TPW Team Project Part 4, Walnut and Cedar Blanket Chest (Completed)

[Allen Worsham]

Well, this is going to be the final installment on this TPW Team Project to build a Cedar Lined Walnut Blanket Chest for my Grand Daughter Nori Piper Worsham due in mid November 2014. Being that I live in Southern California and my son and daughter in law live in Indianapolis, Indiana, building the chest and then getting it out there would require that I either drive it out in the back of my pick up truck, or I pay to ship it out. Neither option was really very good so I called both John Moody and Ron Dudelston because we were all going to be together at John Moody's house along with our wives for 4 days and 3 nights and asked if they would be interested in building this chest together. So John and Ron agreed and in Parts 1 & 2 we got the chest completed and rough sanded at John's house with the exception of the base trim, cleats for the lid, trim for the lid, cedar lining and final finish and Ron and I along with our wives headed back up north to Indiana with the chest in the back of their van. In Part 3 I drove up to Ron's house about an hour north of Indianapolis and we finished the assembly of the chest with Ron making the cleats and trim for the lid as well as doing the cedar lining inside the chest while I made up the base trim and helped Ron do the installation of the top and bottom trim. After that was all done, we carried it out and put the chest in the back seat of my rental car and I headed back to my kids' house in Indianapolis to do the final sanding and putting on the finish.

So here is the chest as it was completed at Ron's shop on ThursdayJuly 24th 2014 before we carried it  out to my car. In this photo Ron had wiped on some mineral spirits to show off the grain a bit. The open top did not have any mineral spirits on it so it this is what the whole chest looked liked once the mineral spirits evaperated. 
 

Once I got the chest back to my kids' house in Indy, Tami and I carried it in and set it in the garage. My kids had just moved into this house the previous Monday so there are boxes all over the house and empty boxes in the garage. Since my son has no tools other than a set Husky Tools from Home Depot that I got him when he was 18, I had to go to Home Depot and pick up a few things to get it done. So $300 later I came home with a small shop vac, random orbital sander, 12v drill/driver and bits, 2 folding saw horses to set the chest on and various finishing supplies, sandpaper and a spray can of shellac. As for the type of finish that I was going use I was limited to doing a wipe on finish. So I stopped by the local Rockler store in Indy and bought a quart of the "Sam Maloof Finish" which is an equal mix of boiled linseed oil, tung oil and polyurethane. For the size of this project I could have purchased the 3 separate  items and mixed it myself, but it was cheaper and easier to just buy a can of the Maloof off the shelf. After doing the final sanding from 220-400 grit and getting all the dust off, I sprayed shellac on the underside of the lid to seal it as opposed to putting on the Maloof finish as the oil will cause odors inside the chest. On the outside the chest and lid I wiped on multiple coats of the Maloof finish letting them soak in and then wiping off the excess and then letting it set for 24 hours before doing another coat.
 

So here are the finished photos of the chest made for my Grand Daughter Nori. Being that it is in the garage and the lighting is horrible, the photos do not do justice to the actual finish.  The grain is awesome and the dovetails look beautiful! The most important thing is that my daughter in law LOVES IT!!

 

 

 

 

 

For now the chest will have to sit in the garage for a few weeks as they have to get some painting done and the bedroom set up where it will go. I have to give a BIG THANKS to John Moody and Ron Dudelston for all of their work on this project. I could not have done it with out them and it was pleasure working alongside my fellow woodworkers and friends. This chest will be an heirloom that will stay with my kids and get passed down in the family.
 

 

[lew]

Mimi and I are sending our prayers to your family and the baby Nori for God to work His wonders.

Lew and Mimi 
 

[Allen Worsham]

Thanks Lew. Tami and I do appreciate it.

I am really glad that I had the work on the chest to keep me busy this past week with all that was going on. Working with John and Ron was a lot of fun and I was really glad we had the time together along with our wives down in Alabama as we always have a great time together as well as eating way too much good food. John and Ron are both very talented woodworkers and I learned a lot from them in this process.

[Harry Brink]

That came out really nice. It'll be passed down for many years. The three of you did GOOD.

Will continue to pray for Nori and the family.