If you read this blog much, you've seen some posts about the carving drawing sets I've developed with Jeff Lefkowitz. I'm planning a new project for Jeff & I to work up early in 2022 - a set of detailed drawings about a particular chest that I have studied since 1990. 

chest with drawer made in Braintree Massachusetts 1660-1680

When I shot a "make a chest" video with Lie-Nielsen some years ago, I worked on two different chests, each of which might be considered a "typical" 17th-century English/New England chest. That video is still available from them, and is still valid. I probably do things much the same way I did in that video. https://www.lie-nielsen.com/products/joined-chest-stream?path=home-education-videos&node=4243

But the chests made in Braintree, Massachusetts from about 1640-1700 are different enough to warrant a separate look at them. First, most of them have one drawer under the chest (a few have two drawers, one above the other). The construction details have some nice features and in particular the floor and back of the chest are unlike most others in New England. There's molding details, an interior till, iron "snipebill" hinges. 

I have studied them as a group since about 1990. Back then I was working on an article about them with Jennie Alexander. At that time, we'd seen maybe 12 of them -  all by one family, William Savell and his sons John and William. Since our article came out in 1996, there have been about 6 more chests with drawers that have shown up at auctions (a few I've found because people just sent me photos of chests in their families.) 

Back in 2005 I even got to buy one for our house. A rather poorly-restored example, I re-restored it and now our off-season clothing is in it. (It wasn't expensive for something 350 years old - about the same as I charge for my versions. You can see I've never colored the new bits. Some day...) 

Braintree chest w drawer, restored by PF c. 2006

So my plan is to send Jeff the details he needs to do the drawings, then I'll draw the carving patterns and their layout. 

Then I got to thinking about Pete Galbert's Foundations of Chairmaking video-on-demand. https://www.petergalbert.com/videos

If you're not familiar with Pete's project, it's a video-on-demand series of about 15 hours of chairmaking. I subscribed as soon as he announced it and I've watched the whole thing. He has released it in about 11 videos so far, each around an hour to an hour & 1/2 in length. 

I've posted over 30 "warts n' all" videos on youtube since the spring of 2020. Those are free and will continue to be so - I still have some carving videos to come, that are based on the 2nd set of my drawings that I've worked with Jeff Lefkowitiz on. 

But as I'm coming to the end of my cupboard project, I'm looking to tackle something for this winter. I'd like to try the video-on-demand idea. I thought the Braintree chest with a drawer would be an excellent project to take on for that format. The Lie-Nielsen video is about 3 1/2 hours long - the idea I have now would not be restricted by time, I'd be able to delve into more detail about the wood, the chests, tools, techniques, etc. I'd be able to include much more detail about how and why the chest is formatted the way it is. We could look at different planes and where to use this or that one, discussions about moisture content of the stock and where it matters and where it does not.  Even some history if people want it!

muntin to upper rail joint

In the woodpile and shop, I'd show how I split up an oak and sort the pieces as I hew and plane the stock. There's more attention to detail in the stock prep in these chests than most. Working through the steps, I'd show how I make a scratch stock for the molding on some of the framing parts, layout & cutting the joinery.

And the carving. I can show you the layout and details of how to carve the designs - the top rail's lunette I have carved (in my carved box video with Lie-Nielsen) but I've never carved the panels on video before. I can show you the two different "hands" involved in the original chests, how I see which one is which - (through still photos interspersed in the video) - there's a lot of nuance in these carvings. Only a few patterns but great detail. 

chest panel, attributed to John Savell

The point of this blog post is to see if there's interest in something like this. A joined and carved chest is a very different project from Pete's Windsor chairs. The chest with a drawer involves about 40-50 pieces of wood, Pete's stool is 6! (His chair is way more, 15.) And it takes up a lot of space. Finished size is 54" wide by about 32" high by 22" deep. The Lie-Nielsen video about making a chest is $40 - Pete's Foundation of Chairmaking is $99 (the introductory price was $79) - so - the question is, anyone game? Because it's such a large undertaking, I'm putting out this feeler to see if it's feasible.