Dedham chests, pt 3
stock prep and joinery this time
This time I thought we’d look at some of the stock preparation and joinery layout on these chests. All the examples I know about are 3-panel fronts (and backs) and a single large panel on each end. One chest at the MFA has a drawer. I heard of another that had a drawer, but have never seen it nor a photo of it. Drawer or not, the format of these chests is quite simple and almost a standard.
Below is the Fairbanks chest - and even from this distance you can see the joiner has stuck the layout lines struck across the rails and stiles wherever a mortise and tenon connects them.
Here’s a detail showing the scribed lines:
It’s not just this one chest - it’s on all the ones I’ve seen. And it’s on the inside too:
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