Sweet Bedroom Suite

Finished up the nightstands. Got the drawer fronts mounted and drilled for the hardware. I noticed, too late, that one drawer has the hardware holes off about 1/8". I'll have to fix that. Also noted that some of the color matching on the glue up for the drawer fronts looked a lot better prior to finish. It's not a bad thing, just a little unexpected. When making the drawer fronts I actually glued up a 24" wide blank and then ripped the drawer fronts in order from the blank. So, the grain actually does run from one drawer to the next, and I am pleased with that, but not every individual board took the finish the same way. Like I said, not unpleasant, just unexpected.

So far I just put on one coat of natural danish oil. I'll let it dry/cure for about 3 days before I begin the top coat.

Before finish
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Pull out tray
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Drawer
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One coat of danish oil
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Looking sweet Rennie 👍, I can’t remember, why did they want them only 11” deep? Having a pullout shelf kind of defeats the purpose:dunno:. They could be used as cutting boards to cut up a midnight snack😉
 
Looking sweet Rennie 👍, I can’t remember, why did they want them only 11” deep? Having a pullout shelf kind of defeats the purpose:dunno:. They could be used as cutting boards to cut up a midnight snack😉
They have a set of a similar configuration that they really like, it's just cheap and falling apart. So, they gave me the measurements +/- and I designed within their parameters. The pull out shelf actually will work well for holding a drink or snack since the tops are not deep and will fill up quickly with alarms, lamps, watch, remotes, etc.
 
Milestone!!

The nightstands are done! One coat of clear danish oil followed by 4 coats of Arm-R-Seal. First 2 coats sanded back with 1000 grit, last 2 coats with 2000 and rubbed lightly with 0000 steel wool. The top and 'show' side of each is a single board. I had to rip them to get them across my jointer then glue them back together. Moving on to the headboard and bed frame.
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Very nice indeed. You conquered several challenges on this one and emerge victorious! The Shop Notes version of a planer sled looks slick but, I have made do with the Fine Woodworking version which took just a few hours to make. This would let you joint those wider boards without ripping and re-gluing.

You definitelyu nailed the high-end look and of course, we know the craftsmanship is great. Can I ask how the ARS was applied?
 
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You are all too kind and you are making me blush (don't stop :rofl: ) Glad to get to this point with all the issues faced so far. The bed frame presents a number of engineering issues and I hope to detail them here as I come to them.
 
Started on the bed frame today. This thing is massive. The top caps are 1 1/4" thick and 6" wide. The rails are 1" thick and 8" tall. Connecting them, I thought, might be an issue. The caps overhang the rails by 3". My thought was that someone standing on the edge of the cap could generate enough torque to break a gle/pocket hole connection. So, I decided a massive rail assembly needed a REALLY strong joint - hence the 1" x 1/2" spline.

My plan is to glue it into the top of the vertical rail first securing it with some 'brads while the glue dries'. Then I will glue on the top cap but, to avoid what could turn out to be a clamping nightmare, I'll secure it with 2" screws through the top cap, through the spline, and into the rail. I'll counter sink them using a 3/8" forstner bit and the plug the holes. The edge of the mattress will cover this so the 'look' is not critical. This should also do a lot to keep everthing straight and flat.

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The side rails terminate in a block. This was the best way I could think of to join them to the foot rail. I did do something different by using the rail connectors on the food board rather than the side rails. I had read a few reviews about the connectors that said they sometimes would not seat tightly and they, even if they fit well, could experience problems with ‘slack’ allowing movement. So, figuring the movement would not be as critical on the foot rail I placed them there.

First job for the side rails was to create a tenon. I began with a 1/2” tenon and decided that was not going to be strong enough so I went to 1”. Also, remembering the rule of thumb that tenons should not be more than 2” wide I broke the one large one into two.

I cheated on the mortises and plowed a grove with my dado blade and then glued spacers in around the tenon.

Clamping those blocks on would be a challenge so I will secure the joint with a couple of #8 x 2” screws directly into the end of the tenon and then plug the holes. Lastly I mortised for the hardware and rounded over the corners.
 

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