I like to change the orientation of the dovetails for the lower skirt, so it can better resist the outward thrust of the bottom, if it should expand at some time.
A great advantage of fitting skirts to a canted chest is that the further down you press the skirt, the tighter the fit will be.
I took a critical look at the surface of the chest itself, and it doesn't look very good. The spruce I have used was definitely not furniture grade, so I am convinced that I will paint the chest once it is done.
While waiting for the skirt to dry, I glued up a panel for the lid.
I figured that a small experiment wouldn't hurt, since the chest isn't designed for anything special. So Instead of my usual floating panel type lid, I decided to go for a flat panel with nailed on battens to prevent it from warping.
I dovetailed two battens to a piece of wood that will act as a front dust seal. After the glue had dried, I mounted the assembly on the lid.
I glued the front dust seal piece onto the lid, and then I reinforced it with some clenched nails just to keep on experimenting.
The two battens were attached with clenched nails, but no glue. My theory is that the front piece will stay put due to the glue and the nails, and the nails holding the battens will prevent the lid from warping, but still be flexible enough to accommodate seasonal movements.
The lid is secured with a leather strap which I took from an old bridle for the horses. I punched a couple of holes in it, and mounted it using some brass screws.
Before painting the chest, I decided where to put the lifts, and I made pilot holes using an awl.
I couldn't make myself use the milk paint which I bought two years ago in Germany. I haven't been able to locate a dealer in Denmark, and I didn't want to risk waste the paint on an experimental chest like this one made out of crappy wood.
I looked at my shelves and found some machine enamel in the RAL colour 6011 (Reseda green / Hannover Green). It is produced in Denmark by a company called Esbjerg Paints. and I figured that if it can stand up to agricultural machinery, then it will be OK for my chest.
The red colour is Swedish red wood protection from the same company. I used it for painting a door on the backside of the barn a year ago.
After letting the paint dry for a couple of hours I estimated the paint to be at least dry enough to allow for mounting of the lifts.
The mounting itself went suspiciously easy, so maybe I am having a lucky day.
All that is left is to present it to SWMBO and see if she would like it in the stable or inside the house.
I think it might end up in the stable, since we need a new box for curry combs, and this chest will be perfect for that. In addition it is very stable and can be used as a small platform for standing on, when the hair of the horses needs to be groomed and braided before going to a contest.
The finished chest.
View from the other end of the chest.
Clenched nails and holding strip.
Hi Jonas,
ReplyDeletehave you got any pics of the batten detail? I can't see that in the pics you have.
I like the colors on the chest.
Hi Ralph. I doubt that I can take a meaningful picture of it since I have covered it completely in paint. You can almost see it on the last picture.
DeleteIt is just a normal dovetail assembly like if you were going to make a shallow box, but instead of making a box, you only make two corners and not four.
The long side is what I have glued to the front of the lid. And then also added clenched nails. The two battens are the shorter "sides". They are only mounted using clenched nails. Does it make sense at all? otherwise I'll try to make a drawing, Because the picture will just be a close up of my green colour :-)
Brgds
Jonas
Nice! The colors make it look Christmasy! Perhaps you could store your decorations in there.
ReplyDeleteThanks.
DeleteI never thought of the Christmas theme, but you are absolutely right. But we have an old chest approximately 3 times the size of this one for the decorations, so I think this one will be too small.
Brgds
Jonas
I think I've just noticed for the first time how steep the angle actually is, which is an interesting feature. It does a nice job of mimicking a ships hull! Very well done!
ReplyDeleteBill
The angle is very close to 1:6, so it does have the shape of a giant dovetail for soft wood.
DeleteThe paint job turned out better than I had expected. Quite remarkably considering that I used some really crappy much too large brushes (what I just had on hand).
Thank you
Brgds
Jonas
This comment has been removed by the author.
ReplyDeleteI think it looks great Jonas. I have yet to tackle canted dovetails but something like this is on my short list. I especially like that you repurposed most of the components. It's a job well done. Congrats.
ReplyDeleteGreg
Thank you for the nice comment Greg.
DeleteRegarding the repurposing, sometimes it pays to be a pack rat and never throw anything out. I really like the look of the leather strip, and I might be tempted to use that solution again another time. I have used som small chromed chains on previous builds, but a leather strip looks classic in a special way.
Best regards
Jonas
Hi Jonas,
ReplyDeleteI think I got confused with the terms. When I think battens I think of them as being at right angles to the grain of the top panel. If I understand you correctly - your battens are what I would consider to be bread board ends.
I could very well be confusing some terms here :-)
DeleteIn my definition a breadboard end is something that is grooved and then mounted so it covers the end grain of the lid.
Battens are mounted either with a sliding dovetail or simply nailed or screwed to the underside of the lid.
These are just nailed to the underside of the lid.
I more or less just made a dust seal for the front and the sides, and then glued the long part to the front underside of the lid panel. the two side pieces of the dust seal then acts as battens by being nailed to the underside of the lid panel.
So my lid construction for this chest is just a flat glued up panel with a dust seal mounted below on 3 sides. The dust seal is dovetailed at the corners instead of being mitered. If I strip off the paint, the end grain is visible on the ends of the panel.
Brgds
Jonas