PREFACE that the popularity of the cedar chest as a cabinet making project has reached con BELIEVING siderable proportions, the author has endeavored to embody under one cover all information necessary to the design and construction of a variety of chests. In addition to this mechanical aspect of the work, he has presented some information of educational char- acter on red cedar as a wood, and soiaethingof inter- est concerning the development of the chest- .- As information of this character has been lacking in the past, he hopes that the book will meet with the approval of teachers who will use it in their work. Acknowledgment is due to the Forest Service for the use of the illustrations in Chapter I, to two of the authors students, Otto J. Teegen and James A. Kelly, for the great assistance rendered by them in the preparation of the drawings, and to the Metro- politan Museum of Art, New York City, for permission to reproduce photographs of historic chests in its collections. RALPH F. WINDOES. CONTENTS CHAPTER PAGE I Red Cedar.... 9 II Cedar Chests ... ..-.15 III How to Build a Simple Chest 17 IV Cedar Chest Designs.... V The Finishing of Cedar.... 54 VI Copper Trimmings .- 31 58 VII Matting Boxes.... 66 CHAPTER I Red Cedar The botanical name for red cedar suitable for chest construction is Juniperus virginiana, or Southern Juniper, as it is familiarly known. Com- mercially, it is sold as Tennessee Red Cedar. There are other cedar woods but none of them should be used in chests if the great advantages of cedar are to be derived. Southern Juniper may aptly be called the wood imperishable, since, under ordinary conditions, it will never de- cay. Placed as shingles with copper nails, there is little doubt but that it will last for ages, or until the attacks of rain and wind have weathered it away. Until recent years one of its greatest uses has been in telegraph poles, fence posts, greenhouses, etc., where constant contact with damp earth would soon rot away a less durable wood. Now, since the rapid rise in the value of red cedar has almost prohibited this use, cypress, the wood eternal, has largely succeeded it. LOG HOUSES OF RED CEDAR When America was settled, one of its most valued natural resources was found in the red cedar belt of the South. Settlers migrating to this region found the straight cedar logs perfectly suited to cabin construction, consequently the best trees were felled and utilized in the building of Americas first homes. As time went on and the settlers prospered, the logs were taken from the houses, and assembled into barns, frame construction taking their place in the homes. Today, these old logs, perfectly preserved, are purchased by lumber men, as some of the most select red cedar lumber is manufactured from them. A great many of these old logs have been cut up into lead pencil slabs, as cedar is the best wood that has ever been found for lead pencils. It is straight grained and easily cut with a knife the two necessary characteristics. Another source for pencil supply has been found in the rail fences, so common in the South, practically all of which were constructed of split cedar rails. This wood is so highly prized by pencil makers that many fences have been bought up at such prices that modern fences have taken their places, leaving a comfortable profit for the owner. WHERE RED CEDAR ABOUNDS The geographical range of red cedar is very wide and hard to define. Roughly speaking, it can be found westward to Minnesota, south to