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After seeing all of the awesome blanket chests on here I thought I'd give it a shot.

Had a great big pile of walnut in the shop and a nice spalted maple plank that I've been saving for something special.

Like all projects, I tried to do some new techniques - including a new finishing method.

Some new things I tried:
Resawing on my bandsaw. Never tried resawing before, figured I'd give it a shot with the maple to make the individual panels for the front, and sides.

Frame and panel construction - done on the table saw. This was pretty tricky, and I can see why people use a router table. My stock - from a local saw mill, was close to flat, but not perfectly flat. This resulted in a lot of trial and error.

Flattening components with a hand plane. Finally tried the scary sharp method and tuned up my # 5 jack plane. I'm in love! Can't wait to get more money to pick up a nice jointer plane. I can see why there are guys that don't touch power tools.

New type of finish - equal parts mineral spirits, BLO and Satin Poly. Followed Canadian WoodWorks method for flooding and wiping off to build up a finish. Really like the way it turned out.

Few lesson learned. Next time my panels will be glued up. They are individual pieces that I fit and I forsee movement problems in the future. Work harder to get flat stock, turned out ok but had to fight it a lot more than I would have liked. Finally, I need to make some 90 degree corner jigs for clamping. The chest came out a little out of square. Not a huge deal, but not something I would be happy selling or giving away.

Overall I really enjoyed the project and can't wait to build another. No idea what in the heck I'll do with two blanket chests…but it was fun, fairly simple project.

As always, feedback criticism and recommendations are welcome!

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Comments

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19,753 Posts
Wow Steve This an amazing chest with great wood and a super cool design.
 

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459 Posts
Pretty nice first try! Beautiful wood. I have done a few chests. Tried something new each time. Yours turned out well.
 

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4,054 Posts
The Spalted Maple really brings this to life ! Nice project : )
 

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2 Posts
Love the design, and the write up is great too. I'm aiming to do something like this come springtime and will certainly borrow a few design cues.

Thanks for sharing and great job!
 

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29 Posts
Be proud of that thing of beauty!
 

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20,030 Posts
Really gorgeous work
 

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30 Posts
I really like the spalted maple - adds a lot of interest.
Roger
 

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18,702 Posts
Great looking chest. The maple was the right choice.
 

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1,045 Posts
The spalted maple was worth saving. Wow.
 

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1,049 Posts
The wood looks perfect..

www.bandsawblog.com
 
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