>> TOM: This week on Classic Woodworking, we're making this Shaker-inspired blanket chest out of solid cherry.

You'll notice the long dovetail corners, the arched bracket feet, the brass-hinged top, and the white pine paneled bottom.

It's the perfect size to use at the foot of any bed, and could also double as a toy box.

It's all coming up next, right here on Classic Woodworking.

♪ ♪ >> Funding is provided by: >> Woodworking is a passion.

Woodcraft understands that.

We offer name brands and tools for fine woodworking.

Woodcraft, proud sponsors of Classic Woodworking.

And by Felder.

>> It's not only about work.

It's about fun and success.

We are with you.

Felder Group is your partner for your woodworking projects.

>> And by SCM-- a rich heritage of woodworking technology since 1952.

>> TOM: So here's our Skaker-inspired blanket chest.

The success of a piece like this depends a lot on the quality of materials.

I always try to find wide, long boards to get this beautiful grain match that wraps the corner, and also gives a much more harmonious color, and makes the finishing process a whole lot easier, as well.

So I like to stand up the boards vertically so I can really see the color and figure, and try to select boards that match well together.

I then will dress it to thickness and begin to arrange them into the order.

The sides of this chest are 17 and a half inches wide, so ideally, we can get that out of two board widths.

I've removed some of this sap wood, so I'll get a beautiful grain match right along this seam.

Then I'll joint the edges, and we'll glue it up.

Now, notice how I lay them out.

I'm careful to keep things in order, numbering from F-1, 2, 3, 4 as we wrap around the case, moving left to right.

Now, these panels have already been glued up, and you can see how well the grain is matching.

These have a nice curly figure to them, and we go from one to two, and it'll wrap beautifully right around the chest.

All I have left to do with these panels are size them up, and we'll do that at the table saw.

(sighs): So we've got our four panels all ready, we've got two sides and our front and back, and we're ready to cut them to size.

I've jointed one edge and set the fence to 17 and a half inches wide.

I'll go ahead and rip them all through, then I'll reset the saw with a cross-cut sled and cut them to length.

(table saw whirring) With our panels all sized, we're ready to cut our dovetails.

Now, this chest is loaded with them, and they're all through dovetails, really the iconic joint in woodworking.

Now, to make the dovetails in a piece like this, you could cut them by hand, or you can use a jig like this.

I really like this jig, because it has a lot of adjustment, and it's really versatile.

So to cut our dovetails, we'll use a couple of different router setups, one with a dovetail bit, and the other with a straight cutter.

But before we get started, we want to lay out our dovetails here.

I know in my ends, I want to have my pins, and on the front and back, we'll have our tails.

I like to score in a traditional way with a marking gauge.

(scrapes) Now, it's helpful with a jig like this to have that knife cut, because when you're routing, it will be less likely to blow out the fibers on the wood.

And it also will give it a little more of a hand-cut look.

(scraping) Now we're ready to cut the tails on the joint.

To do that, I've set up the router with a dovetail bit, and I've adjusted the guide fingers on our jig.

I've also added a little spacer block on the top of my piece so that I'll have a more balanced appearance at the top and bottom.

Now I just need to clamp the workpiece into the jig and make the cuts.

(router whirring) (router stops) So that's it.

Wow, it is super-easy, fast, and efficient, and you get some beautiful dovetails like this.

So with our tails all cut, we're ready to cut our pins on our sides.

Now, to do that, all we have to do is take our guide finger adjustment and flip it, so now we have our tapered section facing us.

We're going to use a straight cutter this time in the router.

And it will follow this taper that's the same angle as our dovetail bit to form the pins.

(router whirring) (router stopping) So we've got all our pins cut, but let's give it a test fit.

That sounded good.

And they look beautiful.

That's going to work really well.

So we'll set our box aside, and let's talk about the base.

The base is very similar to the case.

It's only four and three-quarters of an inch high, but it steps out about five-eighths of an inch on the sides and the front.

And then later on, it will receive this cove molding.

I've already gone ahead and... made one.

We've got it dry-fit together, and all we have to do before we glue it up is cut our arches for our feet.

Now, to do that, I've got a template and I'll just set it on the corner.

And with a pen, so I can see it well at the bandsaw, I'll just mark that foot.

And it's a simple pen line.

Now, to carry that straight line all the way, I've set up a square, and I'll just run it down.

And that's it.

I've got all my feet marked, I'm ready to disassemble, and take it to the bandsaw and saw them out.

(bandsaw whirring) So with our pieces all band-sawn out, we just need to clean up the bandsaw marks, and I'll do that with an oscillating spindle sander on the curved corners, and then a combination of a spokeshave and a block plane on the straight shots.

(sander whirring) (scraping) That looks great.

Now all I have to do is a little finish sanding, break the edges, and we'll be ready to glue up our base.

So to glue up, I'll just put a little bit on each side of the tails.

And each side of the pins.

So that's it.

All my glued surfaces are covered.

I'm ready to assemble.

On this side.

And make sure I get it in the right place.

That's nice.

And lastly...

I just need a couple of long clamps and I'll set them under, and I'm going to set it just inside the dovetails.

Now, to get pressure around the feet, I'm going to use some shorter clamps.

Now, with all the clamps on, I'll flip it over and we'll check it for square.

And I'm just setting the tape into the corner and measuring to the outside point.

41 and 15-16ths.

41 and 15-16ths.

That's great.

Now we know it will sit squarely underneath our chest.

So now it's time to talk about the bottom of our chest.

I've chosen to build it in a frame and panel construction, because that's such a stable, strong method of creating a panel like this that's going to be captured within the walls of our chest.

Now, to attach it to the chest, we actually ran a groove around the bottom edge of our chest into which our panel will fit.

Now note, on the ends, we stopped our groove close to the end, because if we went all the way, we'd have a hole coming right out the end of the pin.

On the front and back, we will run it all the way through because it's covered by the pin on the other side.

So when we assemble our chest, the frame and panel will fit in the groove, and it will be held there after we glue up our dovetails.

Now, the frame and panel is just this outer frame that has grooves run in it all around these panels, which have a tongue, which seats in the groove and allows the panel to float.

So we'll need to cut a groove on the inside edge of each of our outer pieces, and our bottom and top, and on each side of our centerpieces.

We've got those parts here.

We've already ripped them.

At two and a half inches wide, they're all three-quarters of an inch thick, and they've all been cut to length.

I want to mark them out so I get my grooves in the right place.

I'll just take a pencil and indicate where I want the grooves on each.

Our centerpieces need a groove on both edges, and our long rails, again, only need along one side.

So we're ready to cut our grooves into our frame stock.

To do that, I've put a quarter-inch dado stack into the saw.

Now, I want this groove to be absolutely centered, so I've got a neat trick for that.

I'll set up the stack close to the center, and then I'll run the boards through on each face ensuring that that groove is dead center in the workpiece.

(table saw whirring) Now that we have our centered groove, we need to create a centered tongue for our frame and panel that'll fit just like that.

We'll also have to create that centered tongue on all our panels that will float in the groove.

Now, to do that, I've set a dado stack in the saw, the fence is set to three-eighths of an inch long, and we'll run our pieces through on one face, we'll flip, go the other, and we'll get a perfectly centered tongue.

(table saw whirring) So we come from the table saw and we cleaned up all our parts at the bench, hand-planing the surfaces, and also doing a dry fit to make sure it went together well.

Once it was dry-fit, I made several indication marks of where I want the pieces located when we glue up.

Now, we're only gluing up the frame parts.

The panels float inside the grooves.

So to get started, I'll just put a little glue on each side of those indicated locations.

Now we're ready for our assembly.

To do that, it's much easier if we can place the bottom rail in the vise.

And I'll start assembling with the center panel and work my way out.

I'm aligning the pieces with the indications I made earlier.

That's nice.

Now I'm ready to put the top on.

That's fitting nicely.

So to get things properly aligned, I'll sometimes use a shim to pry the panels and the frame into place.

Now I'm ready to apply the endcap pieces of our frame.

And these go flush with the top and bottom.

That's fitting nicely.

So with my clamps in position, I'll set my panel right on them.

And I'll center the pressure of the clamps along my top and bottom rails.

So I'll set that there.

Now we'll just set it aside for a couple of hours, and we'll get ready to glue up our case.

This is an involved glue-up with lots of dovetails, so it's good to have an extra set of hands.

I'm going to bring in Calvin again.

Here's your trusty brush, Calvin.

I'm using white glue, because it gives you an exceptionally long open time.

Here we go.

♪ ♪ All right, we've got glue on all our dovetail surfaces.

We're ready to begin assembly.

So this is where we set our frame and panel into the groove.

We have to set it first into the stopped ends.

Now we could tip that up.

And we'll set our other end in.

Now, with that placed, we're ready to flip it up and set the dovetails into the back panel.

(mallet tapping) Our back panel is in the groove.

(tapping) And set our front.

Get it started.

(mallet tapping) Wow, that is a satisfying joint.

Nicely done-- all right.

We want to get some of this glue off the ends of the pins.

All right, that's looking good.

So let's stand it up.

And we can start with our clamps.

Let me have one of those.

Okay, so we're going to apply the clamp pressure just inside the pins, first, using these pine caul blocks.

Just lightly snug here.

Just want to see them come up.

We want to apply our clamp pressure to make sure everything seats up nicely.

So that checks out well, nicely squared.

We've just got a little more glue to clean up, we'll let it set for a couple of hours, and then it's time to attach our base.

In getting things ready to attach our base to the other side of our chest, we cleaned up the dovetails where they stuck out proud a bit, and we also attached these glue blocks to our base frame.

We then placed it on top, located it, made some marks, and pre-drilled.

Now we're ready to spread some glue.

We'll just put a little glue on the top of each block, and then along the back rail.

So just like any glue-up, preparation is the key.

We're ready to flip it up and align it with our location marks.

So it will be flush to the back.

So we're going to just get the screws started a little bit.

(drill whirs slowly) You don't want to rush this.

Just go ahead and make sure you're staying on your marks.

(drill whirs slowly) Now we can turn it over, see how it looks.

That looks great.

The next thing we need to do is add the cove molding that acts as a transition from the case to the base.

So to make our cove molding, we set a cove cutter in the router and we've got a piece of stock, we can make a cove cut down each edge, then rip it and get two lengths of cove molding.

We'll rip it at the table saw, and then we'll set up our miter sled to miter and fit to our case.

(table saw whirring) So we applied our cove molding beginning with the center front, I cut the miters on each end, clamped it in, and then glued in the return on the other side.

We just have this last piece to apply.

So I'm going to spread a small bead of glue.

The less I put on here, the less clean-up I'll have to do.

Now, this piece of molding runs along the grain, unlike a lot of chest moldings, so you can glue it the whole way.

It actually acts as a reinforcing block for this inside corner.

I'm going to set it in.

Bring it down.

And get one of my spring clamps on.

Grabbing one of the glue blocks underneath.

And now, you want to always make sure your miter is perfect.

So to get that, I'll put a little direct pressure... ...with my other clamp, right on the miter.

I can see that squeeze out beautifully.

Now, because this molding is so springy, we need to add clamps all the way down, and the last clamp is in the back corner.

I'll just use the arch to give it a good direct pressure.

Now, let's talk about our top.

I've already glued up two boards and got a very nice glue match along the middle and sized the top, and then, on the router table, we ran the same cove bit to give us an undercut cove matching the base cove.

So it sets up on top.

Flush with the back, with the overhang in the front to give us a nice finger hold.

Now, to attach our top, we'll use three butt hinges across the back.

And I've also attached these cleats to give the top more stability and keep it flat.

And, finally, I added this soft-close lid support for safety around the kids.

The finish is just good old traditional shellac, but you could use an oil varnish, and it'd be just as well.

So there you have it.

A beautiful Shaker-inspired blanket chest.

For now, I'll see you next time, right here on Classic Woodworking.

♪ ♪ >> Closed captioning is provided by AWFS, the Association of Woodworking and Furnishings Suppliers.

Funding is provided by... >> Woodworking is a passion.

Woodcraft understands that.

We offer name brands and tools for fine woodworking.

Woodcraft, proud sponsors of Classic Woodworking.

And by Felder.

>> It's not only about work.

It's about fun and success.

We are with you.

Felder Group is your partner for your woodworking projects.

♪ ♪ >> And by SCM-- a rich heritage of woodworking technology since 1952.

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