We have considered buying a cedar-lined chest to store blankets, towels, etc. for many years. However, we couldn’t find one that came close to matching the Knotty Pine bedroom set that we had in our master suite.
Hence, our design criteria was quite simple; match the bedroom set and have a chest sturdy enough to support our Beagles as they peer at the squirrels outside the window.
We used plans / ideas from several different chest designs which were readily available on the internet. Most of those plans were using hard woods such as oak. Those plans called for a hard wood framing with ¼” oak plywood for the panels. Since we needed to use Knotty Pine to match the bedroom set, we used 1” Knotty Pine for framing and Knotty Pine ¾ ply w/ Kreg Screws and copious glue to strengthen the construct. We finished it off with locally available 3/8” cedar T.G. planks. It is very heavy and very strong! This project was done entirely w/ Kreg Screws and no router rabbeting for the panels.
We learned the following while doing this project:
· When using soft woods, always put the power sander on the wood before you start the sander. Otherwise, you can get scratching / sander burns that don’t present themselves until staining begins.
· While very strong, ¾” plywood is very heavy!
· When using plywood, it is recommended that you stain both the visible and non-visible sides of each piece where glue is not to be applied. Otherwise the chance for delaminating increases dramatically.
60 hours work and $350 to build.
