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Hope Chest for Daughter #2

39K views 151 replies 34 participants last post by  Mean_Dean 
#1 ·
Design approved and construction details planned out....

Furniture Drawer Rectangle Wood Chest of drawers


Daughter #2 has "approved" the design of her hope chest. Here's my rendered solid model….

I started from the same NYWS that I used for her sisters, but with the following skill builder changes:

1. outside edges will be joined with Lock Miter instead of tongue tenon and groove.
2. rails and styles will be profiled and joined with a cope cut instead of mortise and tenon .
3. panels will be raised and back cut instead of flat.
4. feet will be cut with a taper, instead of curve.
5. name will be CNC routed on top rail as b4
6. wood will be Mahogany (a stack of 44" cut offs left over from a 15 year old deck project and given to a buddy who later painted the house and in turn gave them to me). They are weathered gray from sitting under the deck all those years. but most are straight and all are sound.

The finnish is TBD, but I'd like to try spraying it. The wood has a nice "milk chocolate" color and I'd like to use a finish that highlights the grain and does not darken it.
 

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#111 ·
Finished raising the rest of the panels

All six are done. All were routed in one shot. Follow on passes made here and there to even up the cuts.

Brown Wood Rectangle Flooring Material property


Wood Rectangle Wood stain Flooring Hardwood


This one is my favorite and will go on the front face for sure…

Brown Rectangle Wood Hardwood Tints and shades
My router table is a Rockler top mounted to a folding stand salvaged from the dump. I used to pull the router and collapse the stand and hang it on the wall long ago. But I have room to leave it set up all the time in my new shop.

The shop vac dust collection off the fence usually catches about 90%, but with the large hole exposed by this bit, I'd say half of the mess wound up on the floor. I ran the air filter on high the entire time and the pre-filter is pretty well caked over with Mahogany dust.

I think its long past time for me to build a proper router table with DC hook ups to the back of an enclosed router box.
 

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#112 ·
Profile sanding the raised panel end grain.

Santa gave me a multi-tool for Christmas and I used a Home Depot gift card to buy some accessories for it. I picked up a Dremel profile sanding kit. Turns out the radius of one of the profiles matches the concave section of my raised panel Ogee, so I set up and sanded the end grain. Started with 120 grit and then stepped up to 180.

Here's the kit….
Black Font Art Paper Carmine


Here's the profile I used…
Cameras & optics Camera accessory Machine Camera Auto part


and here's my setup on my downdraft TS outfeed table…
Table Wood Toy Audio equipment Gas


This really tamed the rough end grain with just a half dozen passes of each grit.

The long grain came off the router very smooth, so I'm not sure if I want to hit it with the 180 or not.

This was my first time using the DeWalt multi tool and I really like the trigger, as it makes it easy to slowly ramp up the variable speed.

Thanks for looking in & Happy Trails :^)
 

Attachments

#113 ·
Profile sanding the raised panel end grain.

Santa gave me a multi-tool for Christmas and I used a Home Depot gift card to buy some accessories for it. I picked up a Dremel profile sanding kit. Turns out the radius of one of the profiles matches the concave section of my raised panel Ogee, so I set up and sanded the end grain. Started with 120 grit and then stepped up to 180.

Here's the kit….
Black Font Art Paper Carmine


Here's the profile I used…
Cameras & optics Camera accessory Machine Camera Auto part


and here's my setup on my downdraft TS outfeed table…
Table Wood Toy Audio equipment Gas


This really tamed the rough end grain with just a half dozen passes of each grit.

The long grain came off the router very smooth, so I'm not sure if I want to hit it with the 180 or not.

This was my first time using the DeWalt multi tool and I really like the trigger, as it makes it easy to slowly ramp up the variable speed.

Thanks for looking in & Happy Trails :^)
Daughter should love it sir
 

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#115 ·
Hand sanding & sealing the panels

Went to Home Depot today and bought sanding sponges, sand paper and a nice little sanding block…

All hand sanding tonight, working through the grits 150 - 180 - 220

Wood Rectangle Flooring Font Eyewear


Then I vacuumed the panels, blew them off with air, wiped them down with a tack clothe (mistake?), buffed the out with a cotton rag, and hit them with a rattle can of Shellac as a seal coat.

Table Wood Textile Flooring Hardwood


My daughter doesn't want a gloss finish, so I'm thinking satin laquer, and she wants to be able to feel the grain.

Some of the grain is a little open and porous.

Brown Wood Amber Wood stain Liver


I'm not sure if I should fill it or not.

Any recommendations?
 

Attachments

#116 ·
Hand sanding & sealing the panels

Went to Home Depot today and bought sanding sponges, sand paper and a nice little sanding block…

All hand sanding tonight, working through the grits 150 - 180 - 220

Wood Rectangle Flooring Font Eyewear


Then I vacuumed the panels, blew them off with air, wiped them down with a tack clothe (mistake?), buffed the out with a cotton rag, and hit them with a rattle can of Shellac as a seal coat.

Table Wood Textile Flooring Hardwood


My daughter doesn't want a gloss finish, so I'm thinking satin laquer, and she wants to be able to feel the grain.

Some of the grain is a little open and porous.

Brown Wood Amber Wood stain Liver


I'm not sure if I should fill it or not.

Any recommendations?
OBTW… did I mention that these sanding blocks and sand paper are stinkin' expensive?

Ouch!
 

Attachments

#119 ·
I screwed up big time :^(

The Amana AGM raised panel set I'm using has a back cutter and came set up with a large bearing.

Hood Motor vehicle Rim Gas Automotive exterior


Everything turned out great, but I did think that the depth of the Ogee wasn't quite what I thought it should be and the panels don't drop into the styles very far.

Wood Rectangle Tints and shades Font Art


The instructions that came with the set seemed great, but did not include any illustrations or reference to the back cutter feature. So I used the bits as they came set up from the factory…...... WRONG!!!!

So I go to Amana's web site tonight and find a brochure for the raised panel set with the back cutter and it turns out that there's a smaller bearing that came with the set, which I should have used.

Font Line Parallel Screenshot Diagram

Plumbing fixture Hood Automotive tire Fluid Motor vehicle


Bad news… I've finish sanded and sealed three of the six panels already…

Good news… The router table is still set up at exactly the correct height, so I can swap the bearings and cut the deeper Ogee.

Bad news… In order to prevent tearing out the trailing edge when routing the end grain, I backed up the panel with a piece of scrap and I cut both end grain ends first before cutting the long grain….

BUT HOW CAN I BACK UP THE END GRAIN CUTS AND PREVENT TEAR OUT NOW THAT I'VE ALREADY ROUTED ALL FOUR SIDES?

Needless to say, I'm pretty frustrated and do not want to lose these panels or have ugly tear out on each one.
 

Attachments

#120 ·
I screwed up big time :^(

The Amana AGM raised panel set I'm using has a back cutter and came set up with a large bearing.

Hood Motor vehicle Rim Gas Automotive exterior


Everything turned out great, but I did think that the depth of the Ogee wasn't quite what I thought it should be and the panels don't drop into the styles very far.

Wood Rectangle Tints and shades Font Art


The instructions that came with the set seemed great, but did not include any illustrations or reference to the back cutter feature. So I used the bits as they came set up from the factory…...... WRONG!!!!

So I go to Amana's web site tonight and find a brochure for the raised panel set with the back cutter and it turns out that there's a smaller bearing that came with the set, which I should have used.

Font Line Parallel Screenshot Diagram

Plumbing fixture Hood Automotive tire Fluid Motor vehicle


Bad news… I've finish sanded and sealed three of the six panels already…

Good news… The router table is still set up at exactly the correct height, so I can swap the bearings and cut the deeper Ogee.

Bad news… In order to prevent tearing out the trailing edge when routing the end grain, I backed up the panel with a piece of scrap and I cut both end grain ends first before cutting the long grain….

BUT HOW CAN I BACK UP THE END GRAIN CUTS AND PREVENT TEAR OUT NOW THAT I'VE ALREADY ROUTED ALL FOUR SIDES?

Needless to say, I'm pretty frustrated and do not want to lose these panels or have ugly tear out on each one.
I've recut panels before and not had issues with tear out. The panel already being relieved in the long edges makes it work, just go slow at the last part of each end, and back the very edge. Any small chipping in the face should be cleared when you do the long grain.
 

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#123 ·
Re-routed and sanded the raised panels

Here you can see the difference in the profile when I used the correct guide bearing…

Wood Motor vehicle Gas Automotive exterior Machine


Lots of sanding…

Automotive design Motor vehicle Wood Audio equipment Bumper

Brown Wood Textile Rectangle Audio equipment


I had a small blowout from scraping the glue off of one of the panels and there was some pretty deep grain , so I decided to try out filling the grain using Timber Mate on this one.

Table Wood Paint Kitchen utensil Desk


Here they are all done with one coat of spray shellac.

Brown Rectangle Wood Amber Wood stain

Brown Rectangle Wood Amber Wood stain

Brown Product Rectangle Wood Orange


Now I just need to figure out how to match the color of the wood filler.
 

Attachments

#124 ·
Re-routed and sanded the raised panels

Here you can see the difference in the profile when I used the correct guide bearing…

Wood Motor vehicle Gas Automotive exterior Machine


Lots of sanding…

Automotive design Motor vehicle Wood Audio equipment Bumper

Brown Wood Textile Rectangle Audio equipment


I had a small blowout from scraping the glue off of one of the panels and there was some pretty deep grain , so I decided to try out filling the grain using Timber Mate on this one.

Table Wood Paint Kitchen utensil Desk


Here they are all done with one coat of spray shellac.

Brown Rectangle Wood Amber Wood stain

Brown Rectangle Wood Amber Wood stain

Brown Product Rectangle Wood Orange


Now I just need to figure out how to match the color of the wood filler.
Hand sanding isn't fun. Great job though.
 

Attachments

#126 ·
Cope cuts, Cross cuts and Bevel cuts

I banged out a quick cross cut sled as my sliding miter is a little fickle maintaining a square cur…
Wood Rectangle Flooring Floor Wood stain


Then I cut all of the rails and styles to their final length

I had to sneak in a side project to make a coping sled (see my latest project post)...
Table Furniture Wood Desk Drill


So I was then able to make all of my cope cut on the rail ends…
Rectangle Wood Flooring Wood stain Hardwood


I'm going to use 45 deg. bevel rip cuts on the to join the outer styles in each corner. This is only the second time I've ever tilted the blade on the TS and I had to make a new ZCI for the TS so I could do 45 deg bevel rip cuts…
Wood Wood stain Motor vehicle Hardwood Gas


This was my set up with the fence moved to the right of the blade. The Gripper made this very stable and safe…
Automotive tire Tire Wood Vehicle Motor vehicle


I thought about picking up a Wixley digital angle readout, but decided to borrow the digital angle readout we use at work….
Calipers Wood Musical instrument accessory Audio equipment Machine

Tool Wood Measuring instrument Gas Temperature


Here you can see. Test fit…
Wood Table Musical instrument accessory Engineering Machine

Temperature Measuring instrument Gas Rectangle Tool


Getting ready to assemble the panel frames….

Thanks for looking in.
 

Attachments

#127 ·
Cope cuts, Cross cuts and Bevel cuts

I banged out a quick cross cut sled as my sliding miter is a little fickle maintaining a square cur…
Wood Rectangle Flooring Floor Wood stain


Then I cut all of the rails and styles to their final length

I had to sneak in a side project to make a coping sled (see my latest project post)...
Table Furniture Wood Desk Drill


So I was then able to make all of my cope cut on the rail ends…
Rectangle Wood Flooring Wood stain Hardwood


I'm going to use 45 deg. bevel rip cuts on the to join the outer styles in each corner. This is only the second time I've ever tilted the blade on the TS and I had to make a new ZCI for the TS so I could do 45 deg bevel rip cuts…
Wood Wood stain Motor vehicle Hardwood Gas


This was my set up with the fence moved to the right of the blade. The Gripper made this very stable and safe…
Automotive tire Tire Wood Vehicle Motor vehicle


I thought about picking up a Wixley digital angle readout, but decided to borrow the digital angle readout we use at work….
Calipers Wood Musical instrument accessory Audio equipment Machine

Tool Wood Measuring instrument Gas Temperature


Here you can see. Test fit…
Wood Table Musical instrument accessory Engineering Machine

Temperature Measuring instrument Gas Rectangle Tool


Getting ready to assemble the panel frames….

Thanks for looking in.
Nice work, Matt! Hubby got me one of those digital bevel gauges for Christmas. Haven't had a chance to use it yet. You are gonna get this thing built!
 

Attachments

#129 ·
Corners glued up and first frame glued up.

I glued up one corner with biscuits and clamp blocks and a second with no biscuits and painters tape….

Wood Flooring Engineering Hardwood Lumber


Painter tape option was much easier and actually came out nicer. So I did the remaining two with tape.

Glued up the first frame tonight…

Wood Floor Flooring Hardwood Engineering

Wood Gas Hardwood Machine Tool
 

Attachments

#130 ·
Corners glued up and first frame glued up.

I glued up one corner with biscuits and clamp blocks and a second with no biscuits and painters tape….

Wood Flooring Engineering Hardwood Lumber


Painter tape option was much easier and actually came out nicer. So I did the remaining two with tape.

Glued up the first frame tonight…

Wood Floor Flooring Hardwood Engineering

Wood Gas Hardwood Machine Tool
This is coming along so nicely. It looks like it's gong to be an outstanding piece with a lot of fine craftsmanship.

helluvawreck aka Charles
http://woodworkingexpo.wordpress.com
 

Attachments

#133 ·
Interior done finish started

Pine cleats glued and screwed. Plywood bottom installed, and cedar liner glued in…

Wood Rectangle Fixture Wood stain Hardwood


Finish sanded one side and padded three coats of shellac.

Cabinetry Drawer Wood Rectangle Hardwood


Brown Cabinetry Wood Drawer Chest of drawers


It took me a while to find the lid stays I purchased long ago… The package says this is antique brass… But it looks dull black. I'm not crazy about it

Wood Household hardware Tool Font Rectangle
 

Attachments

#134 ·
Interior done finish started

Pine cleats glued and screwed. Plywood bottom installed, and cedar liner glued in…

Wood Rectangle Fixture Wood stain Hardwood


Finish sanded one side and padded three coats of shellac.

Cabinetry Drawer Wood Rectangle Hardwood


Brown Cabinetry Wood Drawer Chest of drawers


It took me a while to find the lid stays I purchased long ago… The package says this is antique brass… But it looks dull black. I'm not crazy about it

Wood Household hardware Tool Font Rectangle
Great job on the chest. I have used the same lid lifts before. Not a big fan of them.
 

Attachments

#135 ·
Interior done finish started

Pine cleats glued and screwed. Plywood bottom installed, and cedar liner glued in…

Wood Rectangle Fixture Wood stain Hardwood


Finish sanded one side and padded three coats of shellac.

Cabinetry Drawer Wood Rectangle Hardwood


Brown Cabinetry Wood Drawer Chest of drawers


It took me a while to find the lid stays I purchased long ago… The package says this is antique brass… But it looks dull black. I'm not crazy about it

Wood Household hardware Tool Font Rectangle
Making good progress, Matt! Um, looks like black to me too.
 

Attachments

#141 ·
Padding Shellac

Some people have expressed interest in the shellac finish I'm using…. Here's a write up on how I do it, which I learned from Peter Gedrys. You can see some of his amazing work here

Here's the finished front (in really bad light)
Brown Light Wood Wood stain Line


Here's the top with just one coat on it.
Wood Table Hardwood Wood stain Varnish


Go to minute 25 in Peter's finishing seminar video to learn this from the master.

Here's the routine, as I'm doing it.

I sand through the grits on the RO jitterbug… 120-150-180-220. Then I vacuum, then I blow off with air (amazing how much dust is still left in grain and pours). The I wipe down with a clean white cotton rag wetted liberally with lacquer thinner (even more dust comes up).

First off, you definitely want to wear Nitrile gloves, as they shellac gets sticky. I wipe my fingers with an old cotton diaper damp with alcohol when needed.

Make a shellac pad by cutting ~18" x18" of cheese clothe and fold into a palm size, smooth thick pad. The cut a ~8" x 8" square of clean, tight weave, cotton clothe (or linen). Wet the cheese clothe pad with denatured alcohol and wrap cloth around it like a rag doll head. Then squeeze out the alcohol. Now your ready to roll. open up the clothe and dip the pad into the shellac. I'm dipping right into the can of 2# cut blonde shellac (Zinser) and then wrap the outer clothe around the inner ball (note… you unwrap and dip the inner ball, don't just dip the whole thing, as that won't soak it up and fully charge the pad).

Start wiping it on with a circular or figure 8 motion, maintaining constant contact between the pad and the surface. Start with zero pressure and as the shellac in the pad is consumed, start to apply pressure to squeeze out more. There's a feel to this…. not to wet, not too dry…. but just experiment and you'll quickly pick it up.

The best part is that it's very forgiving, as the next coat can re-dissolve the previous coat and flatten out any wiping marks. Put on a thin coat and after ~30 min, your ready for the next one. I'm putting on 4 thin coats (the photo of the top above is only one coat). When your done, put your pad in a plastic zip lock bag, or a small plastic container, and you can re-use it again and again. Just recharge it with alcohol and it's ready to roll.

I used a #12 sable artist brush for the detail work around the raised panels and it worked very well.

I let the third coat dry over night and then wipe any residual dust with the same damp rag (wetted with lacquer thinner, which appears to have no affect on the shellac finish at all). And then put the 4th coat on. I don't get the uniform gloss until the 4th coat.

I intend to put on a coat of satin spray… probably rattle can lacquer… when I'm done, as my daughter doesn't want a gloss finish (she thinks gloss looks fake, like melamine covered particle board).

The shellac will build a glossy sheen. They say you can rub this out with an abrasive pad to dull it back down to satin, but that sounded a little intimidating to me. I like easy.
 

Attachments

#142 ·
Padding Shellac

Some people have expressed interest in the shellac finish I'm using…. Here's a write up on how I do it, which I learned from Peter Gedrys. You can see some of his amazing work here

Here's the finished front (in really bad light)
Brown Light Wood Wood stain Line


Here's the top with just one coat on it.
Wood Table Hardwood Wood stain Varnish


Go to minute 25 in Peter's finishing seminar video to learn this from the master.

Here's the routine, as I'm doing it.

I sand through the grits on the RO jitterbug… 120-150-180-220. Then I vacuum, then I blow off with air (amazing how much dust is still left in grain and pours). The I wipe down with a clean white cotton rag wetted liberally with lacquer thinner (even more dust comes up).

First off, you definitely want to wear Nitrile gloves, as they shellac gets sticky. I wipe my fingers with an old cotton diaper damp with alcohol when needed.

Make a shellac pad by cutting ~18" x18" of cheese clothe and fold into a palm size, smooth thick pad. The cut a ~8" x 8" square of clean, tight weave, cotton clothe (or linen). Wet the cheese clothe pad with denatured alcohol and wrap cloth around it like a rag doll head. Then squeeze out the alcohol. Now your ready to roll. open up the clothe and dip the pad into the shellac. I'm dipping right into the can of 2# cut blonde shellac (Zinser) and then wrap the outer clothe around the inner ball (note… you unwrap and dip the inner ball, don't just dip the whole thing, as that won't soak it up and fully charge the pad).

Start wiping it on with a circular or figure 8 motion, maintaining constant contact between the pad and the surface. Start with zero pressure and as the shellac in the pad is consumed, start to apply pressure to squeeze out more. There's a feel to this…. not to wet, not too dry…. but just experiment and you'll quickly pick it up.

The best part is that it's very forgiving, as the next coat can re-dissolve the previous coat and flatten out any wiping marks. Put on a thin coat and after ~30 min, your ready for the next one. I'm putting on 4 thin coats (the photo of the top above is only one coat). When your done, put your pad in a plastic zip lock bag, or a small plastic container, and you can re-use it again and again. Just recharge it with alcohol and it's ready to roll.

I used a #12 sable artist brush for the detail work around the raised panels and it worked very well.

I let the third coat dry over night and then wipe any residual dust with the same damp rag (wetted with lacquer thinner, which appears to have no affect on the shellac finish at all). And then put the 4th coat on. I don't get the uniform gloss until the 4th coat.

I intend to put on a coat of satin spray… probably rattle can lacquer… when I'm done, as my daughter doesn't want a gloss finish (she thinks gloss looks fake, like melamine covered particle board).

The shellac will build a glossy sheen. They say you can rub this out with an abrasive pad to dull it back down to satin, but that sounded a little intimidating to me. I like easy.
Looking very good. Thnx for the link also
 

Attachments

#145 ·
Mission lacquer count down...

4 thin coats of a shellac padded on and dry

Wood Hardwood Table Wood stain Varnish


Touch sanded with 400 grit and soapy water…

Wood Table Wood stain Flooring Floor


Wiped down with water, dry cotton rag, and then a quick wipe with lacquer thinner

Space ace reporting for duty…

Helmet Window Automotive lighting Gas Wood


10, 9,8,7,6,5,4,3,2,1…......
 

Attachments

#146 ·
Mission lacquer count down...

4 thin coats of a shellac padded on and dry

Wood Hardwood Table Wood stain Varnish


Touch sanded with 400 grit and soapy water…

Wood Table Wood stain Flooring Floor


Wiped down with water, dry cotton rag, and then a quick wipe with lacquer thinner

Space ace reporting for duty…

Helmet Window Automotive lighting Gas Wood


10, 9,8,7,6,5,4,3,2,1…......
Amazing! Plus, you're standing on your head doin it.. Wow!!
 

Attachments

#150 ·
All done

I finally wrapped up the finish with three coats of padded blonde shellac (4 on the lid) and then three coats of satin sheen rattle can lacquer (4 on the lid).

Hardware installation…. full mortise lock, recessed strike plate, hinge and lid stays was all tricky and took much longer than it should have.

Furniture Plant Table Drawer Cabinetry


Cabinetry Furniture Drawer Chair Chest of drawers


the cat seems to approve….

Cabinetry Cat Wood Felidae Carnivore


Wrote up a project post here

Thanks for following along this 3 year odyssey and for all the encouraging comments and helpful hints.
 

Attachments

#151 ·
All done

I finally wrapped up the finish with three coats of padded blonde shellac (4 on the lid) and then three coats of satin sheen rattle can lacquer (4 on the lid).

Hardware installation…. full mortise lock, recessed strike plate, hinge and lid stays was all tricky and took much longer than it should have.

Furniture Plant Table Drawer Cabinetry


Cabinetry Furniture Drawer Chair Chest of drawers


the cat seems to approve….

Cabinetry Cat Wood Felidae Carnivore


Wrote up a project post here

Thanks for following along this 3 year odyssey and for all the encouraging comments and helpful hints.
Very accurate. Congratulations!
 

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