Hope Chest

[pierhogunn]

Anyone here ever built a hope chest? I have been asked by a friend to build one for her daughter's 16th birthday. She did say she want's this chest to last more than a lifetime.

Average Dimensions?
Construction Tips?
Do's and Don'ts?

This has a delivery date of Dec 12th.

[LYU370]

I've got a couple free downloaded plans if you'd like. The U-Bild hope chest from Ryobi plan #885. And the Wood Magazine Heirloom chest that they were giving away for a while. Personally I like the Heirloom chest, and may make that one of these days.

Let me know.

[RayintheUK]

There's a plan here that can be downloaded and another one here that mentions "several lifetimes"!

Good luck with the deadline!

Ray.

[Ken Massingale]

Of the several I've built, I didn't use plans (more than once I wished I had, tho). The dimensions are around the same for the advertised plans I looked at. Of those I liked the one with box joints the best, but that probably won't be an opinion shared by most ladies.
The second plan Ray linked to looks like a chest that would be appreciated by your friends daughter. I have dealt with that company and their plans are excellent, and if you have any questions they are very helpful.

Do's and Dont's..
Make sure it's square and level at all stages of construction
Use a piano hinge for the top
Finish in stages, there's a lot of area to cover

DON"T finish the inside with varnish, shellac is your friend.

Good luck, Dan


ken

[ChrisD]

Hey Dan,

Sorry, can't offer anything more than an idea. This is from one of my favorite furniture sites:

http://www.thejoinery.com/bedroom/ve...hopechest.html

Good luck. Please post pics when you are done!

[drumpriest]

Here is a link to the wood works one. At some point I'm planning on building one similar for my niece.

http://www.diynetwork.com/diy/shows_..._26901,00.html

[billwmeyer]

I have built 2 of these:

http://www.woodcraft.com/family.aspx?FamilyID=6647

I made one out of cedar and one out of walnut. Both of my daughters really love them. The cedar one survived my oldest daughters house fire, and even kept the contents dry.

Bill

[LYU370]

Here's another free plan from american woodworker that I ran across:

http://www.rd.com/americanwoodworker...ain/index.html