A challenging project for me – but coming along quite nicely

[Chris Griggs]

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Hey fellow Neanders,

I started this project about 6 months ago (but got distracted mid way through with rehabbing some saws). I was going to wait to post this until it was complete, but just got to a point where it’s really starting to come together so I thought I’d share the progress.

I am building a jewelry chest of drawers for my mother and will give it to her this Xmas as a present. My grandfather has built several similar chests for my aunts but he’s doing less woodworking these days, so since my mom never got one from him, she asked if I could build one for her. The chest is my own design - it combines a fairly standard plan that my grandfather used for his chests, with a number of features from traditional Pennsylvania spice boxes.

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The chest is about 14”x14”x7.5”. The picture with my cat (Totem) is included to give some scale of the size. The primary wood came from a lovely piece of streaky cherry I got from my local lumber dealer. The coves on the molding were shaped on a router, but everything else has been done without electrons. I work this way 1) because it’s fun and 2) because I lack a dedicated shop space so working by hand on my workbench inside the house is much easier and more pleasant than setting up my portable power tools on the back patio. I’m sure I will always do a lot of handwork, but having done a number of hand tool only projects at this point, I know that when I have a more dedicated space I will very quickly want to acquire a thickness planer and a huge bandsaw.

The interior dividers/partitions are poplar with about an inch of cherry trim glued to the show surfaces. They sit in stopped dados, which were made by first knocking out the waste at the stopped end with a chisel, then kerfing the sides with a backsaw, and finally cleaned out with my router plane.

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After cutting all the interior dados, rabbets, grooves, the carcass top/bottom and sides were dovetailed together, and the interior components were slid in from the back. Next, I made the soft maple frame and panel back, which is perhaps the coolest part since its removable and reveals a hidden compartment, that sits behind a false back in the top row of drawers. (got this idea from Steve Latta’s PA spice box)
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I then shaped and fit the molding which turned out to be a major PITA. I repeatedly shot them too short in getting the miters to fit right, and then kept having to plane the molding backs to make the moldings “grow”. I was very obsessive about getting the miters tight, and in the end I got a really nice fit, which made me VERY happy after struggling so much to get them right – slightly imperfect joinery I can live with, but a gappy miter looks really bad.

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So what’s next? I will be adding some bracket feet made from the same piece of cherry – the photo below shows the template I plan to use (and yes, I realize the grain on the template is running in the wrong direction). Then it’s just a matter of making the nine drawers that will go into the case. Below is a picture of some lightly spalted QS sycamore I will be using for the drawer fronts. I spent a lot of time debating whether or not to use a different species for the drawers, since contrasting wood is so very easy to do poorly. I was originally going to use birdeye maple, but decided that the contrast would be to heavy and the figure too busy. I think the tan/orange undertones of the sycamore, and the light spalting will pair much nicer with the streaks and tones of the cherry case – hopefully you agree.
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I’m still deciding what I will use as a finish. The interior is prefinished with some Bullseye Sealcoat. For the exterior, I had originally planned on using Tried and True original which has become my standby, but now am thinking that amber shellac may add so nice warmth to the piece.

This is definitely is the most challenging piece I’ve done, and even though it’s taking a long time and there have been some hiccups, I am really happy with how it’s turning out.

So thanks for letting me show off my work, I hope you enjoyed it!

[Jim Belair]

That is SWEET Chris. I'm sure your Mom will be thrilled and very, very proud. Great connection with your heritage too by continuing your grandfather's tradition. Good on ya!

Jim B

[Dale Cruea]

Very nice. I like to make jewelry boxes of all sizes. Looks like you are miles ahead of the work I do. Maybe I should throw out my power tools and go to just hand work. BTW I like Tried and True original but I could never get the varnish to dry very well. Min-Wax has some Antique oil finish I used to finish one cherry box. About 3-4 coats with sanding the first coat wet looked good. I also left my cherry set for a few days in the light to darken a little before I finished it.

[Chris Griggs]

Thanks for the compliments Jim and Dale!

BTW I like Tried and True original but I could never get the varnish to dry very well. Min-Wax has some Antique oil finish I used to finish one cherry box. About 3-4 coats with sanding the first coat wet looked good. I also left my cherry set for a few days in the light to darken a little before I finished it.

Dale, the key to Tried and True is to apply VERY thin coats and really rub it out so that you build up some heat to help it dry. It seems to be a finish folks either love or hate - I'm in the love catagory. Even though it takes some elbow grease I find it easy to get good results. It, however, certainly isn't everyone's cup of tea. Supposedly the "Varnish Oil" you need to be even more careful to not over do then the "Original". I've never had any issue with the T&T Original, and haven't yet tried the "Varnish Oil".

Also, there's a sky light above my bench so I have been unintentionally darkening my cherry - good advice to do it deliberately. I think I will leave it under the skylight deliberately for a few days, after doing final smoothing/sanding, but before applying finish.

[Tony Shea]

Great job on the jewelry chest of drawers. I really do like the design. I'd play around with the size of the feet a little more, they look just a tad big to me. But it's always tough to see proportions in pictures. And also I wouldn't be too concerned about letting the cherry darken intentionally. It will darken in a surprisingly short amount of time anyways, after the finish is applied. I'm always shoked at how dark my cherry work gets, which I absolutely love. Cherry is one of my favorite woods and the older it gets the richer it gets. Keep up the great work and don't wait too long to make the drawers, they will become storage slots otherwise.

[Chris Griggs]

Great job on the jewelry chest of drawers. I really do like the design. I'd play around with the size of the feet a little more, they look just a tad big to me. But it's always tough to see proportions in pictures. And also I wouldn't be too concerned about letting the cherry darken intentionally. It will darken in a surprisingly short amount of time anyways, after the finish is applied. I'm always shoked at how dark my cherry work gets, which I absolutely love. Cherry is one of my favorite woods and the older it gets the richer it gets. Keep up the great work and don't wait too long to make the drawers, they will become storage slots otherwise.

Thanks for the compliments and the advice Tony - especially pertaining to the feet. I actually wasn't sure how to proportion them and was hoping to get some feedback on their design. They are about 3" tall and since the chest is close to 15" tall without them (will be about 18" with them) they will be about 1/6 of the total height. Here's a picture of the foot template with the rest of the chest height visible, but because of the angle I think it makes the foot look slightly bigger than it is. Any hopefully this gives you a better idea of its proportions - I'm not married to the current foot template so advice is welcome. And oh yeah, I too love cherry - I think I could work with nothing other than cherry, walnut, and maple for the rest of my life and be perfectly happy. Thanks again! (I will start on the drawers by next weekend at the latest. I've got a lot of DTs to cut [probably 8 per drawer x 9 drawers = 72 tails], and need to have this done before Xmas)

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[Archie England]

Outstanding! Chris. Amazing handwork for such a recent hand tool enthusiast!From the vantage point of your last picture, I suggest that you set thevsize of the feet in relation to the bottom drawer height. I.e., do you want the feet to equal or exceed that height-and thus compete with with the cabinet; or, make them approximately 1/2 that height.Just my thoughts, and "conversation" starter.Arch

[Phil Thien]

Awesome! I only wish I could make hand tools do that.

[Tony Shea]

I agree with archie about the size. Try matching the bottom drawer height for starters. Also another thing to try, bring the curve a little closer to the corner (mitered section) to cut down a little on the width. Just a little. All just things to try and compare with what you have already. It may turn out that your original is the best looking.

[Bill Moser]

Chris - really nice work! I use the T&T Danish oil, and love it for its simplicity. I apply tiny amounts with a rag or paper towel, and rub it in with my fingers

[Chris Griggs]

Thanks for the compliments folks!

Archie and Tony I like the idea of making/scaling the legs based on the size of the drawers. Makes A LOT of sense. I'll prototype one or two more templates this weekend and repost some pics.

Bill, I haven't used the T&T Danish oil, but the simplicity is what I love about the Original. I may very well stick with my old standby T&T Orig. One of the reasons I'm considering a different finish though, is the there's some subtle curl to to the cherry I'm using, and I'm worried an oil finish will cause blotching - however, if I sand up to 400 or 600 grit, which I often do after my final smooth planing, this will probably prevent blotching.

[gary Zimmel]

You've got to love it when a plan starts coming together....
I agree with the others that foot is just a tad large but that aside she is going to be one sweet jewelry chest Chris.
Looking forward to all those dovetails.

[Chris Griggs]

Okay so I made a new foot template/prototype today, based on the drawer height. The drawers are 2.5" high and a 2" tall foot (4/5 of the drawer height) ended up looking about right for a smaller foot. Also, I experimented with bringing the curve in more towards what will be the mitered edge on some drawings, as Tony suggested, but this made the foot look too thin, so I kept the curves in about the same proportion as the original. Finally, for this one I blended the curve more into the bottom of the foot, rather than leaving a 1/4" vertical area as I did on the original - I like this better.

So Tony, Archie, anyone else, what do you think of Foot II (below) compared to Foot I (post above).
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[Jim Neeley]

Chris.

IMO, the foot still overpowers the case. Perhaps if it were inset to align with the flat and vertical members, or made still smaller? I'm anything *but* an artistic designer, so I'm now going to set back and listen to others...

YMMV..

Jim

[glenn bradley]

+1 on still too much foot. Looks like it is part of something else. I am no artist, Like you, I keep working at my designs until I finally see what I am after. The repeated attempts are worth the extra effort for me when it all comes together. Some folks 'got the gift' and some of us are just relentless .