Popular Post Chet Posted September 8, 2021 Popular Post Report Share Posted September 8, 2021 Back in May I posted a picture of two nightstands I had built for our Master bedroom. Recently I started the bed on this project, but it has been slow going for a few reasons. One - even in retirement I only spend 4 or 5 hours a day in the shop because there are other things like reading the paper and drinking coffee. Second - and more of an effect on this project is the size of it and the size of my shop. Building a king bed in a two car sized shop is a chore. At first I was thinking that I would build the foot board get it out of the way and then the head board. Then reality set in, first thing is there are two legs for the foot and two for the head board, also there are three raised panels on each and you are just asking for problems milling the foot board parts first and then trying to duplicate the set-ups when you start to work on the head board. Along with this there are stile and rail parts that are similar. This is a long way of saying I have parts stacked all over the shop and every time I want to us a tool there is something that needs to be moved. Needless to say this slows things down. I haven't been real diligent in my photo taking but here are some to catch you up. The first thing i did was a bent lamination for a piece that will be the top molding for the head board. I started here because I wanted to make the form, us it and then get it out of the way and out of the shop. I also want to use the finished molding to draw my shape on the panel that the molding will go on so they match up nicely. At the same time I started gluing up the legs. I used Poplar in the center and 4/4 sapele front and back. These are the foot board legs with the head board legs lurking in the background. This was the finished molding, it is a little over an inch square. Next I glued on a 1/8 inch thick veneer to hide the glue lines. Head board legs. Foot board legs. After this I worked on the raised panels, no work in process pictures just the final product. The end grain cove took a lot of hand sanding clear up to 400 to get it to look like the edge grain coving. I think they all came out pretty nice but I did give more attention to the head board panels (top) as far as matching up the grain to hide glue lines because when you walk into the room they will be more eye level. Each of the 6 panels is made up of three pieces. I am using floating tenons all around so next up I cut all my mortises in the foot board stiles and rails. The stiles were first using my mortising jig and a 3/8 up spiral bit. I cut them 1 1/2 inches deep. Now I don't want you all laughing at this next picture. The rails are 69 inches long and to cut the mortises in the ends I need to get my jig about 70 inches high. So I built a down and dirty platform 29 inches tall to clamp my jig to. I wasn't going to pay the current silly prices for some construction lumber ,but I did have a neighbor having their kitchen remodeled and I found a couple of scraps of 2 X 10 in his tear out pile that would work along with a couple of pieces of ply on my part. I had to stand on a stool. A bunch of tenon stock out of scraps. First dry fit of the footboard. 9 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
wtnhighlander Posted September 9, 2021 Report Share Posted September 9, 2021 Using the neighbor's scraps to build a jig...you are a man after my own heart, @Chet! The foot board looks terrific, I'd call that well worth a little shuffling of parts! 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Coop Posted September 9, 2021 Report Share Posted September 9, 2021 Very, very nice work. Chet, your last two pics with your description above them “ First dry fit of the footboard”; are both pics of the footboard, just in different stages of dry fit or is the next to the last pic, the headboard? 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Chet Posted September 9, 2021 Author Report Share Posted September 9, 2021 Last picture was posted in error, I removed it. I comes up soon. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Coop Posted September 9, 2021 Report Share Posted September 9, 2021 I will anxiously wait for the other piece of the puzzle! 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
gee-dub Posted September 9, 2021 Report Share Posted September 9, 2021 @Chet I have a MBR set coming up for our home and will watch with interest. Really liked the end tables and look forward to the rest. I feel you on the end grain of raised panels and the effort to make them look and feel the way I want. The ends of panels on mass produced stuff makes me cringe ;-) Your thread is timely for me and I appreciate the extra effort of posting the ride-a-long. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Popular Post Chet Posted September 13, 2021 Author Popular Post Report Share Posted September 13, 2021 made some caps for the legs. I started with some blocks 1 3/4" thick and the same width and depth as the legs. I set the table saw blade at 15° and cut the two short sides and then the two long sides, pushing a scrap behind them so I didn't get any digits tangled up in the saw blade. I took some lengths of scraps and made up some molding to go with the caps and also at the base of the legs. I there should be way more then needed of the three different moldings but I don't want to have to go back and recreate something at the last minute. Next thing up was to put a coat of shellac on the panels and the edges of all the stiles and rails before I start the glue ups. I put some blue tape on the edges where glue will be applied. The first part of the foot board glue up was the lower section that has the three panels. When that dried I added the horizontal panels and top rail to the bottom section. After that came out of the clamps I used a flush trim bit and straight edge to trim just a fuzz off of the edges so the legs will set perfectly flush with the panel section. I think it would have been fine but this extra step assures a nice fit and it removed a heavy 1/32 of an inch. 8 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Coop Posted September 13, 2021 Report Share Posted September 13, 2021 I sure like the contrasting flat panels to the raised panels. 1 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
wtnhighlander Posted September 14, 2021 Report Share Posted September 14, 2021 Chet, those caps look smoooooth! Did they come off the saw like that??? 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Coop Posted September 14, 2021 Report Share Posted September 14, 2021 On 9/13/2021 at 9:15 PM, wtnhighlander said: Chet, those caps look smoooooth! Did they come off the saw like that??? +1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Coop Posted September 14, 2021 Report Share Posted September 14, 2021 On 9/13/2021 at 11:53 AM, Coop said: I sure like the contrasting flat panels to the raised panels. Just wondering, what made this decision? I would have gone with one or the other, but not a combination. What made you consider both? Creative reasoning/thinking is my guess! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Popular Post Chet Posted September 14, 2021 Author Popular Post Report Share Posted September 14, 2021 On 9/13/2021 at 7:15 PM, wtnhighlander said: Chet, those caps look smoooooth! Did they come off the saw like that??? I was pleased with the way they came of the saw, but they have been sanded. On 9/13/2021 at 8:55 PM, Coop said: Just wondering, what made this decision? I would have gone with one or the other, but not a combination. What made you consider both? Creative reasoning/thinking is my guess! A couple things went into this. I wanted the top panels of both the foot board and head board to have sort of a recessed look the the top drawer of the night stands. If you look at the last picture of my first post about the bed, the dry fit picture, the two top panels are resawn and book matched and the grain sort of follows the grain and curve of the top rail. Hope that makes sense. 3 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Chestnut Posted September 14, 2021 Report Share Posted September 14, 2021 I'm not sure if i said this before but i love those nightstands! If i said it before it's worth saying again. I really like the mixed raised and flat panel design as well. So the flat panels are going to be up like the dry assembly picture? That's opposite what I was expecting. I'm really interested to see this finished. What did you use to cut the raised panel cove? 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Chet Posted September 14, 2021 Author Report Share Posted September 14, 2021 On 9/14/2021 at 5:11 AM, Chestnut said: What did you use to cut the raised panel cove? Its was a 3"diameter cove bit from Infinity. I took several passes to keep the cuts nice and clean. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Popular Post Chet Posted September 16, 2021 Author Popular Post Report Share Posted September 16, 2021 Continuing on... This is the hardware I am using to attach the side boards to the legs each part sets flush in a sallow mortise and attaches with screws. I'm thinking it will be easier to rout the mortises for the hardware before gluing the legs to the foot board panel section. I have been working mainly on the foot board at this time, but as with some of the other steps it seems to make sense to do the mortises in all four legs and the two side boards at the same time. So first up was prepping the side boards. After milling them flat I need to rip them to width and cut them to final length. My shop doesn't have the space to do this on any of the stationary equipment, so I am using the track saw. Cleaned up one edge and the ripped to width. After ripping the two sides I was able to pretty up both edges on the jointer. This was the set up for cutting to length. I used my shorter track along with the TSO guide rail square. I made up a jig to cut the mortises along with the plunge router and a 1/2 long pattern bit. Then leaving the jig in place as a guide I cleaned up the corners with a chisel. And the fit. The legs were pretty much the same process. The leg fit. I do have one more step to do on the legs. 5 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
wtnhighlander Posted September 16, 2021 Report Share Posted September 16, 2021 That's looking great, Chet! Did you make that jig special for this job, or is it something you already had, and perhaps modified? 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Chet Posted September 16, 2021 Author Report Share Posted September 16, 2021 On 9/15/2021 at 7:52 PM, wtnhighlander said: That's looking great, Chet! Did you make that jig special for this job, or is it something you already had, and perhaps modified? It was made just for this job. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RichardA Posted September 16, 2021 Report Share Posted September 16, 2021 I like those connectors, I've used them several times . What I liked most about them, is if you cut your mortise a 32nd deeper for both male and female parts, you get a really tight joint that's solid, and it's still able to come apart if you have to break it down to move it. 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bradpotts Posted September 16, 2021 Report Share Posted September 16, 2021 Looks great Chet! 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Chet Posted September 16, 2021 Author Report Share Posted September 16, 2021 On 9/15/2021 at 7:52 PM, wtnhighlander said: That's looking great, Chet! Did you make that jig special for this job, or is it something you already had, and perhaps modified? It was made just for this job. I hang on to jigs like this, then get tired of looking at them and toss them out, then instantly have a use for one of them. So I start the circle of life all over again. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Chet Posted September 16, 2021 Author Report Share Posted September 16, 2021 On 9/16/2021 at 3:37 AM, RichardA said: What I liked most about them, is if you cut your mortise a 32nd deeper for both male and female parts, you get a really tight joint that's solid, and it's still able to come apart if you have to break it down to move it. I am a little below the surface, I'm not sure it is as much as a 1/32" though. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RichardA Posted September 16, 2021 Report Share Posted September 16, 2021 It'll give a snug fit. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Popular Post Chet Posted September 22, 2021 Author Popular Post Report Share Posted September 22, 2021 I have to do some catching up on this journal. There was one more thing I had to do to the legs before gluing the footboard panel section to the legs. I had to cut a deeper mortise to provide clearance for the male portion of the hardware. I did this by placing the female piece in its mortise and tracing the slot. After I traced it I flipped the piece end for end and traced it again, this gave me the proper length for the mortise. I used the double fence with my router and a 1/4" up spiral bit. And this is the completed mortises in a mortise. After this I finished up a couple of things on the sideboards. First, I put a 3/8 dowel an inch back from the end. I did this from both sides instead of drilling one hole all the way through because the bit wasn't long enough. The reason for the dowel is I am screwing the hardware in place with 1 1/4" screws and the dowels will give the screws something a little more substantial to bit in to other then just the end grain. I start by using my dowel jig and then complete the hole after removing the jig. Glue the dowel in, flush cut it and sand it smooth. The last thing was to attach the ledge that the slates will rest on. When I did the glue up for the legs I didn't have any clamps long enough and I don't have enough of the proper length to even hook two together. So bought some good quality load straps which worked out real well. And it made cleaning up the little bit of squeeze out pretty easy. I did glue on the bottom molding for the legs before attaching the leg. This allowed me to glue it on with the leg standing on the flat surface my assembly table. This is the bottom of the leg. When the panel and leg glue up dried I did the top cap and molding on the two legs. I glued the pyramid cap on to the to of the leg, then the first molding is about an 1 1/2 strip with a cove at the top that blends it to the pyramid. After this I attached a second piece that has a chamfer on top and cove on the bottom. This is the results. And we are on to the final sanding a finish process. 10 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
wtnhighlander Posted September 22, 2021 Report Share Posted September 22, 2021 Looking fine, Chet! That's a good tip about using the dowel for cross grain support of a screw. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Coop Posted September 23, 2021 Report Share Posted September 23, 2021 On 9/22/2021 at 6:46 PM, wtnhighlander said: Looking fine, Chet! That's a good tip about using the dowel for cross grain support of a screw. +1 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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