The tea chest that I spent the year working on is now completed. Based on the tea chest in Mike Pekovich's book "The Why and How of Woodworking" pg. 140. This piece was slightly modified to hold 120 mL acrylic paint tubes so its slightly larger than Pekovich's. Other parts of his design I altered as well to make it closer to my style and interests. In addition to paint tubes it will also house additional pieces of my growing collection of Hanayama cast metal puzzles.
Tea chest is made of poplar that was left over from the Apothecary Puzzle Cabinet built last year. It was finished with Bullseye Clear Shellac. With the sliding panel that features my first Kumiko basic pattern, only two drawers are visible at once.
The bottom drawer opens only when a hidden button inside a drawer slot is pushed. This image shows the push button and the workings of the hidden and secret compartments which are now all covered with a birch wood cover as seen in the photo to the right which shows it completed with an open well for additional puzzles and the "key" necessary for opening the secret spaces.
Image shows the planning of the hidden and secret compartments with three of the four puzzles that live there now. Cast Coil lives in the inner secret compartment and Cast Marble, Cast Donut (not shown) and Cannon fit in the hidden compartment.
Because I am gradually heading into the direction of puzzle cabinets and puzzle boxes exclusively one additional feature of this chest is that the drawers have a painting on the bottom of them. Parts of the painting is painted on the bottom of each drawer out of order so that they have to be arranged correctly to make the "correct" orientation. This is Cascades Falls located near Boone, NC. We went there this summer. This photo was taken right after painting and removing the tape but before signing the piece and the chest as well.
In this project there were many firsts:
First time doing the following:
1. A floating back (before my backs were glued directly to the back and fastened with screws or nails)
2. Making a Kumiko-style design
3. Making a sliding panel that can be removed from the piece and replaced in the future if I fancy it.
4. A stop rabbet shelf, previously my shelves went all the way to the front of the frame
Now its time to get my extra paint tubes inside and easier to access next time I sit down to paint.
Note this photo was taken earlier in the process before the sliding panel was completed. But this is how the drawers will be used.
