Treasure Chest

Baby Steps

Start with all your stock milled to the final thickness and rip all pieces to final width.

Glue the front and back pieces to the bottom and clamp the assembly before setting aside to dry before nailing.

While you’re waiting, work on cutting the 1/4"-thick slats to length. .

Let the nailing begin. Predrill all nail holes for practice and to prevent splitting.

Select two of the lid slats, then glue and clamp them to join the short end faces of the lid ends.

Leatherwork begins during this second drying period. As with the wood, I cut the leather into strips and  cut those pieces to length with scissors. Punch a hole 1/2" from the ends of the two leather straps, then secure the handles with 5/8"-long pan-head screws.

Unclamp the lid assembly and start gluing and nailing slats into place using 1"-long finishing nails. Begin at the front, omitting the nails in the sixth and ninth top slats as well as the back face slat. You will fasten the leather hinge straps (as well as the slats) using common nails instead of finishing nails. The head of the common nail is large enough not to pull through the leather, keeping the hinge operational.

Put the lid in place and secure it with masking tape before nailing the leather hinge to ­the back of the lower portion of the treasure chest assembly.

Final Finish

For a natural finish, I recommend mineral oil

Part	Material	Size (T x W x L*)	Qty.

Bottom	butternut	3/4" x 5 5/8" x 9 1/4"	1
Front/back	butternut	3/4" x 3 1/2" x 9 1/4"	2
Ends	butternut	3/4" x 5 5/8" x 2 3/4"	2
Lid ends	butternut	3/4" x 1 3/4" x 6 5/8"	2
Lids slats	butternut	1/4" x 3/4" x 9 1/4"	11
Hinges straps	leather	1/16" x 3/4" x 6"	2
Handle straps	leather	1/16" x 3/4" x 6"	2

* Length indicates grain direction