Thread: Journey Chests for three brothers.

They look fantastic Rob.

Friday I went out and bought some Blackwood for the chest carcass. The first pic is the stuff I'll be using, the other is destined for a box for the guy who found it for me.

I have planed the Blackwood down to 17mm thickness. Joints will probably be half blind DT's or finger joints. I have also squared the boards using a Plunge saw and rail for one edge, then the Table saw to match the opposite edge. We're ready to rumble now.

Regards,

Rob

Originally Posted by LGS

Hi Ian,

I'm not sure that the answer will make much sense, but here goes.

The chest had to be functional, that is, large enough to hold sufficient material to make it worthwhile, but no so big as to make the collection process daunting. I have made Sewing boxes before which were about 500mm long x 300 high x 250 or 300mm wide. This, I felt was too small to suit the function of the Journey Chest. Likewise, a metre long chest would be too big. Both for use and for moving about. So I settled on 750mm as the unit of length.
I had only a certain amount of Queensland Walnut (as I'm sure you can understand) so the height became an issue. Again too tall and the chest became a white elephant, too short and you may as well not bother. I decided that I wanted to make three rows of trays, with a fourth level containing one movable tray (the top level). Additionally the ratio of length to height for the chest needed to be taken into consideration. I settled on 600mm because it gave a presence to the chest without making it overly tall and bulky. I used 500mm for the depth again for the reasons of making the whole chest aesthetically pleasing, while giving a good amount of room for trays to contain whatever articles my brother wanted to pass on.
It was important to me that the chest have a definite presence and the size along with the beauty of the QLD Walnut and Maple have achieved that. You look at the chest and it calls you to it. The warmth of the Maple and the Silky Oak inside the box are welcoming and the number of containers inside just beg to be investigated. I am happy with the final appearance of the dimensions and would recommend them for anyone considering something similar. That said, 500 x 300 x 250 works well also for Embroiderer's work boxes! (See below)

I hope this helps you Ian.

Regards,

Rob

Hi Rob

thank you for the explanation. Quite a logical journey to the final size.
I'm now left wondering about the sizes of the trays (or tills)
Is one of them sized to fit foolscap or legal paper -- the paper sizes commonly used for official records (like birth certificates) when all three of you were kids or young men?

Hi Ian,
All the trays will cater for A4 or letter (legal) folded up. I don't recall making a tray specifically for unfolded paper, but there is always the bottom of the chest itself. The tills can be set up in any manner that the person desires and there is no reason for all them to be filled. I have tried to allow for someone to set it out as they want, not necessarily as I have made it. It should be reflective of the character of the person using it and the items that are most valuable to them.

Regards,

Rob

Thanks for sharing this project with us, Rob, much appreciated. We realise it is a special journey for you, and the results are looking outstanding. Well done!

Today was mainly spent cutting the sides to correct size and length, joining the boards and gluing up. This box is going to be approximately 450mm tall x 420mm deep x 750mm long.

I measured out the stock boards to give me the number of cut pieces I needed. Made it by 600mm!!
Since most people are aware of the Domino and how it works, I have simply shown the marks on the blackwood and the dominoes in place. (Fig 1.). (Fig 2.) shows how neat the joint is.

Next was the glue up. Added glue to the faces to be glued and also into the domino mortises for added strength, then clamped the jointed timber pieces together.(Fig. 3) Tomorrow will be finishing the ends of the sides so all is square, then sanding back the side which will face inward of each piece and Oil/sand/seal these pieces. Friction sealing is much easier on unjoined sides. I shall go through the Burnishing process slowly and in detail for everyone's benefit.

You can see the fiddle back feature in the boards (Fig 4.). These should show up beautifully after burnishing.

Regards,

Rob

So, I now have 4 square sides of a box, which are ready to be joined via dovetails. I know that hand cut doveys make everyone go weak at the knees, but being a philistine, I'm happy with what the Leigh Dovetail jig does.
One thing about making these joints on the Leigh Jig. If you are going to be using any Australian hardwood, then buy a new cutter for every job. The cutters just don't last! At $25.00 per cutter, I guess that's not too bad and the difference is amazing!

Fig 1 and 2 show the router sitting on the "pre spaced" jig. First for tails then for pins. When doing these joints, don't assume that the jig can do them for you. You still need to be gentle with the amount of stock you remove. Careful and gentle use of the router gives excellent results.

If all goes well, you end up with something like Fig. 3. The tails lock into the pin board beautifully.

Next, it is time to sand the inside face of the sides ready for oiling and burnishing.. If you want to save on oil and work, there's no reason why you cant just oil after a quick sand and forget the burnishing...but not for me thanks. The difference is vast and noticeable.

Fig 5. shows the sides sanded (dry) to 500 grit. I shall begin oiling and burnishing tomorrow. The oil I will use is Organoil Hard Burnishing Oil. I've used a number of other oils, but the two I always come back to are Organoil and Wattyl Natural Teak (Scandinavian) Oil The y just give better protection.

I'm very happy with the results so far. The boards are well joined to each other with Domino assistance and the DT's look great!

I thought I might just show you a Veritas device which may help those who hanker for Frontline clamps a little relief.

These are metal spigots with a screw in the middle. You create some bearers from KD Hardwood and drill holes at each end at appropriate intervals. I have shown just one pair here. This is what I used before the Domino.
Once you have glued your boards together, you mount the top bearer over the bottom bearer and screw the little handle thingy until the joints are as tight as you can get them, then wait for the glue to dry. The system works very well, I think Figures 6 and 7 show the way they work.

More tomorrow,

Rob

I only just picked this up and I enjoyed the read.

Hi,

Sorry for the delay in posting, but my computer crashed most severely and I lost some pics and stuff. I have also been incredibly busy and the Journey Boxes take a back seat when that happens.

The shell of the box is beginning to take shape. It's time to burnish the inside surfaces and make the dado for the base to sit in.

Burnishing is not a difficult process, but some lose faith in the method, either because it doesn't give instant gratification, or because they are too impatient to do the process properly.

Fig. 1 shows the first panel to be done saturated with Organoil Hard Burnishing Oil. A saturating coat begins the process and should see the surface fully oiled and with oil lying on the top.

Fig 2 shows the panel after 5 minutes with the oil. You can see that the oil is soaking in nicely

After 10 minutes, the panel is dull and patchy. (Fig. 3)

After 15 minutes, there are large areas which are wet, but not saturated. (Fig 4.)

At this stage, I feel the wood is ready for sanding. I now give the panel another go over with the oil, so that it appears wet all over with a uniform amount of oil.

Sanding consists of repetitive sanding strokes up and back on each section of the panel. I call ten up and back strokes one "pass". The grits I use are 100g, 120g. 150g, 180g, 240g and 400g.

For this project, I was unable to get an 800g pad, so I have used 400g (the same pad I used to dry sand the timber) 500g, 1200g, 1500g, 2000g and 4000g to wet sand the panels.

Fig, 5 shows the panel after sanding with 500g. You can clearly see a "slurry" forming. This is the dark patches on the wood that look like smudges.
Fig 6 is after the 1200 pad.

This slurry is a mix of the oil and the saw dust that you create by sanding. I prefer to leave it on the surface rather than wipe it off. I feel you actually get a finer finish this way and the slurry also helps to fill gaps that may have inadvertently found their way into the board joints!

Fig 7 is the finished panel.

Fig 8 shows one panel, which you can see has fine fiddleback feature through it. Fig 9 shows the same panel after burnishing.

Making and rebating the base.

This was simple enough. The box is length A and the base is shorter and narrower by 8mm at each end and side. The base is 16mm deep, so I needed to make 16mm rebates in the panels. I have done this in the past by using an appropriate router cutter and laying the panels face down on the router table, then proceeding to cut a rebate the size that I want. Problem with this is you need to take incredibly small passes or the bit works it's way out of the collet and up through the panel, to emerge in a most inconvenient way.
So, I decided to use a 6mm slot cutter and set the depth of cut using the calibrating marks for the fence, then doing multiple passes, moving the cutter up slightly each time until I reached 16mm in height.
Pic 1 shows the dado done.
Pic 2 shows the two panels joined together (dry).

Then I assemble the box carcass.

Regards,

Rob

So, to assemble and oil the box carcass.

Before assembling, I want to make a 6mm high rebate near the top of the box. This I did using a 6mm cutter in the table, sitting proud of the table by about 3mm. This height will determine the depth of the 6mm high rebate. I like them to be about 6-8mm depth.

So it's carefully does it as I repeat the 3mm passes 'till I have 5-9mm.
Fig 1 shows the table and the panel being passed over the bit.

Be careful when doing this, the bit can jump right up through the timber and if your hand happens to be on top of it....it will hurt!

Now it's time to assemble the box. I glue up three sides, then while the glue is still wet, place the base into it's slot and put the last glued panel in place.
Several clamps help to keep the dovetails tight.
Fig 2 shows the clamped box.

Once the DT's are dry, I finish burnishing the carcass.
Fig. 3,4 and 5 show the final carcass appearance.

Regards,

Rob

That is coming up beautifully. You're certainly making the best of some very nice timber.

Be careful when doing this, the bit can jump right up through the timber and if your hand happens to be on top of it....it will hurt!

Even worse, it will wreck the job!

Seriously though, what is causing the cutter to rise, apart from a 16mm deep cut, which is pretty deep? I found that it happened when the cutter was fully in the collet, presumably caused by vibration transmitted directly to the cutter. I cut a pad of thin foam and pushed it to the bottom of the collet, which seems to have cured the problem. I see that my small Ozito comes with this.

Hi Alex, thanks!

I think it comes down to depth of cut, which comes down to vibration of the cutter in the collet, as you suggest. There's no way to avoid this issue other than to take shallower passes. Having said that, I built a sewing box which suffered this fate, so instead of throwing out some lovely Red Gum, I routed a rebate over the top of the "gash" and inlayed some Wenge. Presto, new feature and no visible mistake!
The Blackwood is nice timber. I think you might be impressed with the Tassie Myrtle and Black Heart Sassy as well.

Regards,

Rob

Very nice work Rob and a very nice concept of the three chests. I think this would be worthy of a little engraved brass plaque maybe inside the lid. With some the Initials of the owner most prominent and in smaller text Three chest for three bothers, Name, Name, Name made by and date. I think it would finish off the project and add something for the future generations who inherit.