cherry twin and white oak twin, and now the third bed full size, and frustration!!!!!

allen levine

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new york city burbs
Im using cherry for the first time in my life.
I ran into my first problem today with my bed build.
I glued up 8/4 pieces after jointing and planing them to make 3x3 bed posts.
The piece is basically a shaker style headboard and foot board. Detachable bed rails.
The glue up was fine but in 2 spots on 2 different posts I had a bit of what seems like seperation. I used brand new TB2, kept it indoors, and clamped the way I always clamp, and I usually have no glue lines visible when I unclamp.
I was thinking about fix ups for it, but I realized I can turn it inside and when I assemble using the stiles on the panels on the headboard or footboard , they will cover the seam mark. The wood was flat and I let it sit overnight before I glued it up to make sure it stayed flat.
Anyway, all the pieces except the bedrails(5/4 cherry will be used) and the panels are cut. Im hoping to make the raised panels out of spalted maple.
Everything else is cherry that is visible.(the mattress supports will be ash or oak, probably with a sheet of particle board over it)
I cant really show the design, only a really rough, changed 5 times scratch drawing.


I contacted Jason Tuinstra from this site because I admire all of his work.
I find his work as fine as any master furniture maker known. His work is actually what I strive for, even though Id be happy just once creating something 1/10th of his quality.I asked him if he'd mind if I copy a little thing I noticed in a headboard he made on his site. The outside stiles of the panels are curved inwards towards the center,and I really thought they looked great. I know he might not have been the first to do that, but I saw it on his site and didnt want to take credit for the design. Please dont expect anything I build to have the same craftsmanship as Jason, I just really admire his shaker builds.

heres what IM up too so far, finished cutting the dados for the panels. got too cold out there.

the second picture shows how the seam dissapears halfway down, same clamping pressure, so Im guessing the wood might have been planed a tiny bit off, I did have tons of headaches yesterdy with the planer till I replaced the blades.

I made an error when I ordered the bed rail hardware, I wanted the non mortise type, but ordered full mortise style, so I guess I just gave myself more steps.
 

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Your like Popeye when he eats his can of spinache! Looks like a great start and can't wait to see the headboard take shape.:thumb:

Oh and the shop looks great.
 
Looking forward to watching this build. :thumb:

And if you're going to be influenced by someone, Jason is a great choice. He always does top shelf work. ;)
 
bob, I dont think this will be a fast build. I wont be around half of next week and with the cold weather, I really dont know how much time Ill have to get in to work on it. I just needed to start working again building something, plywood and 2x4s are nice, probably more my speed, but my clients are getting more demanding.(maybe one day Ill get paid)

This is approx 9 hours work from picking the lumber, processing it, and cutting to size. Tomorrow I hope to cut some mortises into the dados, and maybe the tenons for the rails and stiles of the panels on both headboard and footboard.
Im leaving the side rails for last, since they are pretty much straight foward with very little processing.
I might even start the other twin bed while Im working on this one.
The next one will be white oak frame and walnut panels.Shaker style again, but not the same design. Hopefully Ill get enough time in the next 30 days before the really cold hits here mid jan thru february.
 
tenon and mortises cut for the head and foot boards. Need a bit of tweaking still.
Need to still cut the arched top of the headboard top rail after I cut the tenons. Im shooting for tomorrow, cutting the mortises on the legs and the tenons to fit it all together, and if time permits, Ill start pulling wood for the raised panels and process.

I stood a leg(not the proper long leg for the headboard) just as a straight edge to see how the curved stiles look.
 

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That cherry should really pop when you finish it!

In the second photo is it my imagination or does the left curved rail stile look a little green? :dunno::wave:
 
That looks great Allen. Cherry is my favorite to work with.

In the second set of pictures, in the second picture, the top rail looks like it has some serious figure. It'll be "put your eyes out pretty" when the finish hits it.:thumb:
 
I used maybe 3-4 boards, all from the same guy and delivered the same time.
If the piece looks a bit green, Ill flip it and try to use best side, but nothing is getting recut at this point.
Heres where Im at today. Looks like this is where Ill stay since they are expecting a blizzard here tomorrow thru monday, and tuesday Im out of town till new years eve.
I still have some trimming up and cleaning up ofcourse, and alot of sanding, but it seems to fit ok, ofcourse theres the mandatory one bad off cut on a tenon,(footboard left side bottom rail bottom), and I think Im going to look into a tenon cutting jig since my hands just cant do the job and hold down things.
I wont let it spoil my build.
I took alot of masonite out of my old store and cut up some panels to see how flat panels would look instead of raised panels. Wife makes the final decision.
(I prefer flat panels,unless its cabinet doors, then its a toss up)I still need to bevel the top edge of all the posts.
That last pic is the spalted maple Ill use for the panels.
as mentioned, I wont cut the bed rails till everything else is fitted and cut,and I mortise in the bed rail hardware.
Its always a victory for me when Im measuring out all those tenons and mortises and if one is off, nothing fits right, so Im happy everything fits where its supposed too. I dont use plans, just draw it all out as Im going along.
 

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not really, I was showing the headboard.

I ran the maple through the drum sander to see how it would look and work with the cherry, but its tough to tell until all the wood has finish on it.
Im going with waterlox original, probably 3 coats, then one coat of waterlox satin or gloss.
 
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