Queen size walnut bed build

Alan Bienlein

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Well I got the drawing finalized for the bed I'm going to build for My LOML out of the walnut that Larry brought me last year on his 2011 Tour De Wood. I like to make full size drawings so I laid it out on a piece of 1/4" ply.
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This bed will test me a little as I will need to do some bent lamination's for the tops of the head board and foot board. The plan has totally changed from what I sent to Larry to figure out what I need in the way of material from him. I actually need 6/4 to get the look I want so I'll need to do some re sawing and laminating of the stiles and rails for the foot board to get the thickness I need. The panels will be birds eye maple veneer on 1/2" mdf.

I got started last night on the post for the head board and foot board. In the original plan I was going to use a lock miter bit to join the 4 pieces of walnut into a post but that won't work now do to the design of the post now. I ended up using my vacum bag to glue and clamp the 4 pieces of 7/8" thick walnut for each post.

I spread the glue with a foam roller.
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Then it goes into the bag.
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Here it is with the bag sealed and vacuum applied. The next post is milled and ready for glue up. I have clamps on it just to keep the pieces in order.
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Here it is an hour later out of the bag.
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And after a pass on the jointer.
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I have to take a break on this project as I need to replace the head gasket and right front CV joint on my sons car and the center link on my wife's GMC Jimmy.
 
Good looking design, Alan. I look forward to following your build.

I'd like to say one thing about your comment about the bentwood lamination for the top of your headboard and foot board. I've done many forms of bentwood lamination over the years and love using my vacuum press system. However, when I built the headboard for the king size platform bed for our master bedroom, I deviated from that process. Since I had a solid curved piece for the width of the headboard as the field, I clamped the re-sawn strips to the edge of the solid wood rather than build a seperate form. In my case, I was creating a bullnose of a walnut on top of a cherry field, so I didn't have to deal with an overhang. By doing it the way I did, there was also no question the walnut was going to be tight to the cherry.
 
I snuck in some wood working time today between car repairs. I decided to try and resaw a 7-1/4" board on my grizzly G0555 band saw to see how it does since I got the band saw blade drift corrected. I don't have a riser for it so I neede to remove the upper guide assembly and grind away part of the upper door.

I made a 6" tall wooden fence that I aligned with the stock fence and then clamped it in place. I double checked it with the miter slot to make sure it was parallel. The fence stops just short of the blade to allow the wood to move in what ever direction it wants to once it has passed the blade.
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This is what they look like after I ran them thru my planer. The last picture shows tha only spot I couldn't remove the re-saw marks but thats alright cause I'll put that towards the sub straight I'm going to glue these pieces too.
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what size blade did you use and how many teeth per inch.(looks like 1/2 or 3/4 inch blade)
Im always trying to pick up bandsaw tips.

It's a Carter Accurite 1/2" 3 teeth per inch blade. It has a little use on it.

If you look close though Allen you'll notice I removed the upper guides to gain the clearance I need to be able to resaw this piece.

Ever since I got rid of the drift problem on my bandsaw it's been a joy to use.:D:woot:

I also no longer need to worry about in feed and out feed support since I lowered my band saw so the table is the same height as my table saw.
 
Well I got a little more work in last night and this evening. I started my mdf pattern last night but had to stop due to my son breaking down on the way to work.

I got the pattern pretty much finished except for the two radius cuts on each end that go next to the post.
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From that I was able to trace it out on the walnut so I could get the pieces to add on to make the width I needed.
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From there I cut my plywood that I'm using in the middle to increase the thickness of the pieces and glued them up and put them in the vacuum press. Now I'll let them sit for a few days to cure before I start shaping them and cutting to size to start my joinery.
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Ok I've come to a cross road here. I'm not sure which way looks best to run the veneer for the panels.

What are your thoughts on this?Should I run the panels horizontal like the left panel or vertical like the right panel?
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Well, both look really good, can see your dilemma. When I meet this type of crossroad, I ask the boss and let her decide. ;)

Is the foot board narrower? If so, I'd lean towards horizontal, but dunno, this is a hard one.
 
Well, both look really good, can see your dilemma. When I meet this type of crossroad, I ask the boss and let her decide. ;)

Is the foot board narrower? If so, I'd lean towards horizontal, but dunno, this is a hard one.

No kidding i am a ditto this is a hard one.

But you the man, boy oh boy how you gonna sleep in that bed. I would be starring at the headboard and i suppose the foot board is going to be just as awesome. as they put in the comics ......"sigh....."
 
Well Larry and Carol you all agree with the boss on this one. She said vertical also so since she is a very good client of mine she will get exactly what she wants.:thumb:
 
Well I got a little more done yesterday. I I jointed and sized the straight stiles and rails and used the mdf pattern and a bottom bearing bit to size the upper curved rail. I'm very happy with the results considering this is my first time doing something like this.

I clamped the top and bottom rails together to do the layout and cut them to length.
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Next I made me a quick and simple jig to cut my mortises with the router.I cut the tenons on the table saw and band saw.
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The top of the center mullion is curved. I cut what I could of the tenon on the table saw and finished it with my small porter cable trim router free hand.
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And here is a test fit of all the pieces. Now I'll cut the material for the panels and get them sized.
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I think I might look into a hollow chisel mortiser. I'm still on the fence about it right nowand routing the mortises isn't really that bad.
 
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