When we consider the beauty, the romance, and the practical value of the cedar chest, we wonder what piece of furniture offers the amateur craftsman more satisfactory returns for his work. This section discusses the major points to be considered in making a Colonial and other popular types of cedar chests.

Thoroughly weather-dried red cedar, if obtainable, will yield more of the characteristic odor of cedar, but kiln-dried lumber will hold its shape better. Often a pine or whitewood chest can be lined with 3/16- in. red cedar, though as far as the safety of the contents is concerned, cedar may be omitted and the goods laid away in naphthalene flakes.

Cedar is prized for its beauty, its odor, and the sentiment attached to it through its long use in chests, but for all practical purposes any good cabinet wood will serve for making the chests illustrated. Plywood can be used by adapting dimensions to the differences in thickness; this will eliminate all gluing of wide boards.

Fig. 6. - Measured drawings of Colonial "ladder-back" chair of fine proportions and unusual simplicity.

Red cedar boards are seldom more than 8 in. wide and usually have many blemishes, but we must be thankful that the unwise lumber waste of the past has left us even these. They should be planed ¾ or 7/8 in- in thickness, as may be required. If a tray is desired, one of the poorer boards may be resawed and planed to % in.

Saw out the boards to 1 in. longer than required and make a liberal allowance for width. Joint (plane) the edges for gluing. The simplest joint - the plain glued joint - has no reinforcement; the doweled joint is the best for this work, for the matched and splined joints are more suitable for machine fitting.

Fig. 7. - An attractive and practical chest seat. For the working drawings, see Fig. 11.

Dowels may be located by driving small brads about halfway in one of the edges to be joined at the points where the dowels are required and cutting them off so as to leave about 1/8 in. projecting. Carefully place the two boards together and rap them sharply with a mallet. Separate them and pull out the brads. The small holes will be in perfect alignment and will indicate where to bore the dowel holes in both edges.

After the boards have been glued, plane them roughly to a straight surface and to an even thickness at the ends. Select the face sides of all pieces, joint the best edge of each, mark and saw the lengths accurately with a fine saw, and plane the parts to accurate widths.

The Colonial chest illustrated in Fig. 8 is assembled by fastening the end pieces to the sides with 1 ½-in. No. 9 screws and hiding the screw heads with plugs. Bore a 7/16-in. hole as at A ¼ in. deep, and drill a 3/16-in. hole the rest of the way. Make the plug by sawing ½ in. from the end of a ½-in. board and planing, whittling, or filing it round and tapered so it can be driven closely into the 7/16- in hole. Drive the screw; then glue and set the plug in the hole. The grain of the plug should coincide with the grain of the surface. Later on the plug can be trimmed flush with the board.

Fig. 8. - Colonial chest with various types of edge joints - matched, splined, butted and glued, doweled. and two kinds of side-butted and screwed joints. Any of these can be used, of course, in making any types of chest.

Chests may be assembled by several other methods illustrated in Figs. 9, 10, and 11.

In the high chest (Fig. 9), the open dado joint B is assembled by means of 1½ No. 8 screws driven a little slantingly. The countersunk screw holes and the joint are covered with a strip.

Fig. 9. - High chest with shaped Legs. It gives a lighter and more graceful impression than a low, boxlike chest.

Fig. 10. - Hepplewhite chest with details of the legs and various types of corner joints.

In the Hepplewhite chest (Fig. 10), the dado or milled corner C requires the use of a circular saw; the grain at 1 is a weak place. The half-and-half joint at D, nailed two ways and with the nails set and the holes filled with putty, makes a good joint. The mitered and splined joint E is the best joint shown; it is strengthened by splines 2, made of veneer and glued into slanting saw cuts of suitable width.

Fig. 11. - Dimensioned drawings of the chest seat. Compare with Fig. 7.

The construction of the seat chest (Figs. 7 and 11) permits a simpler form of corner. The sides and ends may be securely nailed as at F.

A chest bottom should be perfectly square and fastened to the bottom with sixpenny finishing nails or with screws, say 1 ¼ No. 9 in size.

The trusses and feet may be made from ¾-in. pieces cut larger than required, glued together, sawed, and the curves smoothed with spokeshave, file, and sandpaper. Fasten these in place with glue and with nails or screws.

Handles may be made of 7/8-in.-thick wood hollowed underneath and fastened with glue and screws.

Make the cover 1/8 in. larger all around than the body of the chest, with square edges and true angles. The molding H (Colonial chest, Fig. 8) around the cover is 7/8 by 1 ½ in. It is fitted to the edge, mitered, and fastened with glue and sixpenny finishing nails. Place the glue in the middle of the end as at G, which will allow the cover to shrink and swell without twisting. Take the same precautions in fastening cleats J with glue - that is, apply the glue only at the center - and have the screw holes fit the screws loosely. The edge of the cover should project 1 in., but it may be 1/16 in. less so H will just clear the body. Regular chest hinges, which have one leaf offset, as shown in the upper left-hand corner of Fig. 12, are ordinarily used. The offset leaf is attached with screws to the upper edge of the back of the chest and to the inner surface of the back. Hinges of this type can be obtained at the larger hardware stores and manual training supply houses.

Fig. 12. - A chest hinge; various methods of applying butt hinges ; the steps in fitting a chest lock.

Ordinary butt hinges K also can be used and, of course, are obtainable anywhere. To apply them, lay the cover and chest upside down; place the butts and drive the screws while in that position. If the cover and back are flush, the hinges may be placed as at P. In that case, a strip ½ by 1 in. in cross section should be fastened to the inside of the cover as at Q to make the joint tight.

Fasten a piece of chain, strap, or webbing about 18 in. long from the chest to the cover, inside, to prevent the cover from falling too far back.

Butts placed at L in Fig. 11 may be cut entirely into the cover (as shown at M in Fig. 12) or one half their thickness may be set into the cover and half into the back piece, as at N.

Fit the chest lock by following the steps illustrated. Place the striker R in the lock and turn the key; drop the cover on the striker and the points 4 will mark the underside. Raise the cover, place the striker in the marks accurately, and mark carefully around the plate with a knife. Sink the depth of the plate until the cover will be held firmly when the chest is locked. After the chest has been finished, the escutcheon may be fastened in place.

The chest may be finished on the outside in its natural color or stained. Give the wood two coats of shellac and two of rubbing varnish or rubbing lacquer.

Rub the undercoats with No. 4-0 sandpaper, and, if varnish is used, rub the last coat with powdered pumice stone and oil. Do not finish the inside in any way or the aroma of the cedar will be destroyed.

Some manufacturers sell knocked-down cedar chests in a variety of designs. These usually have finely machined corner joints so that the parts practically lock together. Their assembly is, therefore, a simple matter.

Manual training supply dealers and stores which carry hardware specialties often have on hand a supply of special hardware for chests, including copper bands, corners, hinge plates, escutcheons, handles, and chest lid supports.