The Woodshop Shed

Pair of Hope Chests - QS Oak

Furnished content.
(from Lumberjocks.com)


A dear friend asked me to build a couple hope chests for her young girls. Since they are the closest thing to grandkids to me, I didn't hesitate. She wanted “something with panels” and brown stained wood, not rustic. I sketched a design and ran with it.Selected quarter-sawn red oak and used shaker rail and stile with flat panels. Chose to use corner lock miter joints for both appearance and for ease of assembly. After sanding and raising the grain, I used GF Medium Brown water-based dye stain. Top coated with lacquer. Rubbed out with special dark paste wax.Trays are quarter-sawn sycamore with BB ply bottom. Before assembling the trays, I sent the bottoms to my son (with a really nice laser) to burn in the girl's initials. Trays were finished with lacquer.Lid-Stay Torsion Hinges from Rockler will keep the lids from smashing those little fingers. According to Rockler's calculations, I should've used 140# but had to use what I had, 2 – 40# and 1 – 30# for each. This is adequate for now, but told mom if they loosen up and allow the lid to slam, we can swap out for stronger hinges.
Dimensions are 36” long x 18” wide x 19” tall.I did run into a challenge with WB dye stain on the panels. Wiped on stain, let it sit for couple minutes, then thoroughly wiped off excess just like the instructions state. Looked good. When I returned to the shop, dye leeched back onto the edge of several of the panels. Apparently this came from the grooves the panels set into. I appreciated the advice from fellow LJs, especially CaptainKluttz. Here's a link to the forum post: WB Dye Stain Problem - How to fix it???As always, I appreciate your comments.

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