Eastern Shore Chest · 2019. 4. 9. · EASTERN SHORE CHEST 83 Eastern Shore Chest Here’s the...

13
Step by Step construction instruction. A complete bill of materials. Exploded view and elevation drawings. How-to photos with instructive captions. Tips to help you complete the project and become a better woodworker. To download these plans, you will need Adobe Reader installed on your computer. If you want to get a free copy, you can get it at: Adobe Reader. Having trouble downloading the plans? If you're using Microsoft Internet Explorer, right click on the download link and select "Save Target As" to download to your local drive. If you're using Netscape, right click on the download link and select "Save Link As" to download to your local drive. WJ010 “America’s leading woodworking authority”™ Eastern Shore Chest Published in Woodworker’s Journal “Woodworking Classics: Skill-Building Projects for the Home Woodworker” WOODWORKER'S JOURNAL ©2007 ALL RIGHTS RESERVED

Transcript of Eastern Shore Chest · 2019. 4. 9. · EASTERN SHORE CHEST 83 Eastern Shore Chest Here’s the...

Page 1: Eastern Shore Chest · 2019. 4. 9. · EASTERN SHORE CHEST 83 Eastern Shore Chest Here’s the perfect project for expanding you skill base with a router.This chest combines cope

• Step by Step constructioninstruction.

• A complete bill of materials.

• Exploded view and elevationdrawings.

• How-to photos with instructivecaptions.

• Tips to help you complete theproject and become a betterwoodworker.

To download these plans,you will need Adobe Reader

installed on your computer. If you want to geta free copy, you can get it at: Adobe Reader.

Having trouble downloading the plans?• If you're using Microsoft Internet

Explorer, right click on the download linkand select "Save Target As" to downloadto your local drive.

• If you're using Netscape, right click onthe download link and select "Save LinkAs" to download to your local drive.

WJ010

“America’s leading woodworking authority”™

Eastern Shore Chest

Published in Woodworker’s Journal “Woodworking Classics:Skill-Building Projects for the Home Woodworker”

WOODWORKER'S JOURNAL ©2007 ALL RIGHTS RESERVED

Page 2: Eastern Shore Chest · 2019. 4. 9. · EASTERN SHORE CHEST 83 Eastern Shore Chest Here’s the perfect project for expanding you skill base with a router.This chest combines cope

82 HOME PROJECTS WOODWORKER'S JOURNAL ©2007 ALL RIGHTS RESERVED

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EASTERN SHORE CHEST 83

Eastern Shore ChestHere’s the perfect project for expanding you skill base with a router. This chest

combines cope and stick joinery, sliding dovetails, panel raising and a few flutes

just for fun. It’s got the appearance and quality of an heirloom keepsake, so it’s an

excellent candidate for investing in premium lumber and taking your time

to get things just right.

This lidded chest was a dreamproject for Bill Hylton, one of our regularcontributors, for about six or sevenyears prior to his work on this story. For his inspiration, he modeled it after a similar chest he saw in the Museumof Early Southern Decorative Arts inWinston-Salem, North Carolina.

A few years later, he created thefinal design while writing a book aboutfurniture construction (IllustratedCabinetmaking, published by Reader’sDigest Books; ISBN 0762-1018-30). It served as the basis for a drawingshowing how a frame-and-panel chestshould be made.

Bill got his overall dimensions fromthe museum. Using a photo, he workedout the dimensions and made educatedguesses as to the joinery and construc-tion of the base, the chest bottom andthe back. Using a CAD program, thechest took it’s final form for this project.

Bill calls it the Eastern Shore Chestbecause the archetype was built(around 1760) in the part of Virginiathat’s on the eastern shore of theChesapeake Bay. It’s in no way a repro-duction or a duplicate of the museumpiece. For example, Bill used cope andstick joinery, unknown in the 1700s, toconstruct the frame-and-panel assem-blies. He also used some some eye-popping walnut rather than choosing apainted finish, like the original.

Planning and ShoppingThis is an ideal project for contem-

porary, router-cut cope and stick joinery.So, you won’t find the front, back andend assemblies constructed with mortiseand tenon joints. If you happen to haveIllustrated Cabinetmaking, you can com-pare the drawings on page 231 with thedrawings published here. Bill changedthe construction of the base frame, thestyle of the breadboard ends on the lidand the molding profiles.

The most obvious departure fromthe original chest is the wood and fin-ish. What better way to highlight thepanels than to use highly figured stockand a clear finish? Bill chose walnut, asit’s a native species that might have

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Cabinet Exploded View

84 HOME PROJECTS

6

3/4" 3/4"

115/16"

2" 21/16" R.

125/8"

55/8"

143/8"

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3/4"

3/4"3/8"

105/16"123/4"

3/4"

7/16"

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Typical Copeand StickJoint

Tombstone Panel(Front View)

Theauthorusedthe FreudCope andStick bit set #99-260

Fluted Stile(Front View)

VENEERINGBASICS

The authorattached highly figured, shop-made, veneer to plain sawnwalnut panels. Apply glue to the panelonly. Note that the panel is sitting on aplywood caul protected by wax paper.

Put the veneeronto the gluedpanel and prepare to clamp it upbetween a sandwich of plywood caulsprotected from the excess glue by layersof wax paper.

Use plenty of clamps to ensure that sufficient pressure is applied across theclamping cauls. Allow plenty of time forthe glue to cure: at a minimum, overnight.

been used in the 1700s to make achest like this.

Bill opted to use a less costly sec-ondary wood—poplar—for parts of thechest that don’t show. This was a com-mon practice in the 1700s, and it still istoday. The back assembly, chest floor,

back frame member and feet are allmade of poplar.

For hardware, Bill used a pair ofhand-forged fish-tail hinges from DaveFisher of Fisher Forge (610-562-5425;www.fisherforge.com) and bought cutnails—3d and 4d fine finish nails—fromTremont Nail Company (800-842-0560;www.tremontnail.com).

Taking Care of Prep WorkBill’s first job was to redraw the

plans, incorporating the changes hewanted to make. Then he prepared acutting list and, from that, estimated theamount of stock he’d need. It’s goodpractice to start a project by roughingout all the parts. This means laying outthe parts on your stock, then crosscut-ting, jointing and planing the stock torough dimensions. Mill your parts about1" longer, 1/8" or 1/4" wider, and about1/8" thicker than their finished sizes. It’salso wise to stack up the parts withstickers between them and allow themto acclimate to your shop. There usuallyis enough of a margin for re-flattening aboard that develops a modest bow, cupor twist. (Mild twisting did occur with oneof Bill’s lid boards.)

When his wood was ready, Bill start-ed with the frame-and-panel assemblies,moved on to the base and then assem-bled the chest body and mounted it onthe base. The lid and moldings weremade and installed last.

Before dressing out the workingstock, you may want to prepare somepoplar and made test cuts with yourcope and stick bits and with the panelraiser. It will help to establish the set-tings you’ll need for the appearancethat suits you.

As it turned out, to get the panelprofile he wanted, Bill had to cheat thesystem. The geometry of panel-raisingbits is inflexible. The width of bevel he

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EASTERN SHORE CHEST 85

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Top Rail (Front View)

Back Stile(Inside View)

Front Stile(Inside View)

One setof opposingstiles have

a short grooverouted in theirinside facesfor the lid

prop’s pivotdowel.

MATERIAL LIST – Front, End, and Back Assemblies

T x W x L

1 Stiles (2) 13/16" x 31⁄8" x 181⁄8"

2 Top Rail (1) 13/16" x 35⁄8" x 423⁄4"

3 Bottom Rail (1) 13/16" x 21⁄2" x 423⁄4"

4 Center Stile (1) 13/16" x 3" x 123⁄4"

5 Fluted Stiles (2) 13/16" x 4" x 123⁄4"

6 Tombstone Panels (2) 11/16" x 53⁄4" x 141⁄2"

7 Panels (2) 11/16" x 111⁄4" x 123⁄4"

8 End Front Stiles (2) 13/16" x 23⁄4" x 181⁄8"

9 End Back Stiles (2) 13/16" x 31⁄8" x 181⁄8"

10 End Top Rails (2) 13/16" x 35⁄8" x 141⁄8"

11 End Bottom Rails (2) 13/16" x 21⁄2" x 141⁄8"

12 End Panels (2) 11/16" x 141⁄8" x 123⁄4"

13 Back Stiles (2) 13/16" x 23⁄4" x 181⁄8"

14 Back Top Rail (1) 13/16" x 35⁄8" x 423⁄4"

15 Back Bottom Rail (1) 13/16" x 21⁄2" x 423⁄4"

16 Back Intermediate Stiles (3) 13/16" x 3" x 123⁄4"

17 Back Panels (4) 11/16" x 9" x 123⁄4"

17-7/8"

6"

5/8"

31

Lid Prop One square equals one inch.

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WOODWORKER'S JOURNAL ©2007 ALL RIGHTS RESERVED

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86 HOME PROJECTS

The tombstone panels (andthe rail that receives them)require some template routing. When raising thecurved ends of the panel, use a safety block to applydownward pressure.

was after was 3/4", rather than thestandard 1". From Freud, Bill bought bit(#99-511) to produce the width of bevelhe wanted, but the 25°- to 26° bevelangle was steeper than desirable. Histest cuts demonstrated that to get thecorrect fillet around the raised field, he’dhave to add 1/16" to the thickness of allhis stock. And, of course, that meantcutting the sticking profile a little deeper,too. Consequently, the rails and stilesare 13/16" thick, while the panels are11/16" thick.

If you experiment similarly with yourbits, label the final set of test samplesand save them for use in setting the bitsfor the actual working cuts.

The next step was to prepare theframe stock and panels. The latter waseasy, a matter of dressing the parts to13/16", ripping them to width, and

crosscutting them to length. The panelblanks were a slightly different matter.

Building the Chest BodyConstruction of the chest body is

largely a straightforward frame-and-panel affair. In brief, you cut the parts to width and length. Rout the copes,then the sticking. Raise the panels andassemble. There are a few departures inthis chest, and at least one in the wayBIll generally prefers to do things.

One of Bill’s idiosyncrasies with thistype of project is that he likes to allowthe stiles (just the full-length ones) torun long. It’s one less alignment tomake during assembly, when things canseem a little frantic. Instead, Bill allowssome excess to project past the rails.After the glue dries and the clampscome off, he trims off the excess and at

the same time squares the assembly.In this chest, you have some inter-

mediate stiles, which must be coped,and a front top rail that must be con-toured for the tombstone panels. Thetwo small cutouts can be roughed outwith a jigsaw, then routed to match atemplate. Do this before routing thecopes and the sticking. In addition, youhave the flutes to cut into the two stilesthat flank the tombstone panels.

The panels represent the biggestdepartures from the norm. What Billwanted in the panels was highly figuredgrain. He also wanted to book-matchthe pairs of panels, especially on thechest front. What he opted to do, withsome help from a friend with the righttools for the job (specifically, a 20" bandsaw and a drum sander), was to resawa block of expensive stock into veneers.

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EASTERN SHORE CHEST 87

OLD WORLD PANEL GEOMETRY REQUIRES

CAREFUL STOCK SELECTION

Field

Fillet

When you look at a raised panel cabinet, the size of the field (the flat centerplane) as it relates to the bevel’s width (or fillet) helps create the “look” of thepiece. And, of course, the fillet also has to be balanced against the widths of thestiles and rails. Getting the right “look” can be a tricky business!

Most standard panel-raising bits form a 1" fillet. The original cabinet, whichthis project is based on, has 3/4" fillets, made with a hand plane. To achieve a3/4" wide bevel on on your cabinet’s raised panels, use a Freud #99-511 bit. Tocreate the exact fillet using that specific bit, you’ll have to size your stock to theseexact thicknesses: 13/16" for the stiles and rails and 11/16" for the raised panels.

He milled stock for the panels fromstraight-grained walnut, then glued aleaf of veneer to each.

We won’t detail here how to resawon the band saw. Suffice it to say that ifyour resaw capacity isn’t 12" to 13", youcan resaw a 6" to 7"-wide block andbook-match the leaves to form widerveneers for the panels.

Once you have the veneers cut,they must be surfaced. Planing veneerscan be perilous, even when they arestraight-grained. Surfacing curly, burl orcrotch-grain veneers is best done on awide belt sander or drum sander. BIllwas able to smooth the face and backof each leaf at the same time andreduce them to a thickness of justunder 1/8" on a wide drum sander.

The conventional wisdom is thatyou must veneer both the face and theback to balance the panel. (If you don’t,the panel is likely to warp.) Here, thepanels are completely trapped in theirframes so it isn’t absolutely necessaryto veneer the panel backs. BIll didn’t.

Veneering panels for the chestrequires a dozen or so clamps (includingsome deep-throated ones), a couplepieces of 3/4" plywood, MDF ormelamine, and some waxed paper. Applyyellow glue to the panel, not the veneer,then place the veneer on the glue. Spreadwaxed paper on one plywood clampingboard, set the panel on it, cover it withmore waxed paper, then add the secondclamping board. (Waxed paper preventssqueeze-out from gluing the panel to theplywood.) Apply your clamps.

Be mindful of how raising the pan-els will parse their thickness. You needa 1/4"-thick tongue, and you also needthe raised field to be the thickness ofthe veneer. The seam between the sub-strate and the veneer will show if it fallson the bevel. BIll raised the panelsbefore the final thicknessing, sneaking

up on the “disappearance” of the seamfrom the bevel. Then he thickness-sanded the panels to get the propertongue dimension and to reduce thethickness of the raised field.

Raising a Tombstone PanelThe two tombstone panels on the

chest front require some extra work—some of it hand work—to shape andraise. To begin, make a template toshape the two panels (after they’vebeen veneered). BIll made his from 3/4"MDF, and he mounted 1/4"-thick fencesto locate the panel. After cutting therough contour on the top of a panel, setit on your template, clamp it securely,then use a router and flush-trimming bitto rout it to match the template. Ofcourse, the tight inside corners will have

to be pared square with a chisel.Raise the panel on the router table

next. Because of the arch, you can’tuse the fence to raise the top edge, but you can—and should—use it whenraising the side and bottom edges. Toreduce tearout, do the top edges first,then do one side, the bottom, and thesecond side. Now comes the handwork. (Relax…the panels are small, andthere are only two of them.)

Lay out the inside corners on theraised field and at the shoulders of thetongue that borders the bevel. Draw a lineacross the outside corners of the raisedfield. Then drop perpendicular lines fromthe arch to this shoulder line. The line atthe tongue can be sketched freehand.

With your bench chisels, cut awaythe inside corners of the raised field.

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88 HOME PROJECTS

Gluing up a complicated piece like this is noeasy task, but the author helps walk youthrough it with step-by-step instructionsstarting on this page.

After squaring up the inside cornersof the field with your bench chisels, switch toskew chisels—first right and then left—to finish the fillet.

You want square, straight shoulders.That done, use a small rule and a utilityknife to slice a line from the inside cor-ner of the field to the inside corner atthe edge of the panel. This is the junc-ture between the planes of the bevel.You must pare the bevels to this line,sloping them to match the rest of thebevel. For this work, you’ll need a pairof skewed chisels, one angled left, the

other angled right (see photo, left).Assemble the units one at a time.

The end units are easy, since each iscomposed of only two rails, two stiles,and a panel. The front and back unitsare more involved, so a dry-run isessential. Make sure the parts gotogether easily, your alignment marksare in place and all your clamps are athand. Here’s the assembly sequence: • Apply glue with a small brush to thestub tenon on the center stile and pushit into the top rail. Use a center mark onthe stile and align it with a mark on therail. Apply a clamp to seat the stile. • Fit the panels in place. No glue, ofcourse, to allow for wood movement.• Apply glue to the flankingintermediate stiles and fitthem to the rail. Apply

clamps to seat and hold them. • Install the remaining panels. • Remove the clamps and tip theassembly up so glue can be applied tothe stub tenons on the three stiles.• Fit the bottom rail onto the assembly.Use center marks to align the rail withouthaving to slide it (to keep glue out of thegroove so it won’t stick to the panel). • Apply glue to the rail ends and fit thefull-length stiles. • Extend long clamps across the assem-bly at each rail, then reapply clampsacross the assembly at each stile.

That’s it. Once the units all areassembled, trimmed, and sanded, cutthe rabbets that join them. You also

need to cut a stopped dado in thefront and the back for the lid

prop. That done, assemblethe four units to form the

chest body.

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EASTERN SHORE CHEST 89

Lay out the centerpoints of the concave arcson each blank,measuring fromthe bottom andthe bevelededges. Then useappropriately sized Forstner bits (11⁄8" and 11⁄2"respectively) to bore holes at these spots.

Next, trace the pattern onto eachface, using theholes to orient thepattern. Rememberthat there are leftand right, as well asend and front pieces.

Cut the verticalshoulder on thetable saw. This way,you’ll get a straightcut of a consistentheight on eachblank. White pencilor chalk is easier to see on walnut than aregular pencil line.

Use the band sawto cut the convexarcs, freeing thewaste (which is theperfect size to useas glue blocks later,when attaching thefeet). Sand the sawmarks smooth using a drum sander on yourdrill press.

3/4"

3/4"

25/8"

31/2"

41/8"

25/8"

31/2"

3/4"

3/4"

115/16"

73/8"

25/8"

5"

31/8"

41/2"6"

CL

Building the BaseThe base frame, upon which the

chest body rests, is a flat frame formedfrom three pieces of 5/4 walnut (thefront and two end members) and onepiece of 5/4 poplar (the back member).The back joins the ends with mortiseand loose-tenon joints. The ends andfront are joined with splined miters. Millthe stock, cut the parts, cut the joints,and glue your frame together.

More involved to make are the feet.Each is an assembly, consisting of twoshaped faces, joined end-to-end in amiter joint and reinforced with a triangu-lar glue block. The assembled feet aresimply glued to the underside of thebase frame at the corners.

Begin constructing the feet bymaking a cardboard pattern, using thedrawings at right. Note that the facesfor the ends of the chest are 1/2" nar-rower than those on the front. The backfaces are simple poplar blocks.

Cut the blanks to size next. First, millthe stock to 7/8" thick and rip it to width.Then cut a 45˚ bevel on one end of eachpiece. While you can trace the contour ofthe bracket on the blank, cut to the line onthe band saw, and smooth the edges, Billtook a different tact. First, he laid out thecenterpoints of the concave arcs on eachblank, measuring from the bottom and thebeveled edges. At the drill press, he usedForstner bits to bore holes at these spots(see photo, top right). This ensured thatthe arcs would be consistently sized andplaced. After tracing the pattern onto eachface, he cut the vertical shoulder on thetable saw. This way, you’ll get a straightcut of a consistent height on each blank.On the band saw, cut the convex arcs,freeing the waste. (Use them as glueblocks later, when attaching the feet.)

After sanding the contoured edges(use a drum sander chucked in your drillpress), rip the excess from each face.

Glue the feet together in two stagesassembling the miters first, then addingthe glue blocks. As you do this, be sureto create the assemblies you need (i.e.,glue a right front face to a left sideface). Glue the feet to the frame.

Mounting the Body on the BaseOnce the chest body and the base

assembly are glued up, you can join

41/8"

them. Set the chest body bottom up onthe bench or assembly table. Apply abead of glue to the edges, then alignthe base on it. Mark the center of thebody and the base and line up the twomarks, making sure the back edge ofbase is flush with the plane of the chestback. Apply a couple of clamps to holdthings, then drill pilot holes and drive 124d cut nails through the base into the

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90 HOME PROJECTS

After plowing a 5/16" groove centered onthe edge of the breadboard ends (to removemost of the waste), the author formed a3/4"-deep dovetail groove.

The author made some handy clamping cauls to help hold the mitered foot joint firmly. The tri-angular blocks are glued to 1/4" plywood. The plywood is clamped to the foot blank andpressure is applied to the triangular blocks. Easy and effective.

edges of the chest body.Make and install the chest floor next.

Use random-width strips of poplar, thick-nessed to 3/4", for this. Cut shiplaps onthe edges and fit the strips one by one tothe chest. Install the strips with 3d cutnails, as shown in the drawing on thenext page.

While you’re working on the chest,make and fit the lid prop. A till wasa common feature of chests like this,and the till lid doubled as a prop for thechest lid. You’d open the chest lid, liftthe till lid just past perpendicular, thenlower the chest lid against its corner.Bill didn’t include the till, but he didadapt the till lid as a lid prop.

Cut the prop and trim it to just fitbetween the front and back of thechest. Bore a hole into each end for apivot dowel, and drive a dowel intoeach hole, trimming as necessary sothey’ll drop more easily into the dadoescut for the purpose. Shape the prophowever you like, but leave it about 6"wide at the back end so it can supportthe lid. That corner can be trimmedafter the lid is hinged to the chest.

For the base molding, use a coveand bead profile that you can make onthe router table with a 3/8"-radius

roundover bit and a 1/2"-diameter round-nose bit. Form the profile on both edgesof a long strip of walnut, then rip themfrom the blank. Crosscut the parts torough length, then miter-cut the ends andglue them to the chest and base.

Making the Breadboard Lid The lid is a broad panel with bread-

board ends, mitered at the front andsquare at the back. The molding alongthe front edge and across the ends hasa quarter-round profile, with a Romanogee below it forming the lip. The lid ishinged to the chest with hand-forgedfishtail hinges.

Breadboard ends help prevent thebroad panel from cupping and alsomake it easier to attach the lid moldingacross the ends, since you end up witha long-grain to long-grain glue joint. The joinery presents the challenge. The breadboard end is crossgrain, sogluing it securely to the end of the lidvirtually guarantees the panel will bucklein humid conditions and split in dryones. Bill opted to use an unglued slid-ing dovetail to mount the ends to thepanel. Since the ends are joined to thelid at the front with miters, glue themthere. Here’s how to make the lid.

Start with 5/4 stock, face-jointingand planing it to 7/8" thick. Cut the twobreadboard ends and set them aside.Next, edge-glue boards to form a panel197⁄8" wide and 50" long. Rip the panelto exactly 171⁄8". The 25⁄8" strip that youend up with (1/8" is lost to the cut) willbe mitered and become the front edgethat joins the breadboard ends. Finally,cut equal amounts from both ends ofthe panel, reducing its length to 443⁄4".

Cutting Sliding Dovetail Joints Rout a centered dovetail groove

in one edge of each breadboard end.Use a 1/2", 7° or 8° dovetail bit, andmake the groove exactly 3/4" deep. It’sbeneficial to use a 5/16" straight bit torout a centered groove first. This elimi-nates as much waste as possiblebefore switching to the dovetail bit andforming the dovetail groove.

When you cut the grooves, alsocut the same groove in a gauge madeof the same stock as the breadboardends. (Use the scrap crosscut from thepanel, for example.) The gauge shouldbe about 4" long.

The next process is to cut a matingdovetail on both ends of the panel.Don’t touch the bit as you change overthe table setup. You need to use the

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Base Exploded View

EASTERN SHORE CHEST 91

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Chest Bottom Boards (End View)

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MATERIAL LIST – Base

T x W x L

18 Base Frame Front (1) 7/8" x 23⁄4" x 50"

19 Base Frame Ends (2) 7/8" x 23⁄4" x 201⁄2"

20 Base Frame Back (1) 7/8" x 23⁄4" x 441⁄2"

21 Bracket Front Feet (2) 7/8" x 41⁄8" x 73⁄8"

22 Bracket End Feet (4) 7/8" x 41⁄8" x 67⁄8"

23 Bracket Back Feet (2) 7/8" x 41⁄8" x 25⁄8"

24 Blockings, Front (2) 5/4 Poplar

25 Blockings, Back (2) 5/4 Poplar

26 Chest Bottom Boards (5) 3/4" x 33⁄8" x 465⁄8"

27 Chest Bottom Board (1) 3/4" x 3" x 465⁄8"

28 Base Molding (1) 3/4" x 3/4" x 96"

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3/4" 3/4"

115/16"

3"

1/2"

1/2"

45°

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3/4" 3/4"

115/16"

1/2"

2"

3/8"

5/8"

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3/4" 3/4"

115/16"

1/4" Dia.

3/8" R.

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Base Frame End(Front Miter; Top andSide Views)

Base Frame Back(Top and Side Views)

Base Molding(End View)

Base Frame End(Back Mortise; Top and SideViews)

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Page 12: Eastern Shore Chest · 2019. 4. 9. · EASTERN SHORE CHEST 83 Eastern Shore Chest Here’s the perfect project for expanding you skill base with a router.This chest combines cope

Lid Exploded View

92 HOME PROJECTS

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3/4" 3/4"

115/16"

3/4" R.

Ogee3/4"

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Breadboard End, Lid and Molding(Section View)

MATERIAL LIST – Lid

T x W x L

29 Lid* (1) 7/8" x 197⁄8" x 50"

30 Breadboard Ends (2) 7/8" x 25⁄8" x 193⁄4"

31 Molding (1) 3/4" x 11⁄4 " x 90"

32 Lid Prop (1) 3/4" x 6" x 177⁄8 "

33 Pivots (2) 3/8" Dia. x 11⁄4 " dowel

34 Strap Hinges (2) Wrought iron

* Overall size: After ripping the front edge off, the length is trimmed to 443⁄4".

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3131

same height setting for the tail that youdid for the slots. Just shift the fence tohouse all but an edge of the bit. Makesetup cuts on your scraps of the lidstock, sneaking up on the width ofdovetail that fits the grooves you’vealready cut. When the fence setting isperfect, cut a dovetail across each end.

Now miter the breadboard endsand the strip ripped from the panel. Theends are easy, but the panel strip mustfit just right. The miter-to-miter distancemust exactly match the shoulder-to-shoulder length of the lid. Miter one endof the strip, then clamp it to the panelto mark the opposite end.

To help align the mitered elementwith the lid when regluing it to the lid,

use biscuits. After mitering the ends,clamp the strip in place and mark thebiscuit locations. Then cut the slots.

Assemble the lid. First, drive thebreadboard ends onto the dovetails. No glue, remember. It helps to clampthe front strip to the panel—no glue—while you do this. Then remove thestrip, spread glue along its edge and on the miters, and remount it. Installclamping cauls for flat miters to the lidas you do this, so you can apply aclamp perpendicular to each miter.

Adding Lid MoldingThe lid molding consists of two

profiles routed on the same piece ofwood. Because it’s easier to glue and

clamp it to the lid while it’s square, hold off routing the large quarter-roundprofile until after the molding is glued inplace on the lid.

Rout the Roman ogee profilebefore mounting it. Mill this ogee onboth edges of a strip about 3" wide and52" long. Then rip the strip into two11⁄2"-wide strips. Halve one strip, miterthe ends, and glue them to the lid.

After the glue is dry and anysqueeze-out cleaned up, rout the quarter-round with a 3/4"-radiusroundover bit. The pilot bearing willhang below the profile, so you must use an edge guide to control the cut.

When you are done, sand themolding well to remove the mill marks.

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Page 13: Eastern Shore Chest · 2019. 4. 9. · EASTERN SHORE CHEST 83 Eastern Shore Chest Here’s the perfect project for expanding you skill base with a router.This chest combines cope

EASTERN SHORE CHEST 93

The lid prop,supported by two shortdowels, holdsthe finishedcabinet open,exposing thehand-forgedhinges.

Sliding dovetails are the perfect joinery choice whenwood movement is an issueMill these on the router table.

Installing HIngesThe hand-forged hinges BIll chose

look great and work well. The leaf thatmounts to the lid is 16" long, and theone that mounts to the chest has aright-angle bend. It sits on the top edge of the back and extends down the inside face. To accommodate thebarrel, the chest leaf must be recessedinto the chest back. Form a notch inthe top rail that’s about 1/2" deep.

Mount the hinges to the lid first.Line them up on the underside with the hinge pins parallel to the edge. (It may not be perfectly square, butthat’s the charm of handmade hard-ware.) Then screw them in place. Set the lid and hinges on the top backedge of the chest and mark along thehinges in the chest edge. Cut thenotches. Bill found that he could set thelid in place, with the hinges down in thenotches and the prop holding the lidopen. It stayed that way, freeing hishands for drilling pilots and driving theremaining screws.

Finishing UpBill used multiple coats of Waterlox

to finish his chest. He brushed on thefirst and second coats, then appliedsubsequent coats with a soft, lint-freecloth. A rub-down with fine steel-woolbetween coats ensures a smooth finish.Clean up all the dust and debris withtack cloths before applying more finish.

This dream project was a long timein the works, but as you can see by theresults, it was well worth the wait. Goodluck with yours!

WOODWORKER'S JOURNAL ©2007 ALL RIGHTS RESERVED