Hand Tool Challenge Chest

Re: Hand Tool Challenge Chest

fmutchler@adelphia.net

>Jim, that's a great job. All you guys who took part in the challenge are to be commended. I like what you did with the legs...is that the same as everyone else or were you free to 'freelance' there?

Re: Hand Tool Challenge Chest

Jim Crammond in Monroe, Mi

>Frank,

Thanks for the compliments. Adam left the leg design up to us. I found picture of a chest I liked in a book of antique furniture and used the legs on that chest as a model.

Jim

Re: Hand Tool Challenge Chest

Alan Bierbaum

>It looks great. The interesting thing (to me anyhow) is that the four units, so far, are very different in looks. This was/is a fun project. I will await pics of the finished project.

Re: Hand Tool Challenge Chest

Matti Kuikka

>Nice work, Jim. What are the dimensions? As your drawers aren't lipped how are they stopped. Are the drawer sides/bottoms made of the same wood as the carcase? I'm eagerly waiting pictures of the finished chest, too.

Matti Kuikka

Re: Hand Tool Challenge Chest

Paul In NJ

>Jim,

Nice work! The dovetails look very nice, I bet you spent some time there. Please post a few more pictures when you get a chance, we would like to see more.

Paul Dzioba

Re: Hand Tool Challenge Chest

Jim Crammond in Monroe, Mi.

>Matti,

The overall dimensions are approximately 24" X 19" X 11 1/2 ". The dimensions of the case are a result of the width of the board I used to make the carcase. As you know, the rest of the dimensions resulted from the use of the golden standard. I'm pleased with the overall proportions, to my eye it looks solid without being too bulky or top or bottom heavy.

All of the wood is some type of pine or another, I used boards that I had already, none of it from a lumber yard so I'm not sure of the exact species. The carcase and drawer fronts were made from one piece of pine. This board was clear, soft and very resinous, the shop smelled like turpentine the whole time I was working on the chest. Except for the fronts, the drawers were made of salvaged wood that is known as knotty pine around here. It is considerably harder than the carcase. I don't normally use pine and it was a welcome change due to ease of working with hand tools.

There are stops at the back of each drawer to keep them from going in too far.

Jim

Re: Hand Tool Challenge Chest

Don Thompson - Cutler Ridge, Florida

>It looks good! So, that would be about 2� working days (18th century, that is), right?

What would you say was the hardest part of the work? Did you use any particularly interesting tools?

Re: Hand Tool Challenge Chest

Jim Crammond in Monroe, Mi

>Don,

Nothing was really hard, but judging from the time it took, I'd rate making and fitting the drawers as the most difficult part. The drawers took almost 50% of the time.

At the beginning of the project, I decided to use old wooden planes as much as posssible. I enjoyed using a smoother, jack and try plane made by Josiah King. I had just acquired these planes and they were in great shape, just a sharpening and back to use after 125 years or so. The drawer bottoms are raised panels which I don't have very much experience with. I used a drawknife and jack plane to rough them out and then a Greenfield panel raising plane to finish it. Since it is a new technique to me, I enjoyed doing it. In the description of tools on the Challenge website, Adam stated that there was no evidence of crosscut saws in the 18th century so I used an Atkins 8 point rip saw to cut boards to length. There was a little tearout on the bottom of the board, but nothing extreme.

I hope this answers yur questions.

Jim

Re: Hand Tool Challenge Chest

Don Thompson - Cutler Ridge, Florida

>Ahh. I have seen the old drawers with the raised panel bottoms sort of shape. Interesting - I never thought about how to make them.

It is great to hear that you used the Josiah Kings on them.

Don

Re: Hand Tool Challenge Chest

Wiley Horne--Glendora CA

>Jim,

I"m very impressed that you made such a handsome chest in 30 hours using only hand tools. You can put a lot of stuff in it, too.

Were there any new methods or techniques or basic attitudes which you picked up that you are likely to hold onto and keep using? Also, did you pick up any new molding details out of this exercise?

Wiley

Re: Hand Tool Challenge Chest

Jim Crammond in Monroe, Mi.

>Wiley,

Thanks for the kind words about the chest construction.

There were several methods of work that I will probably change after making this chest. I have watched Roy Underhill and others use chisels, gouges or drawknives to rough out an element then finish off with a plane or more precise tool but never really incorporated it into my style of working. This project made me realize how much more efficient that method was.

The recent thread on WC about fitting drawers also taught me a valuable lesson about that subject. Because I was about 90% done with the drawers at the time, the subject was fresh in my mind and helped drive home a few ways I could have gone about the carcase and drawer assembly to do a quicker and better job. I hadn't done the glue up on the carcase, just made my measurments for the drawers with a friction fit of the dovetails on the carcase, I think this added at least 2-3 hours to the process because of an inaccurate measurement.

Several times I also found myself concentrating on details that would not be seen, such as inside surface, the bottom of the drawer bottom, etc., this project made me realize that some of those things are just not significant in the final appearance of the piece. I thinks this ties into the machine age idea that every part of a piece of furniture must be perfect, a mindset that most of us just take for granted. That being said, I also gave a lot of thought to the subject of my enjoyment of the process of working with wood, design and the construction of things. I really enjoy those things so I don't think that the goal of doing every project as fast as posssible is a high priority for me. In other words, if you enjoy the process, relax, take your time and build as much quality as you are capable of into the item.

With respect to your question about the moldings, I followed Adam's interpretation of the classical orders for the sizing of the top and bottom moldings. This reinforced for me the validity of using this as a design tool because these items on the chest just look "right" to my eye. It gives you a starting point for these dimensions and then you can modify the moldings to suit your own opinions about what looks good. Making the moldings out of clear pine also reinforced all of the advice I have read about selecting the stock for moldings carefully. The other thing I learned was to make sure your stock is long enough to make all of the moldings at once, my original estimate was about 1/4" short and it took quite an extra half hour or so to make another piece to replace the one that was short and make it match.

This project also made me question whether the traditional method of making and attaching the base to a carcase is the best. Because it is not an integral part of the carcase, it seems to me that it is vulnerable to damage.

Sorry for the length and all the rambling,

Jim

Sure no need to be sorry ;-)

Dan Donaldson

>There is certainly no need to be sorry about the post. I, for one was very interested in the experiences that you had making it. We are working on making the hand tool challenge a permanent fixture here at WC with a gallery for those that try it. (Just need to get a bit more time)

I have a couple more items to get done, then I want to try it. I read all of the posts about it to get ideas that will help me when I do. Even for those that do not want to do it, there are things to be learned, and without posts like the excellent one you put up, we would not have that opportunity.

Re: Hand Tool Challenge Chest

Matti Kuikka

>Jim,

Having done my chest and still thinking about the process I very much appreciate your rambling.

Some comments:

1st paragraph. Have you tried scrub planing. I find it a very satisfying method and the plane is very easy to make.

2nd I made the drawers too loose, being afraid of wood movement which I now think is insignificant in such a small piece. Also the lipped solution encourages a certain sloppiness in work.

3rd. I most seriously agree with you. I think that in non-professional work hurry and stress on productivity are questionable. Hand tool usage nowadays must be a quest for something else as you said. At least I have more of a problem what to do with the product and I'm not in a hurry anywhere with woodwork. It's the process and wood. I'm even a bit ashamed if I make something so I have to hide a part.

4th. In the design I think I learned the most being forced to consider proportions, it also suits me as I dont like to use drawings.

All in all it was a great way of gaining insight into old realities. I for one am not envious of those apprentices.

Once more thank you for your thoughts.

Matti

Re: Hand Tool Challenge Chest

Jim Crammond in Monroe, Mi

>Matti,

Normally, I use a scrub plane as the first step in truing a piece of rough cut lumber. For this project I skipped the scrub plane and started with an old wooden jack plane with a wide mouth, an iron with quite a bit of camber and a rank cut. On the pine it worked well.

This weekend I plan on experimenting with a formula for milk paint, so it won't be too much longer and I'll be done.

Jim

Re: Hand Tool Challenge Chest

Dan Donaldson

>Please be sure to get plenty of pictures so that we can imortalize it;-) It will take a bit of time to get it done, but we plan to have a gallery where people can show off what they built. All of the ones that I have seen so far have been fabulous. The eventual plan is to make this challenge a permanent fixture so that people can participate if they ever get the urge. The issue right now is getting the time to set it up ;-( Poor Ellis is buried keeping things going, and we will need his expertise to get it right.

Re: Hand Tool Challenge Chest

Wiley Horne--Glendora CA

>Jim,

I sure appreciate the long and thoughtful answer, and Matti has said a lot of what I am thinking.

Am very curious about the drawer bottoms, and have a question. You said they are frame and panel. I have heard of 'slipped' drawers (as described by Richard Jones in Furniture & CAbinet Making (Dec. '03), and also a 'French bottom' which is similar in having the bottom floating in a frame. How does your drawer bottom frame fit into the drawer sides and front? Is it tongued, or what?

Also, it makes a good adventure to use the Order of Column relationships to derive the molding heights. In Jeff Greene's and Norm Vandal's books on period furniture, they go into how to derive measurements from photos of existing pieces. But Adam's procedure of going back to the original is a lot more exciting (I ordered the Palladio book last night on account of this).

All in all, a great project, and I am looking forward to seeing the final with milk paint.

Wiley

Re: Hand Tool Challenge Chest

Jim Crammond in Monroe, Mi

>Wiley,

The bottom is not a frame and panel, sorry if I misled you. The bottom is like the panel part of a frame and panel. It is raised and floats in a groove on the two sides and the front. I haven't attaced them yet, but my plans is to hold them in place with one nail at the center of the front.

Jim

Re: Hand Tool Challenge Chest

Alan Bierbaum

>Custom is to use one nail in center; into back not into the front. Keep going; I am wanting to see finished pictures.

Re: Hand Tool Challenge Chest

Wiley Horne--Glendora CA

>Jim,

Your description of the drawer bottom was perfectly clear--the familiar 'raised panel' on the bottom of the drawer bottom. Just got my wires crossed. Again.

Wiley