Curly Maple Chest Build

[Mike Allen1010]

A wonderful chest,really! But,I would wonder what is to keep someone from carrying off that wonderful chest! It is a highly desirable object,regardless of what might be inside!! No kidding.

George, like everyone here on the Creek, I'm in awe of your experience, knowledge and talent! I very much appreciate your kind comment – made my day!

I'm hoping my son's house guest will have much better things to do then contemplate carrying off a chest that frankly weighs a ton.Although stranger things have been known to happen in a house full of college students.

Cheers, Mike

[Mike Allen1010]

Did you feel the need to surface your bench flat to gain a advantage over hand planing the maple?.Oh I know how tricky curly wood can be.

You're exactly right Andrew, the interlocking Graham the Maple was a bear to playing without terror out and resurfacing the benchtop made it easier to grip the work securely between the bench dogs. I had the best results with 50° bed angle, tightly fitted chip breaker and using narrower width blade planes that were easier to push. I also got lots of practice sharpening/ using my card scraper.

[Mike Allen1010]

[QUOTE=Derek Cohen;2559054]Hi Mike

Firstly, great chest. You have an eye for proportions and balance.

Secondly, think 'black coffee'.

Thirdly, use Photobucket - that makes it simple to post multiple images (as I do).

Thanks Derek for the kind comments and the suggestions about photo bucket. It goes without saying I'm a huge fan of yours and an avid reader of your site "in the workshop".

Design is one of my biggest challenges. After many years of building things so ugly that my wife wouldn't let them in the house, I've arrived at a couple basic rules:

1) Find a design I like and slavishly copy it without apology. I think there's a reason why some "classic" designs end up in museums; there are generations of woodworkers much more talented than me that have a gift for envisioning and creating beautiful things. I would much rather find one of those and copy it than try and design from scratch.

2) When forced to stray beyond the bounds of rule #1, follow the advice of George Walker and Jim Tolpin in their book "By Hand and Eye" and think "whole number ratios".

[Mike Allen1010]

You project looks very nice and very natural. I am though confused though by the formula to your success. When you mention oil and varnish as a first coat could you provide more detail please? For example is this BLO and varnish? What varnish, ie: Minwax polurethane or? What ratio of oil to varnish? I am equally confused by the shellac over the top of the varnish especially the shellac and mineral oil mixture. Like I said, the chest is beautiful but how in the world did you get that recipe?

Hi Pat, I did a terrible job of describing the finish in my original post. I first apply Watco Natural color (which I believe is an oil varnish mix). While still wet, I sand with 600 grit sandpaper and wipe clean. I usually apply a second coat the following day.

As to the "French polishing", there are much better descriptions then I can provide. What I do, after waiting a couple days oil/varnish to dry hard, I put a Golf ball sized wad of cotton batting (I think that's what it's called – big white puffy stuff you can get at a fabric store) inside a small square of Linen. I use squeeze bottles to apply a small amount of shellac and alcohol to the cotton ball and then begin applying. Tried to glide the ball on and off the workpiece without coming to a stop anywhere. These thin coats of shellac dried very quickly and you can do many coats in a day. After I built up enough coats to give the finish a little depth, I add just a couple drops of shellac and very little alcohol to the applicator ball and increase the pressure. When the applicator begins to dry and no longer glide smoothly over the surface, I add 1-2 drops of mineral oil (no more) to the surface which allows the applicator to continue to glide smoothly.

My understanding is the last bit of rubbing with increased pressure, relatively little shellac/alcohol and the mineral oil "stretches" the top surface of the shellacked to yield a smooth, glossy surface. Please don't take my word as I am not anywhere close to an expert! As I mentioned, I'm not good at finishing and there are certainly much better sources of expertise on the subject. I hope that helps answer your question.

[Pat Barry]

I've got a project that I should try your finish process on. First I need to clean the dust off it.

[Martin Shupe]

Wonderful chest! Well done! Bravo!

Please don't leave.

I've always wanted to inlay a compass rose in a table top, but looking at your project makes me want to try it on a blanket chest.

I agree, posting pics is more difficult than it should be, but you have impressed many woodworkers with your post, so thanks for the extra effort.

[Ron Bontz]

Mike,
What can I say, except beautiful. My compliments sir.