*
Hi all, a while back I posted a question about wondering about ways to attach a top to a chest (trunk) and not have any seams or grooves on the top and still allow for seasonal movement.
I’ve attached a couple pics of the solution I decided on. Basically I just attached it like I would a tabletop using mahogany buttons. I’m pretty happy with the results. The only thing I would do different would be to not use quadrant hinges: they look neat but I don’t think they are as strong as I would like. The mortise for the quadrant part weakens the area. Oh well – live and learn 😉
I caned the tray bottom to save a little weight (and cause it looks cool). The underside of the tray where the holes for the cane are located are recessed in a 1/4 inch groove so none of the caning stands proud. This way the tray can be set down without any wear and tear on either the cane or the surface it is set down on.
Let me know what you think – pro or con 🙂 Thanks!
H
Replies
*
another pic of the chest
*H-Great looking chest. I really like the caned tray. That was an excellent idea. (If I knew how to cane I would steal your idea.)As for your method of attaching the top, I think your execution looks very good. The ability to take it apart may come in handy some day. That is a perfectly legitmate solution.Nice work.Peace.-Rob
*Let me second Rob's message: a great-looking chest.A question about the button placement: Most of the seasonal movement of the chest top will probably be across the width of the top, going across the grain, i.e. from front-to-back. Therefore, the buttons on the ends probably slide side-to-side in the slots cut in the side panels of the chest, right?How about the buttons at the front and back sides of the chest/top? If most of the seasonal movement is across the width (front-to-back) of the top, can the buttons slide in and out of the slots in the front and back panels, rather than just side to side?David
*Hey folks thanks for the positive comments!David, I left a little more than a 1/16th inch space for the buttons to slide in/out so it should be able to move front to back about 3/16ths or so before it starts to bind. I wasn't sure if that would be enough as I've not worked with mahogany before but I thought I could just trim the buttons a little if things got too tight.I've a question though - the part of the project that bugs me are the quadrant hinges. I wanted some sort of lid stay that wouldn't get in the way of the tray. I thought about regular hinges and that kind of stay that is mortised into the edge and has a sliding bar that attaches to the lid. LeeVally sells ones made by Brusso that looked nice and well made: http://www.leevalley.com/hardware/page.asp?SID=&ccurrency=2&page=40477&category=3,41419,41436 The mortise wouldn't be as deep (longer though) and more importantly the screws for the hinges wouldn't be anywhere near a mortise. The weak part of that type of stay seems to be the point that attaches to the lid.Ever used these type of stays? How do they hold up over the years? Any thoughts on other possible solutions? Thanks again for the comments!Howard
*Howard -- I'm glad to see you left a little space for the in-out movement of the front and back buttons; your chest is so nice, I'd hate to see the top start to pinch or buckle.Unfortunately, I've only made one chest myself and used the familiar sliding, curved lid supports that attach to the top/inside of the side panels, so I don't have much to offer re: your hinge question... but I'll be paying attention to other people's responses.David
*H; I like the caned tray in the chest. I also see a fine one in the background.I like to raise my chests up off the floor a few inches. Compensates for a not quite level floor and makes housekeeping a little easier. ¬¬¬¬¬¬¬PAT¬¬¬¬¬¬¬
*Major Patterson, Thanks for the comments :-) That chest in the back was my first real furniture project. I'd read about the North Bennet Street School where their first woodworking project is to build a toolchest. That seemed like a really good idea for someone like myself who wanted to become a competent woodworker. Armed with a portable tablesaw, an old Stanley #6 plane and a few marples chisels, I worked on it on my front deck in my spare time when the weather was nice. I learned the value of really sharp chisels after doing all those dovetails in maple by hand let me tell you (all the drawers are dovetailed too)! I did add a good router to the tool collection when it came time to do the sliding dovetails to join the drawer support frames to the case...Anyway it all turned out nice and I was hooked on the study of woodworking. :-) (I'm a programmer by trade by the way)The tool collection has grown since then and many more projects have been tackled. Still lots to learn I know but still enjoying the process of doing so. :-)Thanks!HowardPS: I would play a movie on the VCR as I was doing the caning for the tray to have some noise in the background (it's a somewhat tedious process). All total it took 6 and a half movies to finish!
This forum post is now archived. Commenting has been disabled