Dovetail Blanket Chest with Sculptured Legs
Step-by-step guide made from Bob's Woodshop Bob Amarant's YouTube video.
This video demonstrates how to build a traditional blanket chest, also suitable as a toy box or hope chest, out of poplar wood. The project features through dovetail joinery for the main carcass, sculptured legs shaped on a table saw, a breadboard-end lid to accommodate wood movement, and soft-close hinges for safety.
- Difficulty: intermediate
- Finished size: Approximately 44" L x 19.5" W
Safety
- Cutting coves on the table saw can be dangerous. The blade is not fully guarded, and the workpiece is fed at an angle. Proceed with extreme caution and at your own risk.
- Always wear appropriate safety gear, including a respirator mask when routing and sanding, and eye and ear protection when using power tools.
Must know before you build
- Use two routers, one for pins and one for tails, to streamline dovetail jig setup.
- Exercise extreme caution cutting leg coves on the table saw; blade is unguarded, workpiece angled.
- Avoid cutting the leg scallop profile on the mitered end; cut on the straight end first.
- Always buy extra 5/4 poplar; mistakes on primary panels require full replacement.
- Employ biscuits for lid panel glue-up alignment, especially with slight board variations.
Tools
- Table Saw (DeWalt)
- Dovetail Jig (Through dovetail jig, Leigh, D3, 18 inches)
- Dovetail Jig (Half-blind dovetail jig, Porter-Cable, 4212, 12 inch capacity) (optional)
- Router (Plunge router, Hitachi, M12VC)
- Planer (Thickness planer, 20-inch)
- Miter Saw (Sliding compound miter saw, Bosch, GCM12SD)
- Band Saw (Grizzly, G0555)
- Oscillating Spindle Sander (Oscillating drum sander, Ridgid, EB4424) (optional)
- Random Orbital Sander (Festool, ETS 150/3 EQ)
- Drill/Driver (Cordless, DeWalt, DCD771, 20V MAX)
- Clamps (Pipe and F-style clamps)
- Pin Nailer (Pneumatic, 23-gauge) (optional)
- Biscuit Joiner (DeWalt, DW682K) (optional)
- Japanese Pull Saw (optional)
Materials
- Poplar wood (Approx. 50 board feet, 5/4 thickness)
- Wood glue (Titebond, III)
- Soft-close hinges (2, Lid support hinge)
- Handles (2, Bronze colored)
- Wood stain (Oil-based, Minwax, Red Mahogany)
- Polyurethane
- Paste wax (Johnson)
- Wood biscuits
- Dowels
Step by step
Step 1: Prepare Panels and Cut Dovetails
The creator mills poplar wood, glues up panels for the chest's body, and then uses a Leigh dovetail jig to cut the through dovetails for the corners.
- Mill and Glue Up Panels. The creator mills 5/4 poplar lumber and glues up the boards to create the wide panels needed for the front, back, and sides of the chest.
- Set Up the Dovetail Jig. The creator sets up a Leigh D3 dovetail jig, explaining that it takes some time to dial in the settings for a perfect fit. He shows a sample board with the completed dovetails.
- Cut the Dovetails. Using the configured dovetail jig and a router, the creator cuts the through dovetails on the ends of the chest panels.
Step 2: Cut Panels and Assemble Box
After the panels are dry, the creator scrapes off excess glue, cuts the panels to their final width and length, and then assembles the main box carcass using glue and clamps.
- Clean and Cut Panels to Size. The creator scrapes the dried glue from the panels, then uses a table saw with a rip fence and a crosscut sled to cut the front, back, and side panels to their final dimensions.
- Common mistake: Not paying full attention and cutting a main panel in half by mistake, requiring a new glue-up.
- Assemble the Box Carcass. After a dry fit, the creator applies glue to the dovetail joints and assembles the four sides of the chest. He uses numerous pipe clamps and F-clamps to secure the box while the glue dries, ensuring it is square.
Step 3: Create and Attach Feet
The creator laminates poplar boards to create thick stock for the feet, cuts a decorative cove profile using the table saw, shapes the feet on the band saw, and attaches them to the chest base.
- Laminate Wood for Feet. To get the required thickness for the feet, the creator glues and clamps together several pieces of poplar wood.
- Cut the Cove Profile. An auxiliary fence is clamped to the table saw at an angle. The blade is raised incrementally with each pass to cut a large cove profile into the laminated stock for the feet.
- Watch out: Cutting coves on a table saw is a potentially dangerous operation and should be done with *extreme* caution.
- Shape and Sand the Feet. Using a template, the creator traces the final shape onto the feet blanks. He cuts the shape on the band saw, miters the corners on the miter saw, and smooths the curves on an oscillating spindle sander.
- Common mistake: Cutting the decorative scallop on the mitered end of the foot piece by mistake.
- Attach the Feet. The completed feet are glued and screwed to the bottom of the chest using pocket holes for a strong attachment.
Step 4: Build the Sliding Drawer
The creator builds a small sliding drawer for the inside of the chest, using a Porter-Cable jig to cut half-blind dovetails for the joinery.
- Prepare Drawer Stock. The creator uses leftover poplar from the main panels to create the pieces for a small, sliding interior drawer.
- Cut Half-Blind Dovetails. Using a Porter-Cable half-blind dovetail jig, the creator cuts the joinery for the drawer corners. He explains the importance of making test cuts to dial in the fit.
- Tip: When using a dovetail jig, make sure your board width aligns with the jig's finger spacing for a clean look with full pins on both ends.
- Assemble the Drawer. The drawer pieces are test-fitted, then glued and assembled. A groove for the drawer bottom is also cut before final assembly.
Step 5: Construct the Breadboard Lid
The creator constructs the lid by planing the main panel, cutting a tongue on its ends, and fitting breadboard ends with mortises and drawbored tenons to allow for wood movement.
- Prepare Lid Panel and Breadboard Ends. The main panel for the lid is planed flat. The creator also prepares the stock for the breadboard ends, which will be attached to the ends of the panel.
- Cut the Tongue and Tenons. A tongue is cut along the entire length of the panel ends using a router table. Then, sections of the tongue are removed with hand saws and chisels to create individual tenons.
- Cut Mortises and Assemble. Corresponding mortises are cut into the breadboard ends. The ends are then attached to the panel. Holes are drilled through the breadboard ends and tenons, slightly offset, and dowels are driven through to pull the joint tight (drawboring).
- Tip: Only glue the center tenon. The outer tenons should be pinned but allowed to float in their mortises to accommodate seasonal wood movement.
Step 6: Add Base Molding
A decorative OG profile is routed onto stock which is then mitered and attached to the bottom of the chest to create a base molding.
- Route the Molding Profile. The creator uses a router table with an ogee (OG) bit to shape the decorative profile on the poplar stock that will become the base molding.
- Miter and Attach the Molding. The profiled stock is cut to length with 45-degree miters at the corners. The molding pieces are then glued and attached to the base of the chest.
Step 7: Finishing and Final Assembly
After discussing the staining and finishing process, the creator installs the no-mortise hinges and soft-close lid stays to complete the chest.
- Apply Stain and Finish. The creator explains the finishing process, which involved applying Minwax Red Mahogany stain, followed by three coats of polyurethane, and a final coat of Johnson's Paste Wax.
- Install Hinges and Lid Stays. With help from a friend to hold the heavy lid, the creator installs the no-mortise hinges and the soft-close lid stays, pre-drilling the holes for the screws.
- Tip: When installing no-mortise hinges, attach one leaf to the lid first, then have a helper hold the lid in place while you attach the other leaf to the chest body.