Author, teacher, and accomplished woodworker Mike Dunbar is as adept working on machines as he is working with hand tools. Best known for his handmade Windsor chairs it is no surprise that he came up with this blanket chest project. The chest is a copy of an 18th-century chest, and as much as possible Dunbar sticks to the design and construction methods of the original.
Of course all the joinery in this traditional chest can be made by machine, but the basic construction and joinery make this the perfect project to hone your hand-tool skills and end up with a finished product in just a few days. Dunbar explains how to rip with a handsaw, joint stock and surface panels with hand planes, cut curves with a bowsaw, cut rabbets, dadoes, bevels, and thumbnail moldings by hand.
| Other blanket chests plans: • Hickory and Ash Blanket Chest • Shaker Blanket Chest • A Blanket Chest with Legs |
At first glance the chest appears to be little more than a nailed box. As you make the project, you’ll begin to respect simple joinery that requires mostly rabbets and dadoes. You’ll begin to realize how much today’s woodworking has developed construction into a design element. The original chest from which this one was copied has been in continuous use for nearly 200 years and is still solid and very much intact. Its survival is not unique.
CLICK HERE to download the free PDF article and woodworking plan for Dunbar’s six-board chest.
For more on projects with a country flair, check out
- Make a Country Hutch
- Blanket Chest by Hand
- The Enfield Cupboard, Updated
- Build a Shaker Chimney Cupboard
- Keeping the Poplars Straight
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CLICK HERE to download the free PDF article and woodworking plan for Dunbar's six-board chest.
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Comments
For all those interested in building traditional chests or trunks there is a wonderful Swedish museum site that show a hundred or more 16th-19th century trunks [kista in Swedish] with decorative iron, decorative painting [bloomster maling], various feet formates, curved and flat tops, etc. based on items that are forbidden export license because of their cultural importance to Sweden. Go to http://www.eoco.org and click on the British flag to get the English version and you will find a treasure trove of wonderful hand crafted trunks, furniture and other items. Enjoy. Richard O. Byrne, Staunton, VA
Thank you for the free plans! I am glad I read the email before I deleted it ;)
These plans, like everything else Fine Wood Working does, are nicer than most. And I have downloaded hundreds of "free" plans off of the internet.
I thought you would like to know that the paragraph,Jointing stock, gluing panels, on the second page(labeled p.49) is partly erased?
Thanks again!
Indiana Gividen
Can someone post a picture of this chest? Unless I missed it somewhere, I see no pictures of the completed chest. I'd like to know what I am building?
Caarapet1rug or others. I tried navigating through the http://www.eoco.org site tosee the images of the chests and trunks but I couldn't find the right page. Does it still exist?
Hello people! My name is Tileromix. I from in Russia.
Hello people! My name is Tileromix. I from in Russia.
Hello people! My name is Tileromix. I from in Russia.
I recently made this chest from the free plan. The plans are very good and overall it is a great project to build.
I built mine from European Beech. The chest turned out great.
The only issue I had with this is the hinges. The hinges referenced are very expensive(about $200/pr). I choose some similar from Lee Valley that worked well and were only $18.
Thanks,
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