Mesquite Quilt Chest – Viewer Project

This project was made by Nick, AKA Lucky1406. Pretty impressive for a first project!! Here’s the story:

I just thought I’d send you this, I’ve been working very hard on it, and it’s been a great project for me. I’ve learned so much from it. My Mom and Dad wanted me to make them a wooden chest to display her quilts(she’s a big Quilter), and this is what I cam up with. I found the design online, and I changed it up a bit to make it a little nicer. The wood is Mesquite, 3/4″. With Stained aspen panels for the back and bottom. I used 1/4″ glass for the front and sides. The top was held together with 4 biscuits each and a lot of Tightbond III, and the frame is held together with Pocket screws with walnut plugs. The front and side frames are held together with screws(3 each) with walnut plugs as well. I put a 45 degree chamfer on the top edge to give it a finishing touch. Glass was held in with Liquid nails mirror adhesive. And the hinges are solid brass. I also installed the spring loaded hinges to help the lid lift up and down, and to keep it from over extending(worked out great). I ended up deciding to build two of them(just as fast as building one), so that my mom has some nice new furniture in her living room. And the will look great instead of her cheap stuff that she has now. They are finished in the photos, except for a few finishing touches like getting all the excess liquid nails off of the glass, and the bottom being yet to be placed inside the second one. I put two coats of tung oil, and three coats of poly satin on all the surfaces to give it a strong protection. I think that they came out just great. This was my first real project, and my first furniture project ever. I’ve never done any fine wood working before, and I think I did very well for my first time. All the edges are clean and smooth, and you can’t feel any of the joints or plugs. The top feels like one piece when you run your hand over it. No gaps or anything. Let me know if you have any questions about the project. I finished both of them in about three weeks worth of afternoons. I had work till 3pm Mon-Fri so I only had a few hours each day. I Finished up just in time for X-mas.