Cherry Shaker Blanket Chest PlansWhen April mentioned the idea of building a little chest this winter, I thought, “Sure… that would be fun. Maybe we can use it like a coffee table, too. You know, throw books and our feet up on it.” Needless to say, I didn’t quite have the expectation of building a bomb-proof, beautiful piece of furniture.

Once we got the bug in our heads, and once Greg started showing off his amazing cherry wood supply, things started looking a bit different. We ended up finding a set of Shaker blanket chest plans we really liked, and all of a sudden the outlook was looking a lot more refined than I would have originally imagined.

Shaker Blanket Chest

To read the full text of my article about building a Shaker blanket chest, go to Highland Woodworking — it’s a featured article in their Wood News publication. Here are some photos from the building process. Enjoy.

Shaker Chest: Cutting Dovetails

Sawing dovetails for the main carcass — don’t go past the line there!

Shaker Blanket Chest: Dovetails in Carcass

Freshly chopped tails in the back piece of the carcass… these will be directly traced on the sides for cutting the pins

Shaker Chest Carcass

A freshly glued-up carcass, and not a clamp too few

Carcass is Square

A wonderfully square carcass, thanks to very precise milling

Shaker Blanket Chest Plinth

A look at the plinth, with dovetailed corners and rounded leg detail

Sliding Dovetail Key

This is the sliding dovetail key that hides the endgrain in the drawer portion of the carcass — the topmost piece of wood slides down and gets glued only on the top key

Dovetailed Drawer

The drawer is glued and ready for finish sanding and fitting

Shaker Blanket Chest Breadboard Lid

The breadboard end has three mortises that will slide over the lid tenons

Cedar Lining for Chest

A piece of the gorgeous cedar we used to line the chest interior

Oiled Blanket Chest

A little bit of oil and the grain immediately pops

Curly Cherry Shaker Chest

Check out that curly cherry on the front of the chest

Rear corner of Blanket Chest

I love the long line of dovetails here, combined with the almost “3D” effect of the curly wood

(Some images are from Greg’s blog, see here.)