A friend of mine asked me over to pick up some cherry boards he and his son had put away 30 years ago for a project they never completed. While there he saw some very old Black Walnut boards about 54 inches long X one inch X 18 inches. They were a bit stained and rough. He explained that they had been book shelves in his great grandfather’s house built in the 1830s in Ohio. He gave me the boards. After a couple of months deciding what to do, I decided to make him a blanket chest using these boards and cutting them as little as possible. I used the basic plan from the eastern chest as featured in your free plans this month. This old walnut burnished up to a high sheen with 0000 steel wool and tung oil. For the floor inside I used some old veneered poplar from a turn of the century piano we recycled. I used red oak on the backside. Pictures attached. Sorry for the nasty pictures of my shop!!
-Bob Phillipson
