Small blanket chest project

[Charlie Buchanan]

My wife wants a sitting place in the bathroom. Not a shower seat but a place to sit while dressing, etc. I thought of a small blanket chest to match the cherry vanity I built for the bathroom a couple of years back. I worked out this design to fit into the space. It’s about 26” x 20” x 21” high—a little higher than a side chair.

The top will be hinged over a storage space and there is a drawer below the storage. The construction is frame and panel (or post and panel—whatever the correct term).
I’ve just started construction and will post photos as I move along.


Starting with the legs milled to size and still square I laid out and cut the mortises using a bench mortiser, cleaned the mortise out with chisel and made a sample block from a leg cut-off. The sample lets me try the tenons for fit without using the legs.

After milling the rails to size I cut the tenons using a box joint set on table saw. Rails are cut to tenon shoulder length plus 1 1/2“ since I’m using 3/4” tenons on this job. I’ve used different methods but this seems to work best for me.

Testing the tenon setup for tenon thickness and centering. I use a cutoff from a milled rail to dial in the tablesaw setup. I'm Using 5/16”mortises and tenons here.

 

[Knuckles]

Looks like you have this well in control. can"t wait to see finished product.

 

[Wilsoncb]

Great idea. You know it’s going to turn out great when you see the WIP stacked with stickers.

 

[Graywolf]

Looking good Charlie

 

[Bill Clemmons]

Nice tight tenons, Charlie. Looking forward to the in-progress pics.

 

[Dee2]

My wife wants a sitting place in the bathroom. Not a shower seat but a place to sit while dressing, etc. I thought of a small blanket chest to match the cherry vanity I built for the bathroom a couple of years back. I worked out this design to fit into the space. It’s about 26” x 20” x 21” high—a little higher than a side chair.
View attachment 227250The top will be hinged over a storage space and there is a drawer below the storage. The construction is frame and panel (or post and panel—whatever the correct term).
I’ve just started construction and will post photos as I move along.


Starting with the legs milled to size and still square I laid out and cut the mortises using a bench mortiser, cleaned the mortise out with chisel and made a sample block from a leg cut-off. The sample lets me try the tenons for fit without using the legs.
After milling the rails to size I cut the tenons using a box joint set on table saw. Rails are cut to tenon shoulder length plus 1 1/2“ since I’m using 3/4” tenons on this job. I’ve used different methods but this seems to work best for me.
Testing the tenon setup for tenon thickness and centering. I use a cutoff from a milled rail to dial in the tablesaw setup. I'm Using 5/16”mortises and tenons here.

As you continue, the compilation recording your work will make a great addition to the Resource forum. Please consider.

 

[HITCH-]

Looking good!

 

[Charlie Buchanan]

Next phase fit each tenon, assemble components dry for test fit and confirm measurements for drawer runners.

This little skew plane is great for refining the tenons for a tight fit. It’s a left-hand skew so it runs tight to the shoulder for a right handed person.

The left end component framefitted and dry assembled.


The full frame dry fit seen from rear corner. Next, disassemble and run the panel grooves on the table saw.

Next to come: make the panels, shape the curve on the bottom rails, and taper the legs below bottom rails—-coming soon

 

[Charlie Buchanan]

Great idea. You know it’s going to turn out great when you see the WIP stacked with stickers.

Learned that the hard way. My shop is unheated. I once left a freshly milled board flat on the bench only to find it picked up twist in a couple of days.

 

[Charlie Buchanan]

Now that frames and posts are dry fit and grooved it’s panel time. I confirmed the measurements for the panels from assembled dry-fit. After cutting to size I’ve found the best way to start the panel-raising process is to cut a rough bevel on table saw to remove bulk of the waste.


i use a tenon jig tilted to the right overall angle cutting across grain first, then along grain. Works great for small panels. This produces a simple bevel which is then shaped with a panel-raising router bit.

since I removed the majority of the waste on the saw only one pass of the panel-raiser is needed. I use a gripper to push the panel across the bit for added safety.
At this point only finish sanding and final fit check are needed.

If this were a period piece I would have done the shaping after sawing the bevel with hand planes to get a period surface. But it’s not; so a machined and sanded surface is good.

 

[bob vaughan]

I like seeing the process photos. Thanks.

 

[JNCarr]

Looking great - thanks for the build photos and commentary.

 

[Charlie Buchanan]

With all the panels raised, fitted and sanded it’s time for tapering the legs i want to dry assemble to get a first look at a side component. Because this is a short 5 1/2 inch taper I marked them out and cut them freehand on the bandsaw. After the saw it I planed across grain to remove the ridge at the end of the bandsaw cut.

Next I planed the taper to remove saw marks, and finally hit them with 220 grit on a ROS.
Now I can assemble the right end component for a look.

Next step is pre-finishing the panels before assembly. A couple of dry days should allow the panels time to dry. Then a couple of glue-up sessions assembling ends, back and front panels, and finally joining all the components together to form the case. Twenty-eight MT joints altogether in the case.

 

[Charlie Buchanan]

Panels have been prefinished with a shellac sealer then a couple of coats of satin polyurethane wiped on. Frame has been shellac sealed and sanded ready for glue-up.

Parts are assembled for one of the end components and glued up. I glue up the end panels and the rear panel. The end components incorporate a tenoned guide for the side-hung drawer.
Rear panel assembly will connect the end components.
The front of the piece is a wide solid panel at the top with a flush drawer at bottom. Once the case is together I’ll make the drawer to fit. The hinged top/seat comes last.

 

[bob vaughan]

Great process photos. I ejnoy seeing them.
It didn't take me but just a few raised panel jobs to realize that prefinishing the panels was a wise move.

 

[Charlie Buchanan]

The case is glued up. Ready to make the drawer.


I lay out the tails on poplar drawer sides. I tape the sides together and saw the tails on both sides at once. Since the drawer will be side-hung I leave an extra wide pin in the center so that the drawer front serves as a stop against the hanger rail. The third photo shows the side drawer guides. The groove will be fitted with a hanger rail to engage the groove on the drawer side.

 

[Charlie Buchanan]

Glueing up the case I was reminded why I like hide glue. I buttered up a set of mortises on one face of a leg—reached for the corresponding rails and realized I had brushed glue in the wrong mortises. With hide glue it was not a big glitch. I wiped out the excess glue with a paper towel wrapped around a stick. Since hide glue is easily reactivated with fresh hot hide I didn’t have to worry about getting all the glue out. And I went ahead with the glue-up.

Here’s my cheap glue pot I’ve been using for years. It’s a soup heater from Target with a hole cut in the top to fit a jelly jar. The rim of the jelly jar holds the jar suspended in water. The pot has a thermostat that will keep the water at 145 degrees. I use a food thermometer to monitor the temperature. It takes about 20 minutes to raise the glue to 145 from 60 degrees.

 

[Charlie Buchanan]

After taking a few days off to take care of other things I got back to the small chest. I glued up and fitted the drawer, glued up and beveled a panel for the bottom.


The drawer uses the thickness of the front as a depth stop and the maple hanger strip is set to stop the drawer at the right depth.



The bottom panel is poplar like the drawer sides-it is beveled on three sides to slide into the groove. I just used the jack plane to bevel the edges. Plane marks are on the drawer bottom. I’ll finish the drawer sides and bottom with shellac just to seal the surface. The groove and slide rail gets some wax occasionally so that it slides smoothly.

 

[Charlie]

Beautiful work!

 

[JNCarr]

A great demonstration of the craft!
Very nice!