Wooden Minecraft Chest

In this Instructable I will be making a simple wooden minecraft chest. To carry out this instructable you will need some tools and material. These are:

.Plywood (or any other substitute)

.wood glue

.pencil and ruler

.saw (bandsaw if possible)

.Sandpaper (or beltsander)

.Paints (acrylic)

.Wood stain (mahogany)

.Hinges (pair)

.Masking tape

.Paint brush

.Screws or superglue

.Scalpel/craftknife

Start by deciding what size bases you need the chest to have and then work out the side pieces. To work out the short side pieces you need to measure the length of the base and minus the material thickness from both sides. For the longer pieces you just measure the length of the base piece. My base was 75x40x6.5mm so the short sides were 27mm long and the longer sides were 75mm. The bottom box was 40mm in height and the top section of the box was 20mm. For the latch I measured it by eye. (I made my chest to store cards inside)

Now that you have cut out your chest pieces you can now use sandpaper or a beltsander to smooth all of the edges. For mine I used 80grit sandpaper but you can use what you have on hand. This will lead to a smoother construction and a higher quality finish.

Now that you have got the pieces smooth you can glue them together. Apply a generous amount of glue onto one of the pieces (side pieces) and set down on the base. Apply pressure to ensure best adhesion. Work your way around the base pieces until all have been glued. You can apply masking tape to hold the pieces whilst drying or clamps if on hand. You now have the two sections for your chest.

Once the glue has dried you can now sand off any imperfections which could be glue or wood. This ensures that the pieces fit together properly and the stain will work as intended.

Now it is time to stain the wood to the colour of a minecraft chest. I used a mahogany stain and only one coat was required. To apply the stain I used a standard paintbrush and found no issues in doing so. For staining you can wear gloves if you want but it is not mandatory. Do not do the outside and the inside at the same time do one and let it dry then do the other. Ensure you wash your brush under water to prevent damage.

The next step is to mask off areas that you do not want paint to hit. This will create the border commonly seen on a minecraft chest. To do this you need to draw a border using a pencil and ruler and then using masking tape cover the central portions of the box faces. Cut off any excess tape off with your scalpel/craftknife and press down firmly. This is to ensure that paint does not bleed onto the central areas.

Now that you have masked the areas for painting you can bring out the acrylic paints. You will need black and white paint for the border and latch. The border is straight black and the latch is grey (do both sides of the latch). Paint the border and latch and leave to dry. Once dry you can remove the masking tape to reveal your lovely border (so beautiful *cries*). Only paint one side of the latch at a time.

To attach the hinges you can use screws or super glue. I used super glue as I did not have screws short enough but screws can be used. before doing this ensure the two sections are lined up perfectly or you will get a wonky chest. You can also measure in from each side to ensure that the hinge is symmetrical. If using screws use a pencil to draw dots to get the thread started. If using super glue just apply generously and press into place. Let it dry before moving it.

Using the wood glue that stuck the pieces together apply to the upper section of the latch and attach to the centre of the top box. Press firmly and leave to dry.

Now you can use your chest as you wish. Mine houses cards and resides on my desk as a decoration.