Experimental Project - Produce Chest

[Yonak Hawkins]

A friend who was charmed by a chest she saw at an auction that had a different kind of finish on each drawer face inspired me to make this produce chest (for kitchen use for potatoes, onions, etc.) for her. Since it's pretty jovial in look and for informal use I thought I would experiment with some techniques as, if it turned out badly, it wouldn't be such a catastrophe.

Some turned out OK and some not so good. Among other things I have to call it "rustic" because the ebony stain sort of turned whitish because I made a rookie mistake. As the stain needed to be quite dark, I tried dye for the first time. My mistake was that I mixed it using water instead of alcohol and then overcoated with lacquer. This caused a whitening similar to a wet glass being put on a lacquer-finished table. It's not too bad, though, because it's turned in a rather uniform manner, only in the open grain.

Produce Chest 037.jpg. Produce Chest - top.jpg

I also tried an experimental drawer-centering technique using packaging straps :

Produce Chest - drawer detail.jpg Produce Chest - bottom detail #2.jpg

The chest is made of cherry, maple and ebony-dyed red oak with persimmon drawers.

[Mel Fulks]

That's nice and pretty unusual. Love that Art Nouveau base ,canted sides, mitred fronts. It's got a lot going on! Not sure the real dark top and base are the best for seeing some of the good detail.

[Brian W Evans]

I really like this piece, even with the finishing "mistake". In fact, I kind of like the finish! The only problem I see with it is that it makes some glue lines visible on the top. Other than that I think it adds to the piece. I also like the base and the choice of wood/finish for the drawers. I would love to have this in my home.

Can you elaborate on your drawer centering technique?

[David Utterback]

The design is interesting and almost whimsical. I like it. In the photos, the mixture of wood tones for the drawers detracts from the unusual technique used to make the faces, IMHO. It might be less busy with a single wood tone, although it may look less so in actuality. I would love to hear more about their construction and also about working with persimmon.

Thanks for sharing.

[Jim Becker]

I, too, like this piece.

Question...what's the provision for ventilation as that's somewhat important for the types of produce you mention?

[Bill McNiel]

Fun project, appropriate design and joinery for the intended function. Nice.

[Yonak Hawkins]

...what's the provision for ventilation as that's somewhat important for the types of produce you mention?

Jim, yes, I'd thought about this but I hadn't done anything yet. I'm thinking of drilling three 1-1/8" holes near the top of the drawer backs and then corresponding holes in the back of the cabinet. Do you think that would suffice ?

Thanks for your comments, everyone.

[Jim Becker]

Yes, that would likely work. Cool, dark and ventilated is good for root veggies, etc.

[Phil Mueller]

Yonak,
I think your experiment is a success. Very well done. I like the combination of woods/stain...and functional as well. Thanks for sharing.

[Robert Horky]

Yonak, nice job. It is good to get 'outside' the box once and a while.