Anniversary Chest Build Pics – Finished

[Mike Allen1010]

I finally got around to finishing a mahogany chest for our 30^th anniversary. There’s an earlier post that describes the first steps of the build.

I added the plywood bottom after the chest was assembled by using an electric router to router the rabbit. I prefer hand tools, and frankly routers scare the crap out of me, but doing stopped rabbits by hand takes me forever and given the complexity of the assembly, it was just a lot easier//faster route the rabbit after.
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Sawing out Cocobolo handles with the coping saw. I used rasps and files to shape the curved profile and gouges to create a finger recess on the bottom.
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Next was the step I had been dreading; carving a sort of flower garland for the front of the case. I am a novice, self-taught carver and I really had no idea how to carve this. Despite excellent advice and coaching from incredibly talented Karl Anderson, it took me the equivalent of three workdays to complete. If I were to do it again, per Karl's suggestion, I would try and use a coping saw to saw out the outer profile of the leaves as close as possible to the layout line. I don’t have an electric jigsaw which would’ve made that job a lot easier and I’m sure I would break it if I tried to saw the profile by hand with a bird’s mouth, so I ended up removing the waste with carving tools. The carving is screwed to the front panel from the inside, which was a real white knuckle experience!
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[Mike Allen1010]

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Finally building the sliding till. I use this sliding layout tool for inside dimensions all the time, which for me is a lot easier than trying to estimate with a ruler.
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I found something called “leopardwood” at “tropical exotic hardwoods” here in Carlsbad – kind of pricey but they have a fantastic selection and they'll even put a picture of your project on the wall.
Leopard wood was deftly not hand tool friendly; very dense and lots of interlocking grain that planed as tiny shaving/dust.
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Dimensioning the till pieces, cutting the tiny dovetails adding the supporting trim strip that rides on the rails inside the chest.

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[Mike Allen1010]

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Here’s pics after the first coat of oil/varnish. Once I get the shellac on this I think it’s can look pretty cool.

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And finally pictures of the finished chest.
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What I took away from this project is:

1) Mahogany is a great hand tool wood.

2) Even though this is the second time I built this design, the joinery on this chest is worse than the first one because I cut the dovetails joining the case rails before gluing up the frame and panel carcass assemblies. The difference in the finished vertical dimension was enough to throw the alignment of the pins and tales out of whack. Accordingly, glue up was a nightmare! Several splits etc. At that point I really considered scrapping the whole thing, but with some judicious repairs (sawdust and glue are your friends) it turned out okay. Not my best work, but probably only another woodworker would see the flaws.

3) Carving and inlay are doable for me to add decorative elements, but I’m not very good, they take me a long time and I have zero confidence in my creative ability to integrate them into a design that looks good. For those reasons, I think I’ll use these elements sparingly in the future.

Thanks for looking, Mike

[Jim Koepke]

To heck with any mistakes, missteps or errors, it is a great looking piece.

jtk

[Barry Dima]

This is a tremendous project, Mike. Thanks for sharing all the steps. It's really fun to watch all your dread end up as beautiful work. Suspense and art!

[Christopher Charles]

Hello Mike,

Tremendous work. Your self analysis reminds me of a quote that goes something like "writers are those for whom writing is harder than it is for others". I think the design of the chest and the decorative elements are both well balanced and the carvings in particular create and celebrate the intended purpose.

Best,
C

[Patrick McCarthy]

Fabulous Mike, absolutely great. I am very impressed with (and more than slightly jealous of) your productivity. I am going to have take some time management classes from you!

Best regards, and CONGRATS on 30 years (although, one must wonder how she was ever able to put up with you for soooo loooonnnggggggg), patrick

[John Kananis]

Awesome chest - the coopered top really makes it!

[David Eisenhauer]

Beautiful work. Love it.

[Jay Jolliffe]

Beautiful work..beautiful chest...

[george wilson]

Leopard wood must be the same thing as Australian lacewood,also called silky oak,and in reality a member of the eucalyptus family. I used a bunch of it in making the Art Deco table and jewelry box which can be seen in the FAQ section.

[Mike Cherry]

That looks tremendous Mike A!

[Brian Holcombe]

Nice work Mike!

[Frederick Skelly]

It's beautiful Mike!

[Mark Almeidus]

Absolutely stunning work. I like the glow golden effect that will pop up and get the attention wherever you put it.