Oak Blanket Chest with Raised Panels
Step-by-step guide made from Bob's Woodshop Bob Amarant's YouTube video.
This video details the construction of a solid oak blanket chest, featuring traditional woodworking techniques. The project includes creating raised panels with rail and stile joinery, locking mitered corners for the carcass, a breadboard-end lid to manage wood movement, and a cedar-lined bottom.
- Difficulty: advanced
- Time: about 24 hours
- Finished size: 19" x 41" (Top)
Safety
- Use caution when operating the router table, especially with large bits like the panel-raising bit. Use push blocks and ensure the workpiece is held firmly against the fence.
- When spraying lacquer or other solvent-based finishes, ensure you are in a well-ventilated area and wearing a respirator with appropriate cartridges.
Tools
- Router Table
- Locking Miter Router Bit (45-degree)
- Rail and Stile Router Bit Set
- Panel Raising Router Bit (2-1/2 inch diameter)
- Table Saw (SawStop)
- Planer
- Band Saw (Grizzly) (optional)
- Drill Press (optional)
- Self-Centering Drill Bit (Vix Bit) (optional)
- Cordless Drill (DeWalt, 20V)
- Random Orbital Sander (random-orbital sander, Festool)
- Oscillating Spindle Sander (Ridgid) (optional)
- Hand Plane (Shoulder Plane) (optional)
- HVLP Sprayer (Wagner) (optional)
- Pin Nailer (Pneumatic, Grex, 23-gauge) (optional)
Materials
- Solid Oak (Hardwood)
- Aromatic Cedar Shiplap (1 box, Lining, CedarSafe)
- Wood Stain (Penetrating Stain, Minwax, Golden Oak 210B)
- Lacquer (Spray Lacquer)
- Wood Glue
- Dowels (3/8 inch)
- No-Mortise Hinges (3)
- Soft-closing hinge support (1)
Step by step
Step 1: Planning, Milling, and Cutting Carcass Joinery
The creator reviews the project plans, shows the milled oak lumber, and then uses a router table with a 45-degree locking miter bit to cut the corner joints for the main chest box.
- Review Plans and Mill Lumber. The creator displays the hand-drawn plans with dimensions and shows the pre-milled oak boards that will be used for the rails and stiles of the chest.
- Set Up the Locking Miter Bit. A 45-degree locking miter router bit is installed in the router table. The creator explains that this bit can be tricky to set up correctly.
- Tip: Locking miter bits can be difficult to set up. The creator recommends watching videos by Wes Hamstra for an easy setup method.
- Cut the Locking Miter Joints. The creator runs the ends of the carcass pieces through the router table to cut the locking miter profile. One piece is run flat on the table, and the mating piece is run vertically against the fence.
- Common mistake: The creator notes that some of his red oak was 'chippy', causing some tear-out during routing. Using a backer board can help prevent this.
Step 2: Creating the Raised Panels
Using a rail and stile router bit set, the creator makes the frames for the front and side panels, then uses a large panel-raising bit to shape the panel edges before gluing them up.
- Cut Rail and Stile Profiles. The creator uses a stile bit on the router table to cut the decorative profile along the inside edge of all the frame pieces (rails and stiles).
- Cut the Cope Joints. He switches to the rail (cope) bit to cut the mating profile on the ends of the horizontal rail pieces. This allows them to fit perfectly into the stiles.
- Tip: Using a backer board or a coping sled when making cope cuts helps prevent tear-out and keeps the workpiece square to the fence.
- Raise the Panels. A large panel-raising router bit is used to cut a decorative bevel on all four edges of the solid wood panels. This is done in multiple shallow passes for safety and a cleaner cut.
- Watch out: Panel-raising bits are very large and remove a lot of material. Ensure your router table is secure, use a slow speed if your router is variable, and take multiple light passes.
- Dry Fit and Glue Up Panels. The creator does a dry fit of the rail, stile, and panel pieces to ensure everything fits together correctly before applying glue and clamping the frames.
Step 3: Creating the Feet and Assembling the Carcass
He designs a decorative profile for the feet using a French curve, cuts them out on the bandsaw, sands them smooth, and then performs the final glue-up of the entire chest carcass.
- Design and Cut the Feet. The creator uses a French curve to draw a decorative ogee-style pattern onto the stock for the feet. He then cuts out the shape on the bandsaw.
- Sand the Feet. Using an oscillating spindle sander, he smooths the curves of the feet that were cut on the bandsaw, removing any saw marks.
- Assemble and Glue the Carcass. The front, back, and side panels are glued together using the locking miter joints. The creator then glues and clamps the feet onto the bottom of the assembled chest carcass.
Step 4: Building the Lid with Breadboard Ends
The creator constructs the lid by gluing up a main panel, cutting a tongue on its ends, creating corresponding mortises in the breadboard end pieces, and attaching them with a draw-bore technique using dowels.
- Cut the Lid Panel and Tongue. After gluing up the main panel for the lid, the creator uses a table saw with a dado stack to cut a tongue (a long tenon) on both ends of the panel.
- Cut Mortises in Breadboard Ends. Using a router table, the creator cuts a groove (mortise) into the breadboard end pieces that will receive the tongue from the main lid panel.
- Drill for Draw-Bore Dowels. The creator drills holes through the mortise in the breadboard ends. He then temporarily attaches the end, marks the tenon through the holes, removes the end, and drills the holes in the tenon slightly offset towards the shoulder. This is the 'draw-bore' technique.
- Assemble the Lid. The creator applies glue only to the center portion of the tenon, attaches the breadboard ends, and drives the chamfered dowels through the offset holes, pulling the joint tightly together. The ends of the dowels are then cut flush.
- Tip: Elongate the outer holes in the tenon to allow the main panel to expand and contract with changes in humidity.
- Tip: Chamfer the ends of the dowels to help them find the offset hole and drive in smoothly.
Step 5: Adding Base Molding
The creator mills, profiles, and miters a decorative molding to wrap around the base of the chest, attaching it with glue and a pin nailer.
- Mill and Profile Molding. A piece of oak is milled to the correct thickness and width. Then, a roundover bit is used on the router table to create a decorative profile on the stock that will become the base molding.
- Miter and Attach Molding. The profiled molding is cut to length with 45-degree miters at the corners. The pieces are then attached to the base of the chest using wood glue and a 23-gauge pin nailer.
Step 6: Staining and Finishing with Lacquer
He applies a Golden Oak oil-based stain to the entire chest and lid, then takes the project outside to spray several coats of lacquer for a durable finish.
- Apply Stain. After a final sanding, the creator applies Minwax Golden Oak penetrating stain to the chest and lid using a rag, wiping it on and letting it soak into the wood to bring out the grain.
- Spray Lacquer Finish. The creator takes the stained chest and lid outside and uses an HVLP sprayer to apply multiple coats of lacquer. He thins the lacquer by about 10% with lacquer thinner for better spraying.
- Tip: Thinning lacquer with about 10% lacquer thinner can help it spray more evenly and lay down smoother.
Step 7: Installing Hardware and Cedar Bottom
The creator installs the hinges to attach the lid to the chest, adds support blocks and glides to the bottom, and installs the aromatic cedar planking for the bottom liner.
- Install Hinges. With help from a friend to hold the heavy lid, the creator attaches three no-mortise hinges. He uses a self-centering Vix bit to drill perfectly centered pilot holes for the screws.
- Install Cedar Bottom. The creator cuts aromatic cedar planks to size and installs them in the bottom of the chest, tacking them in place with a 23-gauge pin nailer.
- Add Support Blocks and Glides. To provide extra support and make the heavy chest easier to slide, he glues on extra support blocks under the back and attaches furniture glides to them.