# Wooden Chest of Drawers



## erikmannie (Apr 23, 2022)

This is a project that I’ve done before. A lady on my UPS route gives me these really old wooden drawers, and I use them to make wooden chests.

I am not inclined to work with wood, but if I do it is always a father and son project because my Dad has a wood shop in his garage. I do not work on wood in my garage.

I will post my progress in this thread.


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## erikmannie (Apr 23, 2022)

My Dad & I went to Home Depot & bought 2’ X 2’ pieces of 5/8” plywood, wood stain, varnish, and 2 types of trim. I spent $168, which I found expensive.

The drawers were free to me. I had leftover wood glue, knobs, nail gun nails, & sandpaper left over from the previous project.

I also had some leftover trim, stain and varnish.

This chest that I am building is going on top of another chest that I built, & I want it to match perfectly. Hence, the design, all of the trim, stain color, knobs, etc. must identical.


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## erikmannie (Apr 23, 2022)

This was a much easier task this second time around because I just built one of these a month ago.

Comparing the wooden chest to a building, today we built the first story floors and walls. We also have the second-story ceiling cut to size.

Also, today I made the legs that go under this “expansion” wooden chest. That is, it will sit on top of the other wooden chest. These legs will raise this new chest up 7 inches; this will allow me to store some larger stuff under it.

Here are pictures of the first and second story floors and walls, along with the 2 leg/gusset assemblies:


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## erikmannie (Apr 23, 2022)

Here are some pictures of test fitting the first 2 floors:


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## erikmannie (Apr 23, 2022)

Here is a really cruddy picture of the drawers that I am starting with.

Some of the drawers already have knobs installed, & are stained & varnished. These are left over from the first project.

The lady (Ana) gave me about 80 wooden drawers, and I will use every single one of them. These are from her husband (Byron Wilson), who lived from 1918-1992; he was an accomplished craftsman.




Over the last few months, Ana gave me so many of Byron’s tools that I wasn’t able to keep up with posting them on the forum. I wanted to post them on the forum, but there were just too many tools.

I will post a picture of the tool chest that she gave me; it is not a Gerstner. I had already given her $40, but when she gave me this chest I gave her another $100.


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## benmychree (Apr 23, 2022)

George Scherr made/sold Tumico micrometers.


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## benmychree (Apr 23, 2022)

BTW, I do like all those drawers !


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## toolboxted (Apr 24, 2022)

Interesting. Your George Scherr machinist tool chest was manufactured in 1942 - 1944 per 'The' Guide- https://sites.google.com/site/theguideforwoodmachinistchests/


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## erikmannie (Apr 24, 2022)

My Dad & I worked on this today between 8:30-11:00 AM.

Below are pictures of the progress that we made today. We have the risers (“legs”) in place. We also have the first & second stories constructed.

The first & second stories will be entirely covered with an exterior wall & trim. There is also going to be a top that I haven’t even started building.

In the photos, you will notice that we put in 2 temporary struts to keep the bottom of the risers equidistant.

The last photo is of the plywood sides & pine trim that we have cut to length.


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## erikmannie (Apr 30, 2022)

I couldn’t work on this for 5 days because I had to go to work. I went to my Dad’s today for 5 hours and here is what we accomplished. We put on the sides & the trim. We built the top, & glued that on.

This project is (1) sawing wood, (2) fitting it up, (3) nail gun & gluing, (4) apply putty, (5) sand, and keep repeating those steps.


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## Cadillac (Apr 30, 2022)

Looks great! What are your plans for filling it? without a vertical center support sag might become a Issue down the road depending on weight


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## erikmannie (Apr 30, 2022)

Cadillac said:


> Looks great! What are your plans for filling it? without a vertical center support sag might become a Issue down the road depending on weight


I don’t know yet know what I’m going to put in it. I agree that I would need to keep the contents on the lightweight side.


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## erikmannie (May 1, 2022)

Yesterday I glued on the top & applied putty on 4 sides. After allowing the glue and putty to dry overnight, I spent 2 hours today sanding & applying the last bit of putty.

Not the most exciting pictures ever posted on the forum, but here are the 4 sides:


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## erikmannie (May 7, 2022)

After a long & extra punishing work week, I was at my Dad’s at 8:00 in the morning for the final sanding of this chest.

There were a lot of issues! I ended up failing to sand off some of the wood glue from the *bottom* of the chest. I didn’t realize this until I was staining it.

Also, I didn’t sink 2 of the finish nails deep enough, so there is exposed metal after the final sanding. If I were to sink these nails any deeper, it would crack the trim.

At that point, I sanded the faces of all the drawers, & drilled holes for the tiny knobs that I will use. I had some leftover knobs from the first chest, & I ended up having *exactly* as many knobs as I need.

Finally, I applied 8 ounces of stain (2 coats). In 1 or 2 areas, the chest would not accept the stain; I don’t know why. I had sanded it down plenty, but there must be some wood glue there. As everybody knows, you can’t apply stain to dried & sanded wood glue!


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## erikmannie (May 7, 2022)

Tomorrow I will apply 2 coats of varnish, once at 10:30 AM, and once at 6:00 PM.

The varnish will have plenty of time to cure when I go back to work next week.

Next Saturday morning, all I will have to do is screw on the knobs, & clean my Dad’s garage.


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## woodchucker (May 7, 2022)

first, your blotching is a result of soft wood that blotches.
I always treat with a wash coat of zinser seal coat , I cut it 75% alcohol to seal coat. That way it just prevents the blotching.
You will find that using a gel stain is your friend with blotchy woods and a light wash coat.
You will get closer to a furniture grade even coverage using both.
I use shellac for most finishing, unless alcohol will be on the top (drinking). It's a quick finish, and in a short time you can have a durable coat. its repairable. And if you use sealcoat (dewaxed shellac) you can top coat with anything you would prefer for alcohol durability.

For some reason your state has eliminated denatured alcohol, I don't know if you have other choices. Shellac is one of the safest finishes, it's used to coat pills (drugs) for easy swallowing, it's the least environmentally harmful, and one of the quickest drying.


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## erikmannie (May 8, 2022)

woodchucker said:


> first, your blotching is a result of soft wood that blotches.
> I always treat with a wash coat of zinser seal coat , I cut it 75% alcohol to seal coat. That way it just prevents the blotching.
> You will find that using a gel stain is your friend with blotchy woods and a light wash coat.
> You will get closer to a furniture grade even coverage using both.
> ...


Thanks for the explanation. The soft wood in question is the pine trim.

I live in CA, & CA has banned denatured alcohol.

For this chest, I have already bought the varnish.


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## Firstram (May 8, 2022)

A coat of Minwax natural stain applied first and allowed to dry will allow stain to tone more evenly. I think they also make a wood conditioner that will do the same thing.


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## erikmannie (May 8, 2022)

Firstram said:


> A coat of Minwax natural stain applied first and allowed to dry will allow stain to tone more evenly. I think they also make a wood conditioner that will do the same thing.


Good to know. I have never aspired to working with wood, but my Dad will only do a joint project with me if it is a wood project.


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## erikmannie (May 8, 2022)

I came over to my Dad’s on Mother’s Day. I sprayed 1 can of varnish on what you see in the pictures.


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## erikmannie (May 14, 2022)

All I had to do today was put on the knobs, which was only 30 minutes of work. Here it is, all finished:


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## erikmannie (May 14, 2022)

I brought the chest home from my Dad’s, & I set it on top of the first one that I made.

And now to use the new storage area to clear out some clutter in the shop!


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## andysleigh (Jul 7, 2022)

Good stuff!


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