Steamer Chest Humpback

[Absinthe]

I am looking for some pointers in the right direction for making one of these.

 

[Jim M.]

Did you look on YouTube? I usually find a bunch of different videos, then gleam something from each for whatever project I'm about to build.

https://youtu.be/QYgAz0Y9pfs

 

[Jeff]

How about a picture or sketch of what you'd like to make with a few rough dimensions. The box is like a blanket chest but the lid will be curved instead of flat.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=w6ZvYfr4D-I

http://www.rockler.com/build-your-o...MItb7Oyfmx1QIVEh2BCh3BXQKIEAYYASABEgKB6PD_BwE

 

[sawman101]

Coincidentally I have a commission to make a glass top table that will sit firmly, but with no attachment to, a dome top trunk. I'll build that after I finish a very similar project on an old lobster trap. She wants all the original need and rustic look preserved.

 

[scsmith42]

Our very own Bill Burton (W Burton) crafted a really nice steamer chest a few years back. Here is a link to the thread about it:

https://www.ncwoodworker.net/forums/showthread.php?t=46105&highlight=chest

He sourced his plans and hardware from Rockler.

 

[Absinthe]

These are all nice but I must be using the wrong term to describe it.

More like this shape, https://a.1stdibscdn.com/archivesE/upload/8824/356/XXX_8824_1288897295_1.jpg

I assume there will be some steam bending involved, and some kind of "form" necessary. But I am only guessing.

 

[scsmith42]

That looks like a Steamer Chest to me. Years ago I saw some original ones; as I recall the top was made from a 3 ply laminate of some type.

That would not be too much of a surprise since veneering has been around for a few hundred years.

 

[KenOfCary]

Yep, find those at the flea market in Hillsville all the time. I guess they have a rounded top so that they can't be crushed by having something stacked 5 layers deep on top of them. Just guessing about that last part.

 

[Jeff]

It's still a sea chest but maybe the better name for the lid top is domed, humpback, or camel back.

The description says that the top is 1/8" t laminated. So maybe 1/8" t, 3 ply bending plywood would work and then the oak strips go over that to hold everything together.

Here's a pine and oak chest, circa 1880-1890.

http://www.thepirateslair.com/723-large-restored-dometop-antique-trunk.html

Dome Top Antique Trunk - #723
Rare Dometop as These Antique Trunks Were Not Made Much Bigger than this for Practical Use. A Huge Late 19th Century (1880s-1890s) All Wood Dome Top Antique Trunk with a Rich Even Natural Golden-Brown Finish to the 110+ Year Old Pine Body and Wide Darker Red Oak Wood Slats Offering a Fantastic Contrast to the Polished Silvery-Black Heavy Duty Hardware Still Retaining Much of its Original Black Japanning. Original Hardware Consists of a Lid Lift, Edge Guards, 2 Nail Strips Across the Body and Lid, and Dated Front Latches: Jul 9 1872. Original End Caps and New Leather Handles. Fantastic Grain with Lots of Character to the Extra Thick Planks Used in this Construction. Working Dated Brass Lock, No Key (Jun 13, 1882). 3 Heavy Duty Rear Hinges. Historically Significant: The Curved or Dome Lid on this Trunk Has Been Constructed with the Very First Manufactured Use of Very Thin 1/8" Thick Sheets of Laminated Pine of What We Now Refer to as Plywood! Original Document Pouch Under the Lid Which Held Travel Papers and Passports.


CALL TO ORDER 540 659 6209

 

[Jeff]

So how to build the lid with that profile and looking at the pictures. Thinking, thinking, and head scratching...:icon_scra

Kind of like a wood barrel sawed in half vertically and the staves would be used to make the lid? Coopered solid wood staves or maybe 1/4"- 3/8" bending plywood attached to a bending frame which becomes the lid of the chest?

The wood bending has to be in 2 perpendicular directions to get the "humpback" profile like an eggshell/2.