Blanket Chest - missing hidden details

[sroxberg]

I am building a blanket chest from just a photo. I have determined the majority of the dimensions and need help with some of the build that I can't see.



How do I support the drawer, I do not intend to use drawer slides, only wood.

The chest bottom or floor inside the chest will be cedar and float on top of a frame above the drawer.

The chest is already heavy so I don't want or need a lot of weight.

Should the drawer have a wooden center guide since it is so wide, or just two guides on each side.

Help!

[fredhargis]

I'd probably just go with a guide on each side, looks a little wide for a single center mount one.

[DaveR1]

Steve,

You could put in another frame at the bottom of the case. Stiles front to back and rails side to side. The stiles would form the drawer runners and drawer stops could be added to the front rail to stop the drawer flush.

The frame on the bottom will give you something to screw the base to as well.

How much space is there between the bottom of the upper frame and the top edge of the drawer sides? Maybe you'll need to add kickers?

[sroxberg]

Dave, I haven't done my Sketchup drawing yet so I don't know on the kicker.

Is a kicker a board that stops the drawer from tilting down as it is removed?

[DaveR1]

Steve, yes, the kickers do keep the drawer from sagging down when it is opened. You could use the bottom of the upper frame for that depending on the arrangement.

I did a plan for a chest with a drawer in it last year or earlier this year (it fades in to a blur) and I can hunt it up and make an image of how that whole thing works.

[Scoony]

DaveR1 said:

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You could use the bottom of the upper frame for that depending on the arrangement.

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And a strip of wood to either side of the drawer screwed in from below could serve as guides. I made a similar chest and will look at it tonight to see what I did for the side rails, but I am sure that I used the frame and panel that divides the drawer area from the upper storage area as the kicker.

[DaveR1]

Steve, I had a look at the chest I was thinking of and made this image. It's an English Arts and Crafts-style chest on stand by Mario Rodriguez. In this case the bottom and false bottom are thin panels without frames. There are kickers glued in under the false bottom and the bottom panel acts as the drawer runners. The chest is not attached to the stand so no need for the bottom frame.

I guess I could still see using a frame on the bottom.

[DaveR1]

After a bit of a think and some dinner I did a quickie sketch. I think a couple of identical frame and panel assemblies would would well. Although I didn't show them the bottom one would fit into a rabbet on the bottom edge of the sides, front, and back and the upper one could go in grooves plowed in the sides, front, and back. I guess the bottom panels and center stiles would be optional.

[Scoony]

Glen Huey has a plan out there for a Penn style blanket chest with a sketchup drawing. I built that one several years ago. It could be easily modified for a shaker style.

[DaveR1]

Steve, it popped into my head during the night that I neglected to mention the guides on the sides. You probably thought of them but I figured I'd mention it.