About that 6-board Chest

Posted on July 12, 2012 by

Yes, I finished it. I actually wrote about it on the Popular Woodworking blog, not here. Sorry about that legerdemain, a man’s gotta eat.

Read about the chest here. More to come.

— Christopher Schwarz

About lostartpress

Publisher of woodworking books and DVDs specializing in hand tool techniques.
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29 Responses to About that 6-board Chest

  1. Eric R says:
    July 12, 2012 at 11:31 pm

    That came out really sharp.
    That color is very nice too.

  2. Phil Spencer says:
    July 12, 2012 at 11:53 pm

    Has that been finished with Milk paint? I have been looking for a box for my patio to put my chain saw in, the six board chest would look good and double as a seat.

  3. Eric Bennett says:
    July 13, 2012 at 12:58 am

    Chainsaw? I was thinking Hudson Bay Blankets. So you can sit and play your banjo?
    I can say that – I’m half Spencer.

    • FIG Woodworks says:
      July 13, 2012 at 1:16 am

      I made a chest for my chain saw and Mrs Phil declared it was too good for a chainsaw and appropriated it for her blankets, so I have to make another box and this one looks like it would suit a chainsaw on the patio.

      • Eric Bennett says:
        July 13, 2012 at 6:39 am

        Ha – I thought you were joking – but you’re right and it’ll sure beat a molded plastic tote.

  4. abtuser says:
    July 13, 2012 at 2:05 am

    Very nice Chris. Agree with the choice of color comments, great look.

    • abtuser says:
      July 13, 2012 at 2:06 am

      And I did catch the Pop Wood post too. The video looks like it’ll be a nice addition to the collection.

  5. Shawn Nichols says:
    July 13, 2012 at 7:56 am

    This would go great in my three-season room. It has extra seating and let’s me put some of the yard toys away. Any reservations about of leaving it in a covered three season room in Cleveland, OH?

    Looks great Chris.

    -Shawn

  6. Shawn Nichols says:
    July 13, 2012 at 7:57 am

    One more thing: do you plan to show the painting technique in the DVD?

    Thanks.

  7. David Pickett says:
    July 13, 2012 at 8:08 am

    Just a small suggestion for anybody living in a part of the world where outdoor humidity may be frequently different to indoor conditions – cut the parts and rough plane them, then put them to adjust to indoor conditions for a few weeks. Let the wood shrink, if it’s going to, before you assemble the chest. Then it’s more likely to be stable when it’s finished.

    I know they didn’t do that four centuries ago, but then ‘central heating’ was a fire in the middle of the room. Not much difference between indoor conditions and outdoor.

    Quite how you convince Domestic Management that having a pile of planks lying in a prominent place is a good idea is entirely a matter for you.

    • fitzpatm says:
      July 13, 2012 at 9:30 am

      What’s wrong with a pile of planks in the dining room? (That’s the primary use for mine.)

  8. Board chair man says:
    July 13, 2012 at 10:41 am

    Thanks for getting me to thinking about yet another project. Whilst thinking, I was contemplating using wood I already own. Which got me to thinking about proportions – it would seem to me that the dimensions of this chest could all, or mostly, be expressed in terms of a ratio to the width of the boards you are starting with – for example, if I have a lot of well dried heart pine boards that are about 11″ wide or so, I should be able to build a scaled down version, using the width of the boards as my unit measure.

    Is this something that will be included in the DVD?

  9. tsstahl says:
    July 13, 2012 at 1:06 pm

    I’m interested in how you leveled the feet. I slapped a utilitarian one of these together last year. Leveling gave me so much trouble i gave up and screwed in some pedestrian levelers from the home center.

    • Sean says:
      July 13, 2012 at 1:21 pm

      Level it like anything else: Put it on your bench and use a level to guide shimming the feet so the top reads level – across and deep at both ends. Then use a Fastcap Accuscribe or self-made similar implement to mark the feet. Remove the excess on all feet per your marks, and viola – leveled.

  10. Bob Miller says:
    July 13, 2012 at 3:32 pm

    Are you trying to invent the next stage of mainlyness? So you can say to people “Not only do I have 6 pack abs, but I have a 6 board chest”?

  11. Megan says:
    July 13, 2012 at 7:02 pm

    A bunch of the older surviving 6 board chests are banded with iron. For example: http://www.periodoakantiques.co.uk/product.php?id=754 I’ve seen this strapwork on hutch style chests as well, which also have a persnickety cross-grain construction.

  12. Larry says:
    July 14, 2012 at 12:12 am

    I too am interested in what paint and tint/color you used.

  13. Phil Spencer says:
    July 14, 2012 at 7:04 pm

    How dud you apply the milk paint? Did you spray it or brush it?
    The even coverage in the picture would suggest that you sprayed to, I would love to know as I really were not happy with my last project where I finished with a brushed coat of milk paint. :)

    • lostartpress says:
      July 14, 2012 at 7:24 pm

      Phil,

      I brushed it on. Let the first coat dry. Sanded it flat with a #320-grit sanding sponge. Then I thinned the paint with water (just a couple glugs), mixed it good and spread on a very thin coat with the brush. No spray gun.

      • bobprime0 says:
        July 14, 2012 at 7:49 pm

        I have never heard of the thinning technique. What effect does thinning it have over just adding a second regular thickness coat?

      • lostartpress says:
        July 14, 2012 at 8:01 pm

        I always thin the last coat of any finish I apply. It makes the finish level out better in my experience.

  14. Al Seredick says:
    July 15, 2012 at 10:33 am

    Chris,

    I am eager to begin construction on this chest (a few of them, actually). I have a question about hardware before I begin. Do you have any particular recommendations? I am assuming something similar to the steel strap hinges used in the Schoolbox from The Joiner and Cabinet Maker?

    • lostartpress says:
      July 15, 2012 at 10:36 am

      Yup. Strap hinges or snipe hinges would be appropriate. You can get a nice range of prices from Lee Valley to Van Dyke’s to Horton to Peter Ross.

  15. J says:
    July 16, 2012 at 12:31 pm

    Any sanctioning of this construction method as a way to “disobey me” in tool chest construction?

Comments are closed.