That time has now come to an end. I am back in the zone and scribbling down ideas and designs I'm going to tackle next and it is a great feeling. Why I let it go for these past few months I do not know!
So about this Oak chest.
I have a good friend that does genuine medieval reenactment and he casually asked if I can make a chest for him to carry all his armour, as he uses a large hold all bag at the moment which is not very authentic. So I agreed I would make him a chest. I set about with a few drawings and joint ideas to which he swiftly said no to. He wanted a very strong square box with a lid sat on top, but... with no joints that could be seen.
I suggested maybe a hidden dovetail joint which is not very 15th century I know, but it will be very strong and not visible like he wants. Downside to this idea was the 45 degree angle which the dovetails are cut into which was not used back then. I went through all the basic box joinery with him and he stopped on a lap joint and wanted that, which was easy for me but not very strong at all. So I then suggested fitting dovetails into the lap joint creating a lapped hidden dovetail joint.
A bit complex but ideal for what he wanted. Very similar to the hidden dovetail but modified to fit into a lap joint. The dovetails get hidden from view once fitted tightly together and the box from above looks lap jointed.
If I have lost you with all these joints I apologise. A quick run through with picture of what I did.
I started with these lovely air dried boards.
I then ripped down the boards and hand finished the edges for a perfect join and glued them up.
After sanding smooth and cutting to size I then set about marking the lapped hidden dovetails.
An example of how the joint works once chiselled out.
Once everything was cut out, I made the chest base which was cut to size and lap jointed to the bottom of the 4 sides. Everything fitted nice and tight so out came the glue and clamps to glue everything up.
After checking the squareness I letting it all dry over night. The next day came the first coat of oil and making the lid. (sorry no pictures of the lid making)
After everything was complete and 3 coats of oil were applied the end result was this.
The lid was slightly wavy which you can see in the pictures and my friend loved it.
I finished this the day before he took it to his first event this year which was a close call to get it done in time.
The idea I last heard was he wants to fit leather straping for hinges and a buckle type fitting to secure the lid down. I think once the leather is fitted it will totally transform this already very beautiful chest into something very unique which is my ideal finish to a project.
One last thing to do before it is finished. I am trying my hand at wood burning and engraving as he would like his genuine family coat of arms embedded into this chest as it is made to last. This chest might well be passed on through the years which makes me even more proud to have made this.
I will be sure to update this as soon as progress is made to it.
No comments:
Post a Comment