Blanket chest in English elm

Hey, Yorkie, I like it!! It really is an extraordinary piece of burl. I really like those hinges, and the joints and the color.

-- Thos. Angle

The entire piece is awesome…soooo many details to enjoy..I could check this out for hours : ) First time for me to see such wonderful dovetails ! Happy New Year to you and yours : )

-- 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 .

That is beautiful Stewart. Just beautiful.

Really nice, love the hinges.

-- I am always doing that which I can not do, in order that I may learn how to do it. - Pablo Picasso

That is absolutely awesome blanket chest.
Thanks for sharing with us.

-- My woodwork blog : http://www.isetehtud.pri.ee/blog/

love it! uh huh, uh huh…
ouch re: legs in middle of night.

-- ~ Debbie, Canada (http://www.execulink.com/~yohan)

Hi stuart i love the chest how old is the elm

hope you and your family had a great christmas and new year

andy

-- cut it saw it scrap it

I love that wood on top! The joints are great as well, Stewart.

-- Charlie M. "Woodworking - patience = firewood"

Very nice. I love those joints. I’m looking at a toy box for my son in the near future, and those joints alone add a lot of character!

-- "Give me your poor tools, your tired steel, your huddled masses of rust." Yep, I ripped off the Statue of Liberty. That's how I roll!

Nice… love the hinges…

-- Jeremy, North Dakota

Very nice chest.

I think I will make use of your hinge idea for a toy chest I am getting ready to build. However I may redesign it so the lid side of the hinge becomes part of the lid itself so the top is flat; and possibly add at least one more joint for extra strength. The toy chest is for a boy and they are a bit rougher with those things.

-- Les B, Oregon

Stewart as always, exquisite!

-- If we learn from our mistakes, I'm getting a fantastic education.

That’s just a great piece Stewart! Live edges, hinges, joints and all.

-- Carl Rast, Pelion, SC

Love it! Love everything. So many take for granted areas and detail them. SUPER! I like the exposed dovetails, I haven’t seen them before, very cool. The hinges are beautiful, I can hear MsDebbies concerns, however the look you get is just fantastic. Beautiful chest!

-- mtnwild (Jack), It's not what you see, it's how you see it.

Stewart: A fantastic looking blanket chest. You sure have some great looking wood out your way. A great job.

-- What happens in the workshop stays in the workshop. No wait that doesn't sound right. Karson Southern Delaware karson_morrison@bigfoot.com †

That is a beautiful chest. I love the detailing of the dovetails and those hinges – wow! The live edge as the handle is especially nice. I love that one is able to experience the texture of the tree with each opening of the chest. A simply beautiful piece.

-- Joe, Indiana, http://www.crookedshack.com

Very original Stewart. good on the eyes.

-- Grumpy - "Always look on the bright side of life"- Monty Python

Great chest Stewart.

When reading the RSS feed—which doesn’t display the authors within the posts themselves—I knew it was yours before checking it.

Regarding the strip on the back showing up lighter, you could always refinish the top pre-dying it but I rather leave it as is. In my humble opinion, it is that very strip that marries the top to the lighter base in a subtle way and this enhances the overall appearance.

In any case, I can’t but drool on the fine job you’ve done. Again.

Keep’em coming!

-- Jojo, shopless in Kyoto · http://twitter.com/kagushokunin

Once again the total package, Stewart! I have a moment of awe thinking how one registers the milling of something as critical as those hinge leaves with that live edge. That and hand paring the bevels on your doves.

Handsome, very masculine and organic piece of woodworking. You are a master.

-- "Bordnerizing" perfectly good lumber for over a decade.

I love it . Several unique ideas combined to make an awsome piecel Gotta find somewhere to show this off and save the toes.

-- DocK, WV

Excellent Stew! I love the way you chamfered the ends of all the finger joints. I admire your craftsmanship.

-- Terry Roswell, L.A. (Lower Alabama) "Life is what happens to you when you are making other plans."

Thanks for posting such a great box. I haven`t seen Burr Elm
before. Beautiful wood.
I have been looking for a wood hinge design, to use on a box
that I`m building. I hope it`s ok to use your design?
The natural edge really makes it pop.

-- ''Carry on my wayward son''

I knew it was yours at first glance. Great design and character in this chest. I like the proud tails and pins and of course the hinges. too bad about the dangerous live edge, I can see how that could be a hazard.

-- A thing of beauty is a joy forever...

Great looking Chest. I really like your wooden hinges.

-- Dennis Zongker

Thank you one and all for your interest and comments. And, a happy, creative and safe 2009!

cobbler – please feel free to use the design of anything you see! There’s nothing original out there. I thought I’d ‘invented’ those proud dovetails but have seen them on other people’s work!

pommy – I bought the elm from someone who’d felled the tree to build his house. He’d had it sawn and eventually kept it in the garage until his wife’s nagging about it got to him. I believe it was felled before Dutch Elm Disease began to ravage our Elms in the late 1960s.

Douglas – Repetitive maybe, but I remember the pleasure I got from hand paring those chamfers on the dovetails. Just the whisper of a supersharp chisel…. You know you’re a Lumberjock when you get poetic about choppin’ wood!

-- Res severa verum gaudium - True pleasure is a serious business. http://www.folksy.com/shops/TreeGems

I like it all… very well done! I like the wooden hinges.

-- As iron sharpens iron, so one man sharpens another. (Proverbs 27:17) †