As I don't have access to a planer/jointer this was a case of hand planing boards where necessary and being selective which boards matched together best.
In the absence of enough clamps I screwed the boards to a piece of scrap wood to hold them in place whilst the glue dried.
With the boards joined, I could get a better idea of how the panels would fit together.
The panels were too big to cut on my small tabletop saw, so I opted for handcut box joints.
I measured them so that the would line up with each of the slats on the long sides of the chest.Cutting the curved top required some maths to match up the number of slats that would form the lid with the angle that would need to be cut in each slat to form a proper semi-circle.
Once these were cut I glued them and used a metal bar bent to a curve to temporarily screw them to as it was not possible to use a clamp.
The handles are simple bought. The hinges were standard trangular shaped hinges, but in order for them to work with the curve of the lid, I bent them to a curve by heating them with a heat-gun and a hammer.
Finding a suitable padlock was more difficult - sure, DIY stores sell padlocks, but I wanted something more old-fashioned looking to fit the "pirate chest" aesthetic. After quite a bit of searching I found this one at a car boot sale.
For finishing, I used the heat gun to heat the wood to the point where it started to brown (almost like toast), without burning. I thought about going the burn-and-sand method, but at this point I had invested enough time in the project that I didn't want to risk it.
Finally, the chest was finished with a coat of oil to help highlight the grain
No comments:
Post a Comment