Chapin High Chest of Drawers - Upper Case Build - Step 8

Before I built the upper case I felt that I needed to build a prototype of the top of the case to make sure that I understood the joinery.  This is not to scales but it did help me understand how the lattice, molding and pediment attach to the case.

I also built one drawer divider and dovetailed it to the side as well as the vertical runner on the corner which encloses the 1 inch by 1 inch opening for the quarter columns.

The top has a cut away at a slope which allows light to show through the bottom row of the lattice.
I wanted to see if my guess was correct, it was not.   I made the slope 1/2 inch back but it need to be more.  That's why I built a prototype.

It also gave me a chance to see how the lattice will fit into the top.  I also checked out the size of the front and side molding.

I now felt comfortable that I knew enough to build the upper case.  I started with the sides which I wanted to be one piece.  They are 16 1/8 wide by 41 1/2 tall.  I have one board that will accommodate that size.  It is too large to flatten with my machinery so I will have to do it by hand on one side anyway.

Unfortunately the board had a bit of twist in it, so I had to plane off quite a bit of get it flat. I needed  to get the board for the side to 7/8 inch thick.
Once I got the one side flat I used my wide belt sander to flatten the other side.

I made a story stick with all of the measurements for the drawers and runners.  I make a story stick for most projects, it makes it easier to transfer measurements.

The top and bottom are made from pine, I glued up two pieces to make the 36 3/8 x 17 1/8 inch top and bottom boards.

I laid out the dovetail pattern on the top and bottom. The tails are 2 inches and the pins are 1/2 inch at the top.

Then I sawed and chopped out the tails.

Then I matched the top and bottom to the sides and scribed the pins on to the sides. Sawed and chopped out the pins.

Everything fit together pretty good, I thought I would try it out in the the lower case.  Now I know why they call it a highboy.  The upper case is already pretty heavy.

Next I needed to make the drawer dividers (drawer blades).  These have multiple joints on each end. A tenon for the vertical runners and a half dovetail to fit into the case side.  Somewhat complex joinery.  I used a dado to cut the tenons. 

I positioned each of the drawer blades in the proper place and scribed the dovetail on the case side.

Then sawed and chopped out the dovetail socket.

This is a close up of the dovetail and tenon.

Close up of the dovetail fitted and the mortise and tenon on the vertical runner.  This construction is solid and creates the 1 by 1 opening for the quarter columns.

Complete with a sample of the quarter column.

Next I worked on the drawer runners.  

There in 1/8 shallow dados in the case side. They have a 1/4 inch tenon on the front which fits in a 1/4 in groove on the back of the drawer blades.

The runners are made from pine.

I also put a 1/4 inch groove in the back for the 1/2 inch pine back that I am going to make.  Chapin made the back like a drawer bottom with a beveled edge on the back that slips into the 1/4 in groove.

The upper case I almost complete except for the runners for the three small drawers at the top and building lap siding for the back.

The build is coming along.

Here is today's video:

Chapin High Chest of Drawers - Waist Molding Hollows & Rounds - Step 7

It is time to make the waist molding to finish off the lower chest.  I have a number of pictures of the waist molding profile from Yale and others from Will Neptune's study at Wadsworth Atheneum Museum. There are a few differences from each example.
I selected the one from Yale since that I the one that I photographed and measured. From the photograph I made a cardboard template of the profile.  It measures 1 3/16 wide by 1 inch tall.

I decided to make it with hollows & rounds. Doug Moulder came over and visited since he has more experience with hollows & rounds than I do, he was very helpful in getting ready and cutting the first one.

First we traced the profile on the edge of the board.  The board is wide enough for two pieces of molding.  Then with a dado blade in the table saw we cut steps in the molding to remove some of the material and create grooves for the hollows & rounds to follow.

Then we used a round plane to create the hollow or cove on the molding.

Then we used hollow planes to round over the corners and the shoulder to create the round portion of the molding.

Then we cleaned up the shapes with scrapers.

Lastly we used sand paper on the planes for shape with the blades removed to clean up the bumps on the molding.

With all of those steps we had one good piece of molding.

I decided to see if I could make a dedicated molding profile on an old plane that I had.  This did not save any time but I was curious if I could do it.
The old plane was given to me and it was quite a bit wider than I needed.  I cut it down on both sides and removed the pattern from the bottom of the plane.   Then I used hollows and rounds to make the profile on the bottom of the plane.
Then I cut down the blade and reshaped the profile to match the pattern on the bottom.  Then sharped the blade.
All of this took me about 2 1/2 hours, so this was not a time saver since I only need 3 more pieces of molding.

Now I was ready to test out the new molding plane

It worked pretty good. As long as the grain direction was good.  The last piece had the grain running the opposite way and it was terrible.

I still had to use the hollow plane on the edges to round over the front of the molding.

Now I had four pieces of molding that I could miter to the case. I only needed two pieces but I am sure I will make a mistake and need the extra pieces.

I had to decide how I wanted to position the molding on the case. From the pictures that I have of the four different chests each of the waist molding is positioned different.

As you can see below I have positioned the molding just about flush with the side.

I cut the miters and positioned the molding around the top of the case.  I clamped it in place and checked for square.  I now had the molding where I wanted it but I need to remove it to glue and nail it in place.
I temporarily tacked strips of wood behind the molding so the molding could be repositioned quickly as I was removing each piece to glue and nail.

I used hide glue and my 18th century pneumatic pin nailer to attach the molding.

Then I added more clamps to hold it in place until the glue dried.

This completes the construction of the lower case.  The drawers and quarter columns will be added later.
I can now accurately measure the inside of the waist molding to make sure the upper case fits snugly in the opening. I do not plan on attaching the waist molding to the upper case.

The next step is to begin work on the upper case.

Here is today's video:

Chapin High Chest of Drawers - Glue Up & Knee Blocks - Step 6

I have completed carving the four ball and claw feet, so now it is time to glue up the lower case. I dry fitted the case one more time.  It should not have changed but I did it to make sure I would not have trouble when I was gluing the pieces together.

Gluing the case together is somewhat complex, even with the long open time of the hide glue, I don't think that I could complete the entire task at one time.

First, I glued the two rear legs to the back, making sure it was square and flat. Then I glued up the front pieces to the two front legs. Again, making sure it was square and flat.

When they were dry, I had a front and back.  I laid the back on the table and put glue in all the mortises and then inserted the sides and all the runners.

Then I applied glue to all of the tenons on the front of the sides and runners.

Lastly, I placed the front on the ends of the runners and sides.  I used a dead blow hammer to bang things together and then stood it up on the feet and clamped it together.

All glued up waiting to dry.

Now that it is glued up, I can make and apply the knee blocks.  I have a full size picture of the knee block shape.  But it is a flat picture and the knee block is quite curved.

I have to enlarge the picture and shape to fit over the curved surface.

For material, I have the tops of the posts that I cut off when I first started to make the cabriolet legs, this allows me to match the grain in the legs.  I had put letters on the pieces so I could match them up.

I trace the side curve on the block of wood since this is the first cut I am going to make on the bandsaw. I now have the curve for the knee block.

Then I bend the paper template across the curve and trace it on the curved surface.

Then cut the pattern on the bandsaw. I will clean up the saw marks with a spindle sander.

Testing the shape and the fit.  Looks pretty good, now I have to make six of them, each time matching the grain on the leg.  There are none on the back.

Glue them on, I only put glue on the face of the knee block, none on the top.  Since the side of the case shrinks and expands it would not hold on the top of the knee block anyway.

I still need to pair the edges of the knee block flush with the legs after the glue dries and file or rasp the lower curve with the leg curve.

Next step is to make the waist molding.

Here is today's video:

Chapin High Chest of Drawers - Ball & Claw - Step 5

It is time to consider how to carve the Chapin Ball & Claw foot.  I don't have a sample of a previously carved Chapin foot but I do have pictures that I took when I was at the Yale Furniture Study.

The Chapin foot is similar to a Philadelphia foot but with a higher ball and somewhat squished on the bottom. The toenail is different as well since it is a wedge.

The picture at the right is a picture of Will Neptune conducting a class on carving a Chapin foot. All useful information.

Since I have never carved a Chapin foot before,  I decided to carve a practice one that I can use as a model for the four that I need for the chest.

This is an overview of carving this foot. I will get into more detail a little later in this post, but if you want a detailed video on carving a ball and claw foot I have one I did years ago in two parts.  This is the link to the first part https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tUscuFeJcQI

Below I have carved the back two ball shapes where I have made the top of the ball larger than on a normal Philadelphia foot.

Here I am carving the front ball by curving over the lower part of the ball first.

Here I have roughed out the ball and am working on the front toe.

This is the completed foot. I am fairly happy with the shape but now I have to blend it in to the leg.

I use a Nickelson #50 rasp to round over the sharp corners and to shape the leg.

Then I use a spoke shave to smooth the surface and finish the shaping.

Here it is, the completed model foot and leg. I have tweaked it a little bit but I think it is a good representation of the Chapin leg and foot.
So now I need to make four more like this one.

The first step in preparation for carving is to smooth out the leg from all of the bumps that were left from the bandsaw.  I use the spokeshave for the most part and files where I can not reach.

The first step in carving is to layout the ball and claw on the bottom of the foot.  You have to have a plan so that you can be consistent.  I find the center and use a compass to draw 2 concentric circles the size of these depend on the size of the foot you are carving.  Toes are usually 1/2 inch wide.

To begin carving you first make a cylinder to the first line all the way around.

I use a small square to check that the sides of the cylinder are parallel straight back.

Next step is to curve over the lower portion of the ball to the second line.  I made a mark at 7/8 inch and curved down from that point on the ball.

Having carved a model I am able to duplicate the curves and size by using a molding or contour gauge.  I use this repeatedly to check my progress.

Now I am checking on the curve of the front ball. As you can see it is too large, so I need to curve it over to fit the gauge.

Now I have a good fit.

After completing the ball, I need to carve the webbing.  I draw a line from the ball up the leg to create a "V" and then carve it out.

After I carve the four sides of the ball, I turn my attention to rounding over and shaping the talons. Again I use my model to measure and shape them as I have done before.

Lastly, I carve the toenail. Which in this case is a wedge shape.  You can see 2 of them are complete while I am carving the 3rd.

That completes an overview of the process. The model is on the left and the first good foot is on the right. Now I have to shape the leg and clean up everything.

All cleaned up, it takes me about 8 hours for the whole process. I am happy with the first leg, now all I have to do is carve 3 more.

Here is today's video: