LumberJocks Woodworking Forum banner

Project Information

Inés received a heirloom silver cutlery set from her husband family. (The one in the main photo is her mother, or SWMBO) The set had previously been divided between her husband´s family. They received a fancy shoe box with half of the original 12 piece set tidy individually wrapped.

Guess what!.

Right. For sure I can make a chest for it.

Even I am by no mean an artist, I do not like building anything custom with all the details and specifications. The only condition accepted was to use a clear wood. So I just drank twice and start thinking about it.

Ines lives in Rio (Brazil). She asked my not to send any photos of the chest, until finished and delivered. So for the time being she doesn´t know the outcome of the project.

I started in April 3. Wood used are lignun vitae for cutlery dividers, ebony for the plugs, and wood of flooring which I am still in process of finding out what it is.

Measures (h x w x d) 30×43 x 37 cm ( 12" x 17 1/4" x 14 13/16")
and each drawer 4×36x 30 cm ( 1 5/8" x 14 3/8" x 12")

FInished with sealer an nitro laquer.

Quite frankly, I was not keen of G &G style. Watched some YT videos, surfed the web, and dove into LJ Thorsen Table Challenge entries, and finally decided to tackle a G&G stye. During the process I found Don´s blog on the Aurora table, that also helped a lot (Thanks everybody !)

A couple of years back, my wife found some flooring scrap in the street, and she just picked up and filled her minivan with all the wood she could. Still after some boxes made, there is some stock left.



Of course, the wood needed some cleanig, planning, and cutting to length..





After cleaning and planning the width barely was 3/8". So I decided to try my new Rockler doweling jig and start making side and back panels.



I still use my ipaper sKetch up for designing. So far so good.



But I also found in the file section of a Yahoo G&G group, a good pdf sketch of a table, which I used to cut the cloud front divider.





But at the time of cutting to length the panel, I didn´t take into account where the dowels were. With such a fortune that after routing the raised panel the dowel popped out !!



So finally I found a place for the signature





Since the wood was only 3/8" , I glued 3 previously rounded pieces for the handles. At the end is pretty much easier than carving a whole piece.



I have a metric set of chisels. 6mm would be fine for the peg squares I thought. Didn´t account that there were only 38 small 6mm sqaures to mortise !!. Made the first 6 of the drawers.



Almost half an hour for the first one. OK. A more clever way should be around LJ or google. There I went.

I finally bought from Rockler a 1/4" mortiser chisel. What a breeze. I finished the mortises in half an hour.

The pegs are another story. As someone said, making 40 of anything is a pain in the A. Fortunaltely I found a Ytube video by William of http://wnwoodworkingschool.com/ explaining how to speed up the process with a drill and several grades of sanding paper. I use 220 up to 1500, and then a buffing wheel.







The lid has a small lock. And to simultaneously close the drawers, I included a rudimentary mechanism at the back. When the lid is closed, the drawers back are catched by the aluminium foil, and cannot be opened. Pretty simple. The drawback is that even if the lock is unlocked, you need to open the lid in order to open any drawer. So is a two step process.





I use some lignum vitae wood for holding the cutlery inside the drawers. I think it weights the same as all the chest.





This was the hardest and most time consuming part of all. Not cutting, but designing it. Actually was the first step. The dimensional of the chest and each drawer was a result of how the cutlery were to be ordered.



OK, that´s all folks,

Thanks for passing by

Gallery

Comments

· Registered
Joined
·
9,309 Posts
excellent work

and a great build
and build blog

very nice
 

· Registered
Joined
·
779 Posts
My hat's off to anyone who can make recycling look this good…..................
 

· Registered
Joined
·
44 Posts
Love this project. A splendid job Fernando.
 

· Registered
Joined
·
156 Posts
Absolutely beautiful.

Randy
 

· Registered
Joined
·
7,192 Posts
Wow Fernando! There's a lot of work in that and I bet it was quite a challege. Nice build my friend.
 

· Registered
Joined
·
2,185 Posts
Zowie. Way to go Fernando!
Just a super project, and yes, 40 of anything is a pain.

A whole bunch of surprises on this one: the locking drawers, the cloud lift, the signature, the cutlery holders…...

Very nice,
Steve
 

· Registered
Joined
·
4,567 Posts
Fernando, that is one beautiful chest!!! And thanks for including the build photos. that is always neat to see how a piece comes together. and just think, that wood would have probably been burned. See all that flooring reminds me of the project Tyskkvinna (LJ) has. She has a room piled high with old maple flooring that needs to be recycled as you did.

Thanks for sharing!!.....................Jim
 

· Registered
Joined
·
20,030 Posts
Beautiful job. Shows what a real craftman can do!
 

· Registered
Joined
·
841 Posts
Absolutely outstanding in every aspect-design, detail, execution and delight in the lady's eyes,
 

· Registered
Joined
·
7,180 Posts
Very impressive, Fernando! The skill and time you spent on this beauty sure shows! And the pretty smile on SWMBO's face says it all…

Thanks for sharing so many photos of your build…
 

· Registered
Joined
·
215 Posts
Beautiful chest. There are so many wonderful details.
 

· Registered
Joined
·
6,840 Posts
A beautiful chest, and great description of how it was built!
 

· Registered
Joined
·
432 Posts
That is a beautiful build. I like the drawers, and the way the joinery meets the slides. I like the drawer lock, keeping everything in place.
I think it's fantastic the way you recovered from the dowel "popping out". I have had similar experience with a table top I made, except it was a biscuit that popped out.
I am forever jealous of the casual use of Lignum Vitae. It is a great choice of course, and it will be perfect there, where you used it. I am only jealous due to you have it and I don't. :)

Thanks for the post and a special thanks for all the pictures!
 

· Registered
Joined
·
7,151 Posts
Hey Fernando - this is quite an epic build! It turned out beautiful - the details are superb. Love the handles, the signature, the re-purposed flooring :) and the lock buried in the thin panel. I am curious what kind of wood this is and good for your wife to load up the van!

Nice to see the build photos also - thanks my friend!
 

· Registered
Joined
·
188 Posts
Now I am going to have to find an actress or model to display my projects. You have set the bar very high Mr. India. I get the feeling, even though I have witnessed the pictures, that no human could have built your chest It seems like the parts just blend into each other, although my logic and the pictures tell me otherwise. I must go back and look again. Very, very nice.
 

· Plus Member
Joined
·
397 Posts
This is great. It immediately reminded me that instead of housing all of our silver service in the top drawer of the sideboard, a box would be lovely. I really appreciate your effort in detailing the design of this piece. I too have used old flooring- it's good wood and even better when it is free! Fernando it is also refreshing to hear how you handled the minor setbacks. Honestly most people wouldn't mention them, but your willingness to do so shows just how clever and resourceful you are which are the skills of a true craftsman. Bravo for a wonderful piece.
Thank you for sharing….....
 

· Registered
Joined
·
13 Posts
Great work, blog, and smile!
 

· Registered
Joined
·
19,753 Posts
Outstanding design and workmanship ,what a beautiful chest.
 

· In Loving Memory (Eddie)
Joined
·
6,710 Posts
Fernando,hard to believe that something so stunning used to be somebody scrap .one mans trash is another treasure. absolutely beautiful
 

· Registered
Joined
·
4,124 Posts
Thaks for sharing the journey, the mistakes, and the present of a loving craftsman. "Wow" , wish I could build that. :)

In my dreams! LOL!
 
Top