Plan Chest for Chicken Town

A plan chest made out of poplar. Handles to be fitted.

This plan chest was made for Chickenland. Chickenland is the trading name for Nando's. The wood that it was made out of was Poplar. It is not commonly used. This is mainly du to the fact that the grain is a little furry, but when it is sanded and sealed it has a wonderfully liquid look. It is also quite a soft wood so can damage easily. This though is the reason why the client asked for the chest to be made out of Poplar. They wanted something that that could be "aged" fairly quickly.

The back of the plan chest.

Detail of the top.

The plan chest showing the inside.

The top o the plan chest before being sealed.

The top of the plan chest before being laminated together.

A Plan Chest for an Art Collector

A plan chest made out of African Mahogany

This plan chest was built for an Art Collector. They were looking for a set to match the furniture in his office. As with many of the sets that I make access was a bit tricky so they have been split into two sections. In these photos it is just waiting to be delivered.

Looking at the plan chest from the back.

The plan chest with the top drawer open.

Ply Wood Plan Chests

Plan Chests for Marcus Neustetter and Stephen Hobbs.

Of all the materials that I have used to build plan chests out of, Pine Ply has been the most common. I like to play around with the design. Looking for ways to improve it, both in terms of functionality as well as aesthetics. Sometimes this will mean modifying the design of the handles. Other times it will be looking at how the drawers slide in and out. It is common for modern runners to be used but I prefer to stay away from this solution. Why? It is not uncommon for grease to build up, and on the more complex designs the bearings start to come loose from their tracks. This leads to the possibility of a greasy bearing running along rare or expensive prints.

Plan Chests for Marcus Neustetter and Stephen Hobbs.

The design of this handle has been modified. Rather than having a slot just on the top, the drawer front now has slots both top and bottom. This means that one is able to grip the front of the drawer that much more firmly.

Plan Chest in the David Krut studio at Art on Main.

Plan Chest in the David Krut studio at Art on Main.

Mini Plan Chest for Rene Paul Gosselin.

Mini Plan Chest for Rene Paul Gosselin.

Detail of handle: Mini Plan Chest for Rene Paul Gosselin.

From a pair of old pair of garage doors to a kist.

A kist made from recycled  Douglas Fir garage doors.

This is a project that I worked on a good while ago. That is before I started to get orders mainly for Plan Chests. The client had a couple of old garage doors. they suspected that they were Douglas Fir (Oregan Pine) but were not too sure. They were hoping that I would be able to salvage enough timber to be able to make a kist for them. As you can see from the image below image, they were in quite a state.

The garage doors showing the reverse side of one and the front of the other.

The emphasis was to try and retain as much of the character of the wood as possible. The design was to be a simple rustic affair with not to many embellishments.

First job was to strip them down and see what was usable and what was not. Unfortunately the planks were so damaged that the tongue and grooves had be re channeled.

A panel after timber has been re machined and partially sanded.

I am guessing that at some stage, after years of exposure and the grain had started to really open up the doors had been repainted. This made removing the paint really difficult. Rather than having me try to work it all out, the client decided that I should just sand them timber down as best I could and then leave the touches of green.

Fortunately there was enough of the thicker timbers to build a frame.

The idea to put trays in only came after I found out that there were enough off cuts to make them.

The completed kist with one of the trays in situe. Kist yet to be varnished.

The kist was finally finished a Satin finish from the Woodoc series of varnishes.

All the boxes in place.

The final product.

A Plan Chest for Trent Gallery, Pretoria

A finished set of Architects drawers (plan chest) in the workshop waiting for delivery.

This is a plan chest that I built around 2010. The client, Stuart Trent from the Trent Gallery in Pretoria wanted a set of draws to put into his gallery. He had metal sets but he wanted something more sympathetic to his gallery space. Owing to the size of the entrance the set had to be split into two sections of three drawers each. The bottom three were to have locks on. He decided that he wanted them to made from Douglas Fir (Oregon Pine).

Some of the timber just arrived from the mill.

One of the side panels.

Side panel and back panel.

Front view of the drawer fronts.

The drawer.

The top of the plan chest.

The front of the drawers showing handles.