determined to do wood selection(Old man way)-BED construction(PM 100th Anniversary be

allen levine

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new york city burbs
First it was horrible cold temps, then it was a couple of blizzards, then it was a bad back, then a bad head cold, and then some heavy rain.
Today, with it only misting outside, I decided I really want to get going on wood selection for the bed I want to start building next week.
what a pain.
this is alot of labor in my small cramped garage.
I have 20 species of wood all piled on top of each other, shorts, wide, narrow, long, whatever, its all mixed up and the time has come to sort through it.
I knocked myself out after 3 hours.
Then I got smart, cause old men are supposed to use more than their muscle, sometimes their brains, or what little I have left of one.
I contacted my niece, whos still in high school.
I asked her to find me some help today, one strong kid to help me lift and move a ton of wood.
So it turns out her bf, a college freshman will be here by 2:30, and ofcourse, I will pay him for this heavy work.
Just shooting the breeze with the old guys that will understand. Its backbreaking labor, look at this mess.
 

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Well Allen i can see you have a storage problem there so send some of that excess up to Canada and i will take care of it for you.:D:thumb:

Take care let the young uns get the back exercise and you stay fit for the enjoyable woodworking part. I think you deserve to be congratulated for recognizing when to get help rather than trying to do it on your own.:)
 
well allen, i see yu got wizer as you have learned this new hobby of ours:D:thumb: now you need a shed or lean to to make as a wood storage area and leave the shop for the building part:D:thumb: looking forward to your bed project
 
With all the wood you have in there where are you going to cut it?


I went back in there tonight, and set up for cutting and preparation.
I have the crosscut area all free, and the tablesaw Ill just spin around and face towards outside.
I already picked out the pieces for the bed posts(on top of the wagon), and found a ton of 1.25 inch thick, some nice 13 footers, 10 inches wide, and the last pile is on a drywall cart so I can move all that out of the garage when I cut.(Ill cut within an inch or two with a handheld circular saw to break down the long boards if I cant handle them easy enough on the crosscut) OFcourse, tomorrow theres heavy rain and snow, so I wont be doing to much big cutting, work on the posts, joint and plane, and maybe play with the sapele pomele veneer, since Ive never touched veneer, have no clue, just winging it, Ill try some contact cement and some hot glue to see which I like better. Challenging build for me, I look foward to getting back into the "woodshop" and makeing sawdust.See how nice it looks now, look at all the room I made.
(I have a few nice pieces of ribbon striped mahogany, very reddish brown, so Im thinking its African Mahogany, just not sure how it will look if I use it for the bed)
 

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building a bed

I decided to go with the plans and use 1 and 1/8th thick for bulk of pieces/parts.
The wood is heavy, and not so easy for me to handle on jointer and planer.
I had enough today, the jointer and planer beds refused to cooperate, so Im going to have to give them a good waxing down. Thats my problem whenever I use mahogany or sapele.
I did manage to get the 4 posts made and instead of wenge for the bottoms, I used walnut.(cut the 45 degree bevels on the sliding mitre, not the TS)
Cut the foot board rails, just not down to final length, want to cut all the final lengths together.
 

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For your veneer you really want to use a resorcinal glue, not contact cement and definitly not hot glue. I did some ribbon stripe mahogany veneer years ago using contact cement and it was fine for about two years and then started blistering. Every time I see that desk, I mentally kick my butt:eek: Gonna fix it eventually.

I would suggest getting some cheaper veneer and practicing a little just to get a feel for the process. Then you can go for the high priced stuff with some confidence.

I wish I had your wood storage problem......or better yet......I wish I had your wood:rofl::rofl::rofl:

Best wishes:thumb:
 
Allen, one of the benefits of having a large family is that I have a ready source of PWM's ( Primary Wood Movers.) The only problem I have is having to replace them as they get older and move on to college. I am running into the golden years of PWM's as the next order of kids contains 5 out of 6 males that need exercise on a daily basis to control energy levels.

As it turns out the lone female in that stretch is like a second mom to the baby so she has developed quite the physique from all the baby lifting. She joined in on unloading a truck load of wood the other day and gave her brothers a run for their money in the wood block throwing department.

The oldest in that stretch is 15 and he told me he wanted to lift weights. I finally gave in and employ him on a regular basis.

I sure hope I never run out of PWM's I'm getting too old to move large quantities of wood on a regular basis. :D
 
hey Allen you doing well. Given the temps down your way and your shop heating.:D:thumb:

I wanted to ask you on seeing those legs, you thought of putting them on your lathe for a little rounding or is that out of the question here. Yo got quiet a bit of experience on that staircase post so i thought mmmmm maybe Allens going to mix it up some on the bed?;):)

Paul you crack me up with your PWM's. I can just see you with the gang.:thumb::rofl::rofl::eek:
 
Im sticking to the Popular mechanics 100th anniversary plans. I thought Id thin out some of the stock, but going to keep it the same dimensions, only changing the walnut for the wenge.
 
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