Blanket Chest / Shoe Cubby

Great Job. Yes Metric plywood has made our lives easier hasn’t it.

If you are using much with plywood look for a metric router bits for style and rail.

I’ve found that I quite often put my own veneer on top of plywood and in doing so I actually make it 1/4”

-- Karson Southern Delaware karson_morrison@bigfoot.com

Looks pretty good Skee:) So how did you join the sides to the front and back? Where those T&G as well

-- http://rjoneswoodworks.com/

Skee this is looking great. What type of finish are you going to put on this chest? The woodgrain is fantastic on the front.

-- Carpe Lignum - Seize The Wood,

I had no idea lumber jocks was so active! I’m going to have to resist the urge to be here all the time…..

RJones – Groove on the edge of the front panels accepted a tongue from the side panels. I wasn’t sure if this was enough joinery for the structure, but it seems to have worked well.

PanamaJack – I stained it with a water based wipe on, and applied 2 coats of wipe on poly. Okay, I say I did it, but the truth is my wife does the finishing for me. I build it, she stains and covers them.

-- -- Skee from MN

Skee,

Yes, it can be so addictive.

Did you know that you can buy router bits that are sized for the “cheap” plywood that some manufacturers undersize? The sizes are 15/64, 31/64, and 23/32. They do not seem to make one for 3/8. The reason I made the distinction regarding plywood suppliers is that I have some marine grade meranti that is dead-on 3/8.

-- John

I have found that the best way to cut grooves for a plywood panel is to do it on the router table with a slot cutting bit. You get a slot cutting bit that is undersized – say 1/4 for 3/8 panel. You set the depth for how deep you want to inset the panel in the styles and rails and then run the cut. Then you flip the work piece over and you get a perfectly centered groove.

Of course you would need to change this if you were going for a raised panel where you wanted to offset the groove.

-- John

Great looking chest. I love the grain.

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

Skee,
Yeah I would think that wood work. You are gluing long grain to long grain so… that should work pretty well. With that being said you probably could have left the front and back panels just a touch proud to create a small shadow and detail, either way it looks great!

-- http://rjoneswoodworks.com/

Beautiful piece and great craftsmanship Skee! Thanks for sharing this with us.

-- Better to say nothing and be thought the fool... then to speak and erase all doubt.

yeah, it’s really addictive here.

I like this project, it has elements I’d like to incorporate into an entry bench that I might attempt if the kitchen plans lean that way. entry bench, or I’m bumping out a wall for a closet.

-- I am always doing what I cannot do yet, in order to learn how to do it. - Vincent Van Gogh -- http://snbcreative.wordpress.com/

That is a beautiful chest/shoe cubby, Skee! You’ve done an excellent job(I can’t see the glue runs, but just between the two of us, they happen to me too) LOL.

By the way, what’s with all those license plates?

-- Jesus is Lord!

Guys, thanks for all the support. I’ve been a Lumber Jock for all of about 24 hours now and I can’t believe how much I am enjoying it. The group is very supportive!!

Glue runs were mostly on the shoe shelf, so it doesn’t show and you really have to look for it.

If you look at the third picture I attached (the side view) you will see a gap between the front panel and the side panel in the middle on the left side. It really bugs me every time I look at it. I believe the craftsman (and I am using this term loosely) sees all the defects for their projects.

Plywood bits: Yeah, I’ve seen a couple of sets that have a range bracketing each size by 1/16”. So, for the 3/4” size they also provide an 11/16” and a 13/16” for over and under sized sheet goods.

This chest is absolutely the fanciest thing I’ve built to date and the process of learning so much was great!

-- -- Skee from MN

Skee:

Nice job! I may need to make one myself.

-- Charlie, Connecticut

love the shoe cubby!!!
Looks great.

-- "Functional WoodArt" by Debbie, Canada (http://www.execulink.com/~yohan)

Nice work Skee, good “craftsmanship” keep it up and soon you’ll be as good as Dick. Say, in 50 years or so. me too. jockmike.

-- Mike. Profisher50@yahoo.com

A nice job Skee. As you build more, you will get better each time. The errors will be fewer and fewer, but you will still notice them all. Interestingly, most other people will not notice them unless you point them out.

You will also learn that there are ways to cover up these cosmetic items and maybe even enhance your project. You could put a piece of moulding over the edges and cover any gaps. The trim can also make your work look more decorative with the additional angles and textures. The glue spots may be able to be covered with some trim as well, and this would prevent dust and dirt from collecting in the corners.

Just some thoughts. I do not have all the answers, as I can see each time I look at one of my projects.

-- Bill, Turlock California, http://www.brookswoodworks.com

Nice job. Fear of whacking off veneer with removing excess glue is a concern. I use a little paint scraper and go with the grain…a little triangular thing I got for 3 bucks. I can just take off the glue and not get to the veneer. I’ve tried my best, in recent projects, to have a sponge and some water to get any squeeze out that is going to occure in a place that is going to affect final look and finish.

-- You can discover more about a person in an hour of play than in a year of conversation. (Plato)