Every Chest Should Have A Cedar Lining

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Each of the four identical sides starts with a 3/4"-thick, 21" X 21" perimeter frame that consists of two 14"-long vertical stiles and full-width top and bottom rails. These four components are held together at the joints with 1/4" X 1-1/2" X 3" splines that are glued into kerfs sliced across the mating surfaces of the seams.

A 3/8"-wide by 5/8"-deep rabbet, cut into the inner face of the bottom rail, will accommodate the 5/8" X 20-1/4" X 20-1/4" plywood base once everything's assembled, and a similar groove (this one 1/2" deep and 1/2" wide), routed into the inside edges of the framework, provides a seat for the 1/2" X 3-1/2" X 16" pine strips that make up the side panel inserts. Furthermore, the side edges of each completed square are 45°-mitered to the inside to form clean finish joints.

Here's a helpful hint: Cut the stiles from the 10-foot 1 X 4, and the rails from the 14-footer. Notice that Clarence has routed those boards — with the help of the shaper table, although a straightedge clamped to the work would do in a pinch — to a 3" width . . . and that he's also added contoured corners and decorated the frame adjacent to the panel inserts with a shallow fluted edge.

The sides are locked together with glue and No. 8 X 1-1/4" flathead wood screws (installed six to a corner and perpendicular to one another), which are fastened through 3/4" X 3/4" X 20" corner braces (these can be cut from your leftover strip of 12-foot 1 X 4). Once they're joined, the plywood bottom of the box can be glued into its rabbet, and the pedestal glued underneath and screwed in place from the inside.

To make the lid, you'll need to cut your 1 X 6 into eight pieces, four of which should be 21" and the other four 10-1/2" on their longest edges. Because these sections' ends meet each other in 45° joints across their widths (and because you'll naturally want to make the most efficient use of your wood), you'll have to plan your cuts carefully so the angled faces butt against each other . . . thus eliminating the wasteful "wedges" that'd otherwise be left between the slices.

These sections are, like the side frames, fastened together with 1/4" X 1-1/2" splines set and glued into the mating surfaces of each miter face. The straight edges of the boards are cemented at their joints, too . . . and when the lid's completed, 3/16" flutes can be added — with the router — to its outer edges.

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