# Greene & Greene Style Blanket Chest



## Upstate (Nov 28, 2011)

Here is a Greene and Greene style chest I built for my niece. It's actually a toybox for now (a real boring toybox for a 3 year old), but she should be able to get some good use out if it when she's older as well. Life got pretty busy, so it took over a year from start to finish.

Instead of the traditional mahogany and ebony that Greene and Greene furniture is usually made from, it's made with red oak, katalox plugs and splines, and a eastern red cedar lining. It's quite big... 45" x 25" x 25" or so, give or take an inch. I filled the grain with Timbermate, then put on a couple light coats of shellac, then a couple coats of GF Brown Mahogany stain, and finally a few coats of GF Satin Gel Urethane. I tried to blacken the plugs and splines with black shoe polish, but it didn't work out as well as I hoped.

For the hardware, the hinges are torsion hinges from Rockler, which were stupid expensive, but they do work very well. The lid does stay up at any angle, which is probably good for a three year old. On the trays in the chest, the handles are simply some drawer pulls from the big box store. The trays and bottom of the chest are lined in black felt adhered to some thin cardboard cut to size, which worked surprisingly well.

All in all, I'm pretty happy with how everything turned out, although my finishing could use a little work.


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## mmwood_1 (Oct 24, 2007)

I think it's a finely executed piece, and she will probably treasure it into her later years.


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## Masterjer (Nov 6, 2012)

That is a stunning piece. Very well executed. Did it really require that many hinges? I've been looking at those hinges and that is a lot of cash for 6 torsion hinges.


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## Hubshooter (Jul 26, 2014)

Wow! That looks superb! Beautifully executed! I'm working on the same style of Blanket Chest. It looks very similar to the one built in the Wood Whisperer Guild.


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## Travico (Dec 25, 2012)

You can go ahead and quit your day job!! I had to print several of the pics. It is just WOW!!!


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## Upstate (Nov 28, 2011)

Masterjer said:


> That is a stunning piece. Very well executed. Did it really require that many hinges? I've been looking at those hinges and that is a lot of cash for 6 torsion hinges.


It did not need that many hinges. I used the hinge calculator on Rockler's site and it failed me a bit. I started with 6 60lb hinges, and it was near impossible to lift the lid; a child wouldn't have a chance. Since I already drilled the holes for the hinges, I ended up replacing 4 of the 6 hinges with weaker 30lb hinges. So, instead of 360 inch-pounds (whatever that means), I ended up with 240 inch-pounds. It's just about right, perhaps just a little stiff to open - I'm hoping they'll loosen with age a bit.



Hubshooter said:


> Wow! That looks superb! Beautifully executed! I'm working on the same style of Blanket Chest. It looks very similar to the one built in the Wood Whisperer Guild.


Thanks, I got my inspiration for it from here: http://furnituremaker.com/galleries/blanketchest.htm

And good luck! Those square mortises for the pegs stop being fun around the 10th one (I had about 60 total to do)! Lee Valley sells a square punch that helps a little bit if you have some extra cash laying around. I did buy one size (5/16), and it did work very well. http://www.leevalley.com/US/Wood/page.aspx?p=65380&cat=1,43456


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## Ron_J (Sep 22, 2014)

Awesome! I will be keeping this one close for the future.

BTW...I feel your pain on the hinges. I cheaped out and didn't get them, and now wish I would have.


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## Chamfer (Sep 6, 2014)

Outstanding work. Very nice piece. :thumbsup:


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## gmcooter (Jan 22, 2015)

*chest*

That chest is beautiful! I've made several hope chests over the years. The hinges and lid supports are always a challenge. I ordered some from Rockler Hardware. If they don't have what you want it will be hard to find anywhere else. gmcooter


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## Hubshooter (Jul 26, 2014)

Upstate said:


> Thanks, I got my inspiration for it from here: http://furnituremaker.com/galleries/blanketchest.htm
> 
> And good luck! Those square mortises for the pegs stop being fun around the 10th one (I had about 60 total to do)! Lee Valley sells a square punch that helps a little bit if you have some extra cash laying around. I did buy one size (5/16), and it did work very well. http://www.leevalley.com/US/Wood/page.aspx?p=65380&cat=1,43456


I bought the 3/8 one a week or so ago. I knew those things would be a pain!


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