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Queen size walnut bed build

How did I miss this back in March? I must've been on another planet. Great Federal pediment look on that piece Alan. I don't do much veneer work but, this thread is very inspirational. Glad you got back to it and glad I found this thread. I love tagging along on builds.
 
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alan, dont leave out those little details.

this is where I learn alot of little tidbits, especially when guys like you build something.

and you dont want me calling you with stupid questions.

looking foward to the finishing part of this build.
 
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I apologize for that Allen as I'm no where near the caliber of documenting builds as our own Glenn Bradley. I will try to do better in the future after this post but as always feel free to call if you have any questions.

I started on the curved moulding cap today by getting the form made. I used the pattern for the top rail to give me one half of it and extended the curve for that end by a few inches. I also re sawed some walnut so I would need 5 pieces to get the thickness I wanted.
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Here is a dry run to make sure everything is good to go. I have to wait till tomorrow to start the glue ups as I don't have enough glue to get one started.
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A little tip for people still using bar/pipe clamps. If you need to get them close together like I did in the picture just use a 3/4" block under the end you tighten to shift the handle by that amount so it will miss the other clamp. Just be sure to get the bottom tightened up first.
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Oh boy Alan i am just catching up on this build. You sure know what you doing. Here i was figuring ahhh so he is going to "edge band the top" then i move on and see NOT. Its getting a full custom molding. WOW. That bed is to die for. Cant wait for the finish. I like the tops of the posts that is really a nice touch.

Its these details you do that make the piece imho. Choice of wood. Economical use of wood, build techniques that not only form a good joint but make for hidden seams. The molding on the leg post. The curve in teh top and now the molding on the top.

The mattress you get better be capable of living up to the quality of the woodworking. I aint had much luck with mattresses no matter what i pay.

Alan you make it look so easy. As Allen says dont leave out any details we learning a lot.
 
Ok you asked for the details and I'm gonna try my best.

I'm gluing up the lamination's and the first thing I did was cover the inside of the form with some clear packing tape to keep the piece from sticking to the form. Forgot the picture still learning.:doh:
I coat both sides of all the inner lamination's and of course onlt on side of the 2 outside pieces.
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Once I have them all glued up I wrap the ends with blue tape to keep them in alignment.
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I then place it in the waiting form and proceed to tighten the clamps starting with the center one.
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I use an F clamp and a light tap from a hammer to help keep the ends of the form in alignment as I tighten the bar clamps as the forms want to slide because of the curves in the form.
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Once I have the bottom clamps tightened I proceed to clamp from the top side starting in the middle.
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As I said before the reason for the block of wood on the handle/screw end of the clamp is so I can put the bar clamps right next to each other and have the handles for tightening miss one another.
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I then proceed to install and tighten the rest of the bar clamps.
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The part that isn't in the form I use spring clamps to compress the lamination's together.
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I then proceed to write the time on a piece of blue tape so I don't have to rely on my memory.
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I put the roller in the glue tray and the whole tray in a zip loc bag till I'm ready to glue up the next one. No sense in cleaning it up after each one and it will keep for weeks like this.
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And of course I had a small audience today along with Norma helping by taking the pictures for me.
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Well I got the curved caps for the head and foot board cut to size and routed today. I set them on just to snap a few pictures for you all.
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Because of the curve and the profile I chose they had to be routed on edge. To keep the pieces from rocking and or falling over I cut this simple jig to hold them steady in an upright position.
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Now on to the caps for the tops of the legs.
 
I got started on the caps for the 4 legs/post about 1/2 an hour ago and this is what I came up with. Figure I would post it here before I do the actual ones out of walnut and see what others thought about it.
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rather than use walnut alan i would just use some mdf and color it save on cost that way.. and it will give the piece that slight hint of ikea which is so popular now:hide::chair::hide::chair::chair:
 
larry merlau said:
rather than use walnut alan i would just use some mdf and color it save on cost that way.. and it will give the piece that slight hint of ikea which is so popular now:hide::chair::hide::chair::chair:
Click to expand...

That settles it I just took it out in the back yard and set fire to it since it has that Ikea look!
 
I just went to ikea last week with my wife.
We had a flood and we like to keep an inexpensive rug covering the den floor, since I tend to ruin rugs quickly back there, walking in and out tracking in sawdust, mud, and anything my feet can find.
We picked up a new area rug.
While I think the quality is mediocre at best while examining their furniture, their marketing, the breakdown structure of everything they have is brilliant. Where else can you furnish a bedroom, take it home and have it together in one night, all for a minimum price tag.(and lets face it, if it isnt abused, it will last 20 years, or end up on craigs list when someone gets tired of it)
 
Alan the top molding is fantastic. Thanks for showing how its done.

I cannot tell from the images but is the molding recessed into the edge at all?
My view on the cap would be flat topped i like the edge treatment but dont think the pyramid type top goes with the curves you have in the headboard but thats only my view and i will remind you i am not a designer or anything more than a rookie woodworker. :)

I love this bed design.

Sent from my MB860 using Tapatalk 2
 
I just did some catching up on this thread, and "Wow!" keeps coming to mind. Great work, and I appreciate you (and Norma) taking the time to document the process. :thumb:
 
Well I ran into a problem today. Seems like the piece of wood I got for the caps was kiln dried.:doh: I got thru the sanding and all before it hit me they are lighter and don't have that nice purple color that the walnut that Larry brought me has. I'm trying to decide if its worth trying to tint them or finding a piece of air dried the size and thickness I need and remake them.
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Well after a short break to take care of some other things I wanted to build I got back on the bed this week. I didn't have enough material as the bed design has changed considerably from when I first got the wood from Larry so I had to do things a little differently. I was also able to use my new slot mortiser and pantorouter I just built to do the joinery!:D I did a quick mockup to take some pictures and to double check some things.
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Because of not enough material and having to cut up what I had and glue it to a substrate I was able to book match the bed rails.
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that bed would sell for 7500 bucks on the south shore of long island in a furniture gallery. probably get 25000 for an entire bedroom set that looks that good.
that is looking exceptional.
 
Thanks Allen. If someone around here offered me $7500 for the bed it would be sitting in their bedroom in a heart beat!

I figure I would post some more pics of the progress this weekend. The first pics are of the back side of the bed rails and the dados I run to be able to attach it to the plywood carcass along with the mortise and tenons that I cut with the pantorouter http://familywoodworking.org/forums/showthread.php?28373-My-Pantorouter-is-complete! I just built.
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The mortises in the legs for the head board and foot board were cut with the slot mortiser http://familywoodworking.org/forums/showthread.php?28290-Shop-built-horizontal-slot-mortiser I also just built.
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A picture of the chinese plywood I used and how straight it was. It's really no big deal to work with if you know how to cut it and assemble it so the curled pieces cancel each other out.
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And a few pics of the pieces all assembled.
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