Headboard, Nightstand, Pier Project

[gee-dub]

I believe they used to call things that looked sort of like this "Pier Groups" because of the two vertical cabinets at each end of the headboard. If I am wrong please let me know. SWMBO has determined that the headboard/nightstand/thing will be sepele. This will nicely compliment the cherry pieces in the bedroom and works well with the colors in the floor. At any rate it is game-on and I am shooting for something like this (SWMBO approved design):

The mattress and the piece will both float above the floor by about 11". The mattresses are actually a split-king adjustable setup but that is neither here nor there as far as the build goes.
I was shocked to find that with all the lumber I have around here I had used up nearly all of my 5/4 sapele on the last couple of projects. Off to the lumber yard . . . oh how I hate taking trips to the lumber yard . . . . I return having stripped the racks of all their sepele that meets my requirements. I may have to go back.

I certainly ought to be able to get at least started with this material.

I went digging out in the out buildings and found some additional material. This nice wide ribbon piece will probably become the sliding door fronts.

I swear, selecting material and laying out parts is almost as satisfying as apply the final finish coat for me . . . Houston? We may have a mental problem.

Plenty of more material to pick out and rough mark. The game is a-foot.

[BillyJack]

Too bad you’re not here. I have lots of Sapele sheet goods and veneer..

[Coop]

I’ve gotta get my sapele act together. I’ve never owned a piece but always envy those that build with it! 

[BillyJack]

I like working with it.. Nice wood..

[pkinneb]

SWMBO I had t look this one up 

That is some nice looking Sapele!!

I look forward to following along thanks for sharing!! 

[gee-dub]

Not a lot going on yet as I am just selecting material. I was having trouble getting matching material for the left and right panel groups of the piers. These are some of the "in your face" parts so material selection is important. I had one of those random "ah-ha" moments and recalled a piece of 8/4 sepele in one of the outbuildings. A little digging and I found it.

I will re-saw this piece for all the left and right panel sections for the vertical piers. Easy match. There are a couple of parts that will require a glue-up to make width so as usual I use a bit of tape as opposed to having to clean up my clamp bars.

I guess I have officially started making this thing.

ever onward . . . .

[Mark J]

I noticed you put all your parallel clamps on the bottom side of the glue up, rather than alternate them top and bottom. 

[gee-dub]

On 8/11/2024 at 6:23 AM, Mark J said:

I noticed you put all your parallel clamps on the bottom side of the glue up, rather than alternate them top and bottom. 

Depends on the scale.  For shorter pieces I don't have any alignment trouble with good parallel clamps.  For longer or wider things I do the top and bottom routine .  I also often use more clamps than I probably need.  I figure I paid for them I may as well use them .

[pkinneb]

@gee-dub so curious Are you building this around a select comfort mattress/ frame? If yes will it be attached?

[gee-dub]

On 8/11/2024 at 1:35 PM, pkinneb said:

@gee-dub so curious Are you building this around a select comfort mattress/ frame? If yes will it be attached?

It is a split-king with individually adjustable frames; soft and cushy on LOML's side and firm on mine.  There is hardware supplied with the frames to attach a typical headboard.  There will be a stretcher on my headboard that these can attach to.  They need to be attached so that the fabric of the mattress and base do not rub when being adjusted.

[BillyJack]

On 8/11/2024 at 8:23 AM, Mark J said:

I noticed you put all your parallel clamps on the bottom side of the glue up, rather than alternate them top and bottom. 

They would have crucified me for clamping like that in the  shop..

[pkinneb]

On 8/11/2024 at 4:03 PM, gee-dub said:

It is a split-king with individually adjustable frames; soft and cushy on LOML's side and firm on mine.  There is hardware supplied with the frames to attach a typical headboard.  There will be a stretcher on my headboard that these can attach to.  They need to be attached so that the fabric of the mattress and base do not rub when being adjusted.

Ok you already had my attn but now I gotta see how you do this. I have always wanted to do a headboard with ours (same set up only i'm soft and wife is firm ) but wasn't sure how.

[Coop]

On 8/11/2024 at 7:06 PM, BillyJack said:

They would have crucified me for clamping like that in the  shop..

How did y’all do it? 

[BillyJack]

On 8/11/2024 at 9:15 PM, Coop said:

How did y’all do it? 

Over /under

[gee-dub]

On 8/11/2024 at 5:47 PM, pkinneb said:

Ok you already had my attn but now I gotta see how you do this. I have always wanted to do a headboard with ours (same set up only i'm soft and wife is firm ) but wasn't sure how.

I'll remember to take some pics.  The brackets came with the frames.  Sort of adjustable "L" brackets with multiple holes for setting distance.  I'm sure you could fabricate something similar from wood.  They are not seen without 'looking under the hood' as far as I can tell at this point.

[gee-dub]

Just a reminder that it is important to have your material supported during jointing. If the irregular edge is allowed to climb up and drop off the tables you will end up with a fouled cut and joint your brains out trying to get a true edge.

There are a number of parts in this build that exceed the infeed clearance of my tablesaw. During the shop layout I resolved to opt for clearance to cut a 6' x 6' sheet of BB ply at the tablesaw and do any other longer cuts another way. In this case I will rip to oversize at the bandsaw.

Then rip to final width with the track saw.

There will be several parts done this way so I won't bore you with repeated pics. I'll check back in when something interesting starts to happen ;-)

[fcschoenthal]

That's what you get for finishing those boxes so quick. My wife always has the next project lined out for me if I have any downtime.

[gee-dub]

Still just breaking down parts blanks so here's some random shots. Note to self . . . go ahead and hook up the vac when you trim the new splinter guard strip on your track.

The ZCI on sled fences can become less than perfect due to blade deflection, spoil abrasion or whatever. To keep the slot as a visual reference tool I will put a bit of tape over it and saw a new kerf. Eventually the wood ZCI gets replaced but this way I can milk some more life out of it.

One of those things you never thought you would use as much as you do is the Jaw Stand sold under various names. I recommend the one with the hand crank fine adjustment. My non-crank version has been laying in an outbuilding for years.

If you pull a stunt like I did at the end of the day yesterday and fail to flip your glue up and remove the bulk of the squeeze out . . . a paring plane is OK but slow, a carbide scraper can sometimes cause tear out . . . I stole this idea from somewhere. You recess a bodywork file into a block of wood with the business surface about 1/64" shy.





This lets you get pretty aggressive (and therefor fast results) without the danger of tear out on woods like sepele that like to tear out.

[Von]

Thanks for the tip. I wasn't familiar with a bodywork file. I have a wishlist on Amazon now which I should just rename "useful stuff I heard about from gee-dub" :-)

[Coop]

@gee-dub, after seeing your sacrificial ZCI on your sled, I think that’s a neat idea and suspect that you have done the same on your miter gauge on your ts. Mind posting a pic of it? 

[gee-dub]

Not as sophisticated on the miter gauge.  I milled some stock to fit the extrusion. I cut off a short section and glue a rabbeted block to it. 

I have one for 90 and one for 45. They are retained by a small wood screw from behind.  The hole already happened to be there.  The other little plywood thing is a stop block for picture frames.

Once they get chewed I lop off another short section of the milled stock and glue another block to it.  If I used the miter gauge more I would probably do something a little more elegant.

 

[Ron Swanson Jr.]

On 8/17/2024 at 3:03 PM, Von said:

Thanks for the tip. I wasn't familiar with a bodywork file. I have a wishlist on Amazon now which I should just rename "useful stuff I heard about from gee-dub" :-)

The man is a walking "Great Idea Factory"!

[curlyoak]

It seems the lumber came dressed? I prefer rough so I can remove any twists and doglegs out of the material. However the wood appears to be flat as a pancake. I raise my confidence when I start by jointing one face.

[gee-dub]

On 8/19/2024 at 2:15 AM, curlyoak said:

It seems the lumber came dressed? I prefer rough so I can remove any twists and doglegs out of the material. However the wood appears to be flat as a pancake. I raise my confidence when I start by jointing one face.

Yes. Even when material comes S2S or better I still run it through the milling steps to assure parts are square and true.  For material too wide for my 8” jointer I use the planer sled. 

[BillyJack]

On 8/19/2024 at 4:15 AM, curlyoak said:

It seems the lumber came dressed? I prefer rough so I can remove any twists and doglegs out of the material. However the wood appears to be flat as a pancake. I raise my confidence when I start by jointing one face.

Sapele  is a pretty straight lumber and doesn’t need all that processing. We bought so much of it, we had hardly any waste..

 

Sapele has a good weight to it. Solid lumber to work with