Woodworking Chest

The materials used in this build are remnants of previous works except for the heartwood that was a cutoff from my favorite hardwood barn.

box: baltic birch; drawer fronts, chisel rack, and mallet head: cherry and african heartwood; handles: maple; handle arms and feet: black walnut; hinges and pins: red oak

finish: the woods were left natural, hand rubbed with oil and wax to show their true nature, except for the birch box which has a pinch of red rust.   left natural to show their linseed oil (+pinch of red rust on box), bee's wax and orange oil

the chest and drawers contain most things I need for onsite installation, tuning, touch up, and repair

carver's mallet

raw stock

heartwood glue up. this wood is rock hard and medium brown until exposed to sunlight, then turns violet

flattening with a restored bench plane

rough shaping

smelting fishing anchors for ballast

final head glue up (the lead was poured into 1.25" diameter bores in heartwood)

the handle was shaped using the same methods as this hammer

The only means of strengthening one's intellect is to make up one's mind about nothing - to let the mind be a thoroughfare for all thoughts. 

    —John Keats