Faith Chest

[Tapper]

Lovely - good on ya!

Doug

[R Clark]

Superb!  Those box joints look perfect!

[Gary G™]

Really nice looking work.

[Bill Wilson]

Very well done!  Do you normally do all of them in oak?  Could I ask how you do the box joints?  Those chests will be a constant reminder through the years of the special event!

Yes, they are typically done in red oak for one very simple reason.  The fellow who helps me has a sizeable, personal stash and donates the wood.  His family property has a lot of red oak trees.  He cuts them down, has someone come in with a portable bandsaw mill to make lumber, then dries them in his solar kiln.  I have made a few from different woods, like cherry, walnut, ash, even sycamore.  Those were all one of's though.  The rest have all been from the donated red oak.

I use a PC4216 dovetail/box joint jig to make the box joints.  On the prototype, I tried to use a home made jig on my TS.  It seemed to work well on my test piece.  However, my test piece was only 6" wide.  Once I tried it on a 10" wide piece, I discovered there was just enough cumulative error in my jig setup that the pieces wouldn't line up.  I debated going back to the drawing board vs buying a commercially made jig.  Considering that I was going to be making a lot of these, I decided the commercially made jig was the practical choice for me.  I haven't kept track, but I estimate we've given at least 60-70 of these.

[Bill Wilson]

Superb!  Those box joints look perfect!

Thanks.  I give most of the credit to the PC4216 jig that I use.  The red oak has a tendency to tear out a little, so sometimes a little Timbermate is necessary to clean them up a little.

[cbygeorge]

Yes, they are typically done in red oak for one very simple reason.  The fellow who helps me has a sizeable, personal stash and donates the wood.  His family property has a lot of red oak trees.  He cuts them down, has someone come in with a portable bandsaw mill to make lumber, then dries them in his solar kiln.  I have made a few from different woods, like cherry, walnut, ash, even sycamore.  Those were all one of's though.  The rest have all been from the donated red oak.

I use a PC4216 dovetail/box joint jig to make the box joints.  On the prototype, I tried to use a home made jig on my TS.  It seemed to work well on my test piece.  However, my test piece was only 6" wide.  Once I tried it on a 10" wide piece, I discovered there was just enough cumulative error in my jig setup that the pieces wouldn't line up.  I debated going back to the drawing board vs buying a commercially made jig.  Considering that I was going to be making a lot of these, I decided the commercially made jig was the practical choice for me.  I haven't kept track, but I estimate we've given at least 60-70 of these.

Thanks for the reply.  Good reason for using oak!  I have never used that jig but it looks like it is really doing a great job.  Showed the picture to the wife and she just shook her head and said "wow."

[Bill Wilson]

The PC jig may not have the flexibility of some other jigs, but it has proven very effective for this purpose.  I needed accuracy, consistency and repeatability.  The PC checks all the boxes.  Actually, I have never used it for dovetails. I set it for my box joints and haven’t changed it.

[John Mihich]

This is an ongoing project I've been involved in for about the last 10 years or so.  With the help of a friend, I make these faith chests for our church.  They are given as gifts from the congregation when a child is baptized.

Really nice.  I wish I would have thought of something like that.

[Bill Wilson]

Really nice.  I wish I would have thought of something like that.

Truth be told, it wasn't my idea.  A couple men from the congregation attended a men's retreat.  The host church had this ministry and it intrigued our 2 representatives, so they brought the idea home.  Neither of them were woodworkers, so they approached me about leading the project.  I came up with a design and made the prototype, all the while focusing on keeping the process as simple as possible.  This was because the original concept had it being more of a group effort, within the congregation.  I solicited volunteers to make the various components, wrote up drawings and instructions, prepped the lumber and distributed it to the volunteers.  Then once all the components were ready, we had a couple work days at the church (no one had a shop large enough to accommodate a large group) to assemble the chests.  It was a noble concept and we made the first batch of 9 or 10 boxes this way.  But, because of the logistics and lead times involved, it really proved to be impractical.  It ended up that 2 of us carried it forward.  This arrangement really has been much more efficient and the chests could be made in smaller batches.  Ultimately it probably saved my sanity doing it this way.

Please feel free to take the idea to your church, if you want to give it a go.  I'd be more than happy to offer any help that I can.

[FrankAtl]

Wow, you've made 60 or 70 of them! The cross on the front really suits the design. Beautiful work Bill!