(upbeat music) mark:let's talk for amoment about [fake] stress. this piece, honestly, wheni first saw it in the plan, what really struck me about it was these little walnut straps. it really makes the piecepop and look very cool. they may be fake, but it's actually a really cool design element, and visually looks interesting.
these are, basically, slightly under a quarter of an inch in thickness and roughly about four inches long and two inches wide. we're gonna have three in every panel. if you followed the plan and you made your panels out of plywood, you're actually gonna havean easier time with this because you could just put glue
on the whole surface, pop it in there, and glue it down, because the plywood's not gonna move in between these rails. i used solid wood so i have to be a little bit morecautious with that. even though the solid wood that i used is quarter-sawn and its movement is pretty limited,
it's still gonna move a little bit, so we wanna make sure that it has the chance to do that, especially since i gavean allowance in my gaps that i provided for thegrooves that i made. if i glue this guy down and wedge it in between these two rails, i completely negateeverything that i did before. my plan is to just glue in the middle
with a little bit of epoxy, because i'm not gonna be able to get a clamp on this guy. i just basically wanna have a glue that doesn't require quite as much in the way of clampingpressure to get a good bond. i'm only gonna glue it in the center. that means if this panel needs to expand and contract, it can still do so
but it's only locked down in the middle. based on the structure of this piece and how tight this fit is gonna be, i really don't have any fear of this warping or anything, just 'cause it's glued in the middle. it should be fine. there's gonna be three per section, and the easy way to do this is
to make a few little guides that are cut to the exactdistance that you need for spacing these things out. i've got one that's cut for the middle, and the plans show you what measurements you can do for these. you have to look at thenumbers in the plans and then figure out, minus your rail, how long this should be.
this guy is what i use tospace out the center one, and if i put it over here, you'll notice it's gonnabe the same distance. this one, i use for the outside pieces, one there and one there. i believe this is cutto six and one-eighth. yep, and this guy, i think, is 16 - i'm sorry, 15. that makes the wholeinstallation a lot easier,
and very consistent over the whole thing. if you had to measure andmark for each and every one, you're gonna be here all day. that's really the quickestway to go about it. i've gotta cut some more of these, but as soon as i get 'em all done, i'll be back here, gluingthem on to the piece. now, it's been a couple of weeks since that last scene was shot,
because i've been waiting for the hardware to come in. i ordered one kit from rockler, which is a pretty standard, more or less traditionalhardware set with antique brass. it's really nice, but i'm not sure it's the way that i wannago for my particular chest. what i'm gonna use is tansu hardware. if you're not familiar with that,
it's an asian-style hardware that is meant for similar things like this, where you have a large case and you need to protect corners. basically, the idea is that the hardware becomes part of the art form itself. so, i just ordered some basichardware from lee valley, and i'm gonna experiment with that. i may not actually do everything
the same way you would if you're gonna follow the plan, but you'll still get the idea, and it'll also broaden your options if you want to consideranother style of hardware that really will change theentire look of the piece. for now, we've gotta get this guy outside, get that water-based finish on the outside of thecase, as well as the lid.
then, we can come back inand install the hardware. i'm using a water-based,pre-catalyzed urethane from general finishes. it's a semi-gloss, whichmeans it contains flatteners, so i give it a good mix. i also like to filter all ofmy finishes prior to spraying. a viscosity cup works great for scooping the finish into the filter. now, it's time to spray.
i start by making vertical passes. each pass overlaps theprevious by about half. then, i change the setting on the gun and spray horizontally. again, i overlap each pass. spraying on a vertical surface like this does take a little practice since the finish can run easily. the key is to keep thegun moving at all times,
and don't let go of the trigger until the spray itself hasmoved off of the piece. after about four coats, i've got the surface lookingexactly the way that i want. it's a semi-gloss sheen. normally i don't like to go too shiny with open-pored woods like walnut and oak, but this semi-gloss looks pretty good. it's just enough sheen.
i may give it a littlebit of a rubdown later, and knock a little bitmore of that sheen off. for now, we need to look at the hardware. rockler sells a kit, actually a 70 or $80 hardware kit that goes along with this plan. the plan very specifically talks about those particular pieces of hardware. there's nothing wrongwith going that route
but, again, it's never a bad thing to think about how you might want to customize a piece tomake it suit your needs or suit the furniture style of your home. the kit that they sell is very nice. it comes with latches. it's got a lock in the front. it's got these corner protectors - a very nice looking design, antique brass.
the problem with it, though,is i don't really like it. it's just not to my personal taste. what i decided to do, after a suggestion from tree frog, a friend from the forum in the chat room, is to go with japanese tansu hardware. tansu is the japanese word for chest. thank you, wikipedia. (laughs) it basically, in the west, is meant
to cover a whole broad range of cabinets, and chests, and trunks,and things like that, that have this verydistinct hardware on it. usually, it's a black ordark brown type hardware, metal hardware, that goesin multiple locations on the piece, to not just protect it and protect the corners, but to really be partof the art form itself. do a little searching on tansu
and you will see some amazing pieces. it's sort of a marriage of blacksmithing and woodworking together in those pieces - very cool stuff. i just ordered a few basicthings from lee valley. these are not really that great. i think they're okay, but i've seen some reallycool elegant stuff. this will certainly get me by,
to have little cornerprotectors like that. of course, you've got these guys, the straps that go on the side here. really, the idea wasthat they would perform a function of protecting this piece if it were to go on a trip. i think that's whatwe're gonna install now. i've got some very basic hinges. that's another thingi should mention here.
the hinges i'm using are actually not that different than the hinges that come with rockler's kit, which is somewhere in this bag. both are just applied hinges. there's no mortises to rout or anything, or to chisel out. you basically just apply them to the back, put the screws in, and you're done.
the only thing that i willsay with this tansu hardware is i don't have everything i need. i don't have a latch for the front. i don't have either anemergency slow-stop for the lid, because this way, the lidis just gonna fall down. you need to have certain hardware in there to make this trunk as safe as it can be. the rockler kit actually comes with these little bracketsthat help the lid slowly close
so that it doesn't drop. you have to think in termsof child safety there i don't have anything like that that's gonna go withthe hardware i'm using. i also don't have children so i'm kinda okay with this for now, but i will be on the lookoutfor those things in the future. the piece will not be completely finished when we're done here,
but i will be on the lookout for something to operate as a latch in the front, and then also the slow-close of the lid. but, we have enough to move on and get this piece looking the way we want it to look, so let's start installingsome of that hardwarre. (drum music) here's the steamer trunk
with the tansu hardware installed. one little warning i'll give you. if you are gonna use this typeof hardware in the future, the hardware makes such a bold statement that you wanna make sure you have an idea of what hardware you're gonna use as you're designing the piece. trying to retro-fit this hardware on to a project thatwas not really intended
to have that hardware on there proved to be a little bit difficult, i made some sacrifices, and it doesn't quite lookas cool as i wanted it to, based on my time limitations, and the hardware that i had available. that's just something to keep in mind. design the project withthe hardware in mind, not as an afterthought.
everything works really well. the top still needs thatlittle protective thing, and if you have children,that's an absolute must. you wanna make sure that this can't accidentally close down on them. i haven't had a chance to work on the inner tray yet. i'll get to that sometime, but the basic trunk itself is done,
and it's looking pretty darn cool. i'm very happy with theway that it came out. i just wanted to say good luck to duane, and duane's family as well. you guys seem like agreat bunch of people. it's been awesome getting to know you, and i hope your trunks come out great. i'm sure your family is going to absolutely love themand cherish them forever,
which is all we can reallyask of our furniture. good luck, and good luck to anybody who decides to embark on the journey of making a steamer trunk. thanks for watching. (jazzy music)
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