Hey guys,
Here's a few pictures of my recently completed version of a Massachusetts block front chest.
I used some wormy cherry for the bulk of it. I had a stack of it I had purchased a couple years ago but never settled on a worthy project. I figured this chest would be as good a project for it as any so into the planer it went.
I filled the worm holes on the top, sides and drawer fronts but left a few open elsewhere for some character. As the wood was rough sawn and very weathered I guessed it had been air dried for quite some time. When I planed it down from 5/4, I realized it had a large disparity in color from one board to the next which meant I had to scrap my initial plan for just a garnet shellac over an oil finish.
For the finish, I ended up first sealing all the cherry surfaces with some amber shellac. Next I gave it two glaze coats, wiping off the excess, of Zar's antique mahogany stain. Next I gave it two more glaze coats of Zar's cherry stain, leaving more stain behind on the final application. Next step was a spray coat of Sealcoat, followed by three spray coats of satin Enduro-var.
The drawers are made from poplar, which I just gave a couple quick brush coats of Sealcoat inside and out.
This was a challenging piece for me. I roughed out the drawer fronts on the band saw, but all the final shaping was done with my #78 rabbet plane, a card scraper and rasp. The drawer fronts were the hardest part. The dovetails are hand cut, which I'm reasonably pleased with how they turned out.
The brasses are from Horton.
Thanks for looking and as always, comments or suggestions are are always welcome!