Modern King-Size Oak Bed

[wtnhighlander]

This is the closest I've ever seen to a timber-frame bed! That thing is massive! 

Nice job on the design and construction, as well as matching the client's chosen color.

What hardware did you use to join the rails to the head & foot boards? (I haven't looked in the sketchup file, yet)

[Denette]

Excellent project journal and really nice bed too!
 From what I can see you gave the client what they wanted.

I like the make-shift A/C unit too...so what if it doesn't actually work.

Maybe something along the lines of a "swamp cooler" would work, but the humidity it produces might not be cast-iron-friendly. It may depend on your normal relative humidity...I don't know a thing about AK weather...

What I made was basically a swamp cooler - inside the cooler I had a few frozen, water-filled 1-gallon milk jugs.  The fan on top forced air in, and the PVC pipes redirected it on its way out.  It worked okay for the first hour or so, but when it's a heat index of 115°, there's not much that jugs of ice can do.  Still, it was better than nothing.  (also, probably a typo, but I'm in Arkansas, not Alaska - big temperature difference, haha!)

 

Looks awesome! I feel your pain with the heaut and humidity, makes it a real pain sometimes! I don't have A/C in my shop either.l, I run a box fan with the doors open, it's not 60* in there, but just getting the air circulating helps a lot. 

I've got a box fan too, but it just so happens that the month I had to spend on the bed was the month it decided to be over 100 outside most days.  Oy.

 

Just took a look at this for the first time.  Great build - it was cool to see it from start to finish and I like how you got creative to match what the customer wanted.  Awesome job.

If you're trying to color red oak in the future, try using water based dyes - it's a bit easier to get the specific color you want.  My bro in law used a darker General Finishes dye stain on a red oak table and it came out great.  Marc has a few videos on the process.

Either way though your coloring looks great, so all's well that ends well.

Thanks for the tip!  I've always shied away from water-based because, perhaps erroneously, I've always thought they might be less durable than oil-based.  I try to buy in bulk, so I have a gallon of oil-based poly, and don't know how that would work over water-based stain.  Nevertheless, I'll test that before my next project!

 

This is the closest I've ever seen to a timber-frame bed! That thing is massive! 

Nice job on the design and construction, as well as matching the client's chosen color.

What hardware did you use to join the rails to the head & foot boards? (I haven't looked in the sketchup file, yet)

I used this bed hardware from Rockler: 

http://www.woodcraft.com/Product/127456/Bed-Rail-Fastener.aspx

It held it as snug as could be!  I mortised it into the end of the large poplar board on the rails - it's not on the SketchUp model.

That thing is indeed massive - you can barely move it by yourself.  I'd venture to say it's unsafe for anyone, no matter how strong, to try to pick up the headboard on their own.  Good thing I sold it to a couple, not just one person.  lol.

[bgreenb]

 

Thanks for the tip!  I've always shied away from water-based because, perhaps erroneously, I've always thought they might be less durable than oil-based.  I try to buy in bulk, so I have a gallon of oil-based poly, and don't know how that would work over water-based stain.  Nevertheless, I'll test that before my next project!

Cool, you can combine oil and water based as long as you put a barrier coat between them.  I don't like water based topcoats either.  Just apply the water based dye, then a thin coat of shellac, then go ahead and use poly (or whatever other topcoat you like).