
But it turned out well and both my daughter and I were pleased with the results.
-- fixit, Wood Goods Custom Woodwork, La Vernia, TX
Bob A in NJ
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522 posts in 893 days
posted 385 days ago
Very nice work and design. The finsihing of cherry is a pain due to the blotchness issues. I’ve learned you can reduce it by using a wash coat of dewaxed shellac followed by a gel stain which helps blend the colors of the wood.
Keep on building!!
-- Bob A in NJ
Karson
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25800 posts in 1295 days
posted 354 days ago
Great looking Chest. A very nice job, given the best of tools.
-- What happens in the workshop stays in the workshop. No wait that doesn't sound right. Karson Southern Delaware karson_morrison@bigfoot.com †
jim1953
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1601 posts in 736 days
posted 354 days ago
Wow nice job
-- Jim, Kentucky