Another Cherry Chest

[enorwood]

I haven't posted anything in quite a while, but just finished a hope chest for our new granddaughter, Leila Dang Xin Yuan Elble, who was adopted in March from China by our daughter and son-in-law.

It's dovetail construction using solid cherry with a section of curly maple set in the lid. The drawer sides and back (dovetailed) are oak. The finish is 2 coats of Minwax Tung Oil and a top coat of gloss poly. I used the new torsion hinges from Rockler eliminating the need for a lid support. Haven't decided whether or not to line the box with cedar.

Now I've got to get it from Washington State to Atlanta. (Sounds like an excuse for a road trip.)

-Earl

[Whaler]

Beautiful piece Earl.

[pelligrini]

Wow, that really good looking! I'd love to see how it looks when the cherry darkens up. Ought to make that maple section really pop out.

The dovetails on the chest proper are sweet. Did you hand cut them, or do you have a higher end jig?

What do you think about those hinges?

[JR]

(Long, low whistle) Niiice.

[BigguyZ]

How wide are those boards??? Where did you get the stock for that?

[shoottx]

Very Cool

Sounds to me Like Grandma and Grandpa aught to load the chest in the vehicle and go spoil a grand daughter!

[lrogers]

She will love that, Earl! Pretty sure your great-grand daughter will enjoy it too some day.

[Kerf]

Beautiful piece!

[enorwood]

Wow, that really good looking! I'd love to see how it looks when the cherry darkens up. Ought to make that maple section really pop out.

The dovetails on the chest proper are sweet. Did you hand cut them, or do you have a higher end jig?

What do you think about those hinges?

After years of using a Craftsman dovetail jig (plastic templates) I broke down and got a Leigh 18 in. Super Jig this year. Not exactly easy to use, but it does a nice job.

The Rockler hinges worked fine. They had to be inset into the back of the chest so that the lid would close flush.

[enorwood]

How wide are those boards??? Where did you get the stock for that?

Figured cherry is hard to find as we all know, especially here in the Northwest. These boards were bought at various times. The stock was not wide enough to make the 16 1/2 inch sides of the box with one piece, so I had to join same-board pieces using biscuits. They matched pretty well although you can see the joints if you look closely.

I messed up the dovetails on one end of the front, so I decided to trim and re-cut them. Trimming exposed one of the biscuits which is now a permanent part of the design. But now that I've stopped cussin', I kinda like it!

[MilDoc]

Figured cherry?

Gee, I was envious before but now I'm green.

[SARGE..g-47]

Absolutely gorgeous Earl. Excellent job on the execution and a fantastic job of matching the grain on the ends. That is about as nice a piece of figured cherry as I've seen in awhile. I ran into one piece about 8" wide (random width from end to end) and 10' long a couple of months ago. I was going through the cherry rack at my hardwood supplier with another guy that was doing the same. I lifted a board and there is was.

We both grabbed for it and laughed. Neither of us really needed cherry at the time but were looking for pieces like that. Filpped coin.. I lost. ha.. ha.. Would have loved to take it back to hoard but.. I suppose it did save me money.

Again.. excellent build. Cute little girl and if you bring it to Atlanta be sure to bring clothes for hot weather as the humidity and heat is picking up daily. But... I'm sure your kids have already mentioned that.

Regards from Metro Atlanta...

[jgrobler]

That's beautiful. I love the grain patterns, and the curly maple top! Well done.

[Pappy]

Repeat on everything everyone already said! The figure in the wood is fantastic. Great match job. If there is more than one joint in the left end panel, I can't see it.

[tommyt654]

Still ,it is a remarkably beautiful piece!