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Cedar-lined Blanket Chest

Project by Woodhacker posted 182 days ago 518 views 3 times favorited 17 comments Add to Favorites
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Woodhacker

508 posts in 210 days


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Cedar-lined Blanket Chest Cedar-lined Blanket Chest Cedar-lined Blanket Chest Click the pictures to enlarge them

This is a cedar-lined blanket chest I made for my sister for her birthday (actually this will cover all her birthdays for the rest of her life…at least that’s what I told her). A few years back she’d casually mentioned how neat it would be to find an “old-fashioned” chest for storage. I’d kind of kept that in the back of my mind, when I got this idea when thinking about the curved tops of old “treasure chests”.

This is made of quarter-sawn red oak. The design is my own, although very little was ever written down. If I recall correctly the dimensions are 42” by 22”. After studying two of Rob Cosman’s DVDs on hand-cut dovetails, I wanted to try them out. After practicing several “joints” in scrap wood, I got the courage to begin and this chest was the result,... which has developed within, a real affection for hand-cut dovetails. The cedar tray inside also employs hand-cut dovetails.

The top is made of seven boards or facets. My brother (an engineer) helped with the exact bevel angle along the edges of each board joined to form the top. Each joint in the top has a ¼ by 3/8 inch oak spline running down the length for strength. The grooves for the splines were challenging, but making a simple jig and using my router table worked out fine…eventually. Gluing the top pieces was quite a challenge and almost comical, given the contraption-like looking set up of a series of clamps used in conjunction with the vises on my workbench. I was tempted to round off the top into one continuous curved form, but decided against it in favor of the faceted look.

Even though I don’t like to use metal fasteners in joinery, the curved portion is actually countersunk-screwed to the sides of the top, primarily because I couldn’t find a good way to use clamps. These are covered with oak dowels cut flush.

The hardware was purchased through the Van Dyke’s Restorers catalog. It’s untreated iron, which I rubbed with steel wool loaded with paste wax to remove most of the rust, then finished using a cloth with another coat of wax.

The cedar lining is the typical precut tongue and groove type you can find at lumberyards. None of the cedar lining was finished, nor was it glued or fastened directly. The support strips for the tray inside are dado’d (and screwed, not glued) into the sides of the chest, but also have a groove cut underneath which also holds the cedar siding in place at the top. Then the “floor” cedar planks were “press-fit” into the bottom forcing the siding against the perimeter walls of the chest around the bottom. The tray supports can be removed and the cedar can all be replaced or sanded in the future as needed to bring back the cedar aroma.

The tray has felt “runners” on the bottom so it can easily slide back and forth along its supports for access to either side of the lower compartment.

The entire piece was wiped with a wet rag to raise the grain, then sanded to 220 grit, after which an oil coat was applied. Four coats of poly/oil blend followed and after curing, the finish was hand rubbed with paste wax using 0000 steel wool prior to buffing. The bottom (unseen) includes corner supports with hand turned bun feet, also made of quarter-sawn oak.

Because of the size/weight, it really takes two to safely carry this thing.

-- Martin, Kansas


17 comments so far

View thetimberkid's profile

thetimberkid

1521 posts in 190 days


posted 182 days ago

Nice chest, geat work!

Thanks for the post

Callum

-- Look great, get your TTK merchandise now! http://www.printfection.com/thetimberkid/ Check out my site http://thetimberkid.blogspot.com/

View CharlieM1958's profile

CharlieM1958

4197 posts in 705 days


posted 182 days ago

Wow….a lot of work and a great result!

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

View grovemadman's profile

grovemadman

541 posts in 259 days


posted 182 days ago

Aaaaaaaargh, ‘tis one fine chest ye have made here! Now we all have one big question swabbey; Where did ye hide the treasure!!!!

-- --Chuck

View WIwoodworker's profile

WIwoodworker

14 posts in 185 days


posted 182 days ago

That’s a beautiful chest. Your sister should be thrilled. Even though you told her it covers her birthdays for life it doesn’t cover everyone else’s birthdays for life. And you know she’s going to show it off to everyone in the world and you’ll start getting a lot of requests to make more. Nice job. You should be very pleased with your work.

-- Allen, Milwaukee, WI

View MSRiverdog's profile

MSRiverdog

32 posts in 223 days


posted 182 days ago

Aaaaaaaargh, that’s my chest, where’s my treasure!!!!!!

-- http://www.MSRDboard.com , http://www.riverviewwoodworking.com

View GaryK's profile

GaryK

8489 posts in 475 days


posted 182 days ago

Great looking chest. I love the smell of cedar.

-- Gary, East TX -- The longest journey begins with a single step.

View Grumpy's profile

Grumpy

5692 posts in 338 days


posted 182 days ago

What a lucky sister. Great job Woodhacker.

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

View Scott Bryan's profile

Scott Bryan

9116 posts in 309 days


posted 182 days ago

Martin,

This is a great looking chest. The hardware and the dovetails add nice details to the piece.

Thanks for the post.

-- With God's help all things are possible- even woodworking. Woodworking is not just a hobby, it is an (expletive deleted) expensive hobby.

View DAN's profile

DAN

3223 posts in 470 days


posted 182 days ago

outstanding piece … great choice of materials !

-- ..... art for lifes sake ... danwalters@lumberjocks.com

View davidtheboxmaker's profile

davidtheboxmaker

325 posts in 292 days


posted 181 days ago

That’s a really nice present for you sister. Excellent design and execution.

View jockmike2's profile

jockmike2

4143 posts in 733 days


posted 181 days ago

Thats a beautiful blanket chest, or treasure chest. Very cool. Well made. mike

-- Mike. Profisher50@yahoo.com

View stanley_clifton's profile

stanley_clifton

66 posts in 190 days


posted 181 days ago

Splendid: a present to be treasured for life. I’m really jealous of the dovetails, something I seem unable to get the hang off.

-- Stanley generally struggling

View ND2ELK's profile

ND2ELK

2485 posts in 261 days


posted 181 days ago

Very nicely done chest. You did a beautiful job on it. I made one for my wife to pass on to her daughter and granddaughter. Posted on my sight. Thanks for posting.

God Bless
tom

-- Mc Bridge Cabinets, Iowa

View Woodhacker's profile

Woodhacker

508 posts in 210 days


posted 179 days ago

Thank you all for the comments. This site has a bunch of great members. I’m fairly new to this site but have been in and out of it for a few months prior to joining. One thing great about this site is that it’s obvious everyone is helpful to each other as fellow woodworkers.

Tom, I like the chest you did and the images inside the top are a great personalized addition. I was actually considering a similar style before I ended up with deciding trying my own design.

-- Martin, Kansas

View Douglas Bordner's profile

Douglas Bordner

2558 posts in 551 days


posted 135 days ago

That’s an heirloom if ever I saw one. I’ll bet MsDebbieP would want one.

(from WayneC's shop tour)

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

View darryl's profile

darryl

862 posts in 813 days


posted 134 days ago

that chest looks great. i bet it smells wonderful too!
fabulous work on the handcut dovetails. I like the plug effect in the top as well.
your sister must be very happy.

-- ~ www.darrylmasterson.com ~ www.woodworkingdungeon.blogspot.com ~

View WayneC's profile

WayneC

5685 posts in 584 days


posted 126 days ago

Popeye (the parrot in the photo above) would approve.

-- We must guard our enthusiasm as we would our life - James Krenov

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