Chippendale Small Chest in Black Walnut

Well here she is in all her glory! I really like the way this project turned out. When I originally saw the 16” wide walnut at Rockler’s, I knew this piece was destiny! Now on to construction.
The case is dovetailed at all four corners. The draw dividers are dovetailed into the sides, and the runners are mortised and tenoned to the dividers, then just squared to the frame, and screwed in place. The base is mitered in the front two corners, and squared in the back with a straight piece of pine (this was a Frankenstein!!) mortised and tenoned together. The feet were rough cut on the bandsaw, then the concave curves were sanded to the line. I have trouble with my spindle sander when it comes to convex curves, so those were final shaped with a #49 and #50 hand rasp, mill file, and finally sandpaper (how about that Chuck!!). The feet were then mitered on the tablesaw, and glued together, then glued to the base. The rear feet were rabbeted to the back feet, then glued to the rear case.
The base is then routed on the edge with a classic bit, then the transition moulding is routed with a larger classic bit, then installed inverted to the base. Since all the parts of the base were in the same direction as the mouldings, they were all just glued and clamped in place. The case is then just screwed to the base. The upper moulding was routed with the same bit I used on the waist moulding of the Highboy, then installed inverted to get a different profile. The drawers are rabbeted half blind dovetail, and through dovetail construction done on the Leigh D24R. The finish is Watco Danish Oil Black Walnut, “fogged” on shellac and wipe on polyurethane. The brasses were from Horton Brasses.
If you look closely in pics one and three, you will see my top and side panels glued up for the tiger maple version of this chest. This was a very fun project, and I am quite pleased with the outcome. The plan was from Glen Huey’s DVD which is very detailed, and has tons of tips and techniques for this project, that will easily transfer to other projects. I hope you all enjoy! Now it’s back to work for me, vacation is over. : (

Updated 11/30/09:
Thanks for all the kind words everyone! Just an update on the dimensions. The chest is 28.3/4” tall, 27” wide, and 16.1/2” deep. The brasses were from Horton Brasses.

-- Matt Garcia Wannabe Period Furniture Maker, Houston TX