Replies

1. 
   twilliams1223 | Jan 20, 2003 08:44pm | #1

   I made one from  "2x4 Furniture" book I picket up @ Lowe's.  I've not done a lot of stuff and have limited amount of tools.  This came out pretty good for a toy box. 

   Tom

2. 
   DouglasABaker | Jan 20, 2003 09:10pm | #2

   I just built one for my wife out of plans in Wood Magazine (http://woodstore.woodmall.com/heirhopches.html). 

   I only used 2 panels in the front instead of 4 (see picS - FYI - 100K each), and made a few other minor mods, but in general everyone loves the design of the chest - add a nice cedar bottom and you're all set!  btw - I made mine from White Oak.

   Good luck - I'm sure she'll love it!!!!

   d-

   
1. 
   jeffn7 | Jan 20, 2003 10:42pm | #3

   that Wood magazine blanket chest is a good one. It's all frame-and-panel construction, so it's not a technically challenging project, however it's also not just an afternoon thing.

   the panels on this project are made by sandwiching together 2 pieces of 1/4" plywood. You could substitute aromatic cedar as the inside panel and make the bottom out of cedar.

1. 
   DouglasABaker | Jan 21, 2003 07:22pm | #8

   Good observation - you are correct about the panels as indicated in the article. 

   For my part, I didn't like the flat panel look, so I did solid raised panels on the tablesaw.  As I think I also mentioned, I did a T&G aromatic cedar bottom instead of the proscribed playwood.

   For anyone else who decides to do TS raised panels, I HIGHLY recommend getting a Flat Tooth Grind rip blade (I used a 24 tooth Delta Rip Blade).  Because you are moving at an angle to the blade, anything else (like a standard Alternate tooth Bevel, etc), despite having more teeth, will leave lines/grooves that are _very_ difficult to sand out.  The FTG leaves very faint lines as well, but they are easy to sand...

   Doug

2. 
   wleibe | Jan 20, 2003 10:54pm | #4

   Very nice! I think I have a new winner. Thanks for your reply.

   -Wendel

3. 
   oxmach | Jan 21, 2003 03:15am | #5

   Looks great.  Did you make the bed in the background? 

1. 
   DouglasABaker | Jan 21, 2003 07:17pm | #7

   Thanks :)

   No, we actually purchased the bedroom set since I couldn't commit to any sort of reasonable timeframe to get it done (this whole "real job" thing slows me down!) :)

   Believe me, I was quite pleased with how close a match the coloring was (the bedroom set is Ash).

   Doug

3. 
   nannie4annie | Jan 21, 2003 05:07am | #6

   Checking my Woodworkers Guide CD says check Woodsmith #58,  American Woodworker #78 and Popular Woodworking 28,80,83

1. 
   BertJ | Jan 21, 2003 10:02pm | #10

   I am unaware of a CD that indexes articles from a multitude of mags. Details? Thanks.

   Bert

1. 
   nannie4annie | Jan 22, 2003 04:05am | #11

   Go to http://www.woodworkersindexing.com

1. 
   BertJ | Jan 22, 2003 06:59pm | #12

   Thanks! Looks like a great resource.

   Bert

4. 
   MPHarper | Jan 21, 2003 07:27pm | #9

   There are plans for a beautiful maple and cherry hope chest lined with cedar at:

   http://www.americanwoodworker.com/200002/project_of_the_month.html

   Cheers,

   Matt-

5. 
   wleibe | Apr 26, 2003 05:38pm | #13

   Hello all.

        I just wanted to let everyone see the (almost) finished chest.  I still have to go over the finish a few times and add the lift.  For those wondering, the darker wood is cherry and the inside panels are birch ply.  The finish is tung oil.  The Inside is lined with aromatic ceder ply. 

    

   So here are the pictures.

    

   Thanks again,

   Wendel

   
1. 
   stancalow | Apr 29, 2003 05:05am | #14

   Wendel

   Looks great.  I didn't know you could get such a warm gloss with tung oil.  This is the plan from Wood Magazine, right?  I was looking at making one too, but wondering if you did something different to the top edge than the plan.  I didn't notice the mitered corners in the plans.

   Stan

1. 
   wleibe | Apr 29, 2003 06:49pm | #15

   Yes tung oil is great. It is very forgiving if you make a mistake and you can get a great warm finish from it. BTW I used Minwax's tung oil on this project. I did notice that it has a glossier finish than the Home Depot Bear version I have used in the past.

   I did make a few changes from the plan by Wood Magazine.

   1) I cut a tapper on the bottom legs instead of the curved cut suggested in the plan. The tapper cut matches my furniture better, but it does show the dado fillers more than the curved cut would. (If I had a better router I would have used a router to cut the dados and stopped before the end so that I wouldn't need the fillers.)

   2) I changed the dimensions of the top and put a bevel on the underside of the top instead of a cove. The bevel matches my existing furniture. I cut this with my table saw, but I had to come back with a belt sander to finish it off. (The bevel was very difficult even with my fence extension. You really need an outfeed table and the fence extension needs to extend out on to the outfeed table.)

   3) I put a triple bead on the braces for the top.

   That's it. Everything else matches the plan.

   Oh, one other thing. I finished the birch panels before I installed them. My thinking was that if I waited till after I installed them I wouldn't be able to sand and finish them as well.