Making the Bed-framework finished

Hi Everyone,

Well, I've finished the mattress frame and this part of the bed went well. Here are the photos:

The first thing I did was to screw the facing boards onto the 2x4s:

Then I began cutting and installing the slats. I used 1x3 pine for this:

The end slats along with several more that I evenly placed along the 2x4 rails are doubly screwed into place. This is to make the frame very rigid and to keep the frame from scissoring when I disassemble the bed in a couple of days when it's time to move it:

Here is a photo of the slats that have double screws in them:

Now for the rest of the slats-the person I'm making this for only has a mattress-no box spring so there will need to be a lot of slats to ensure that the mattress stays in place and not have a "lumpy" feel to  it when it's laid on. The slat positions in the photo would be fine for a box spring but it's probably not enough for just a mattress so I added more slats to the frame (see next photo):

Here is the same section of the frame but with an additional slat. I did this for the entire frame:

And this is the completed framework. This might be overkill but I don't want the bed to be uncomfortable. This also helps to strengthen the framework:

And with this the construction of the bed is completed.

I'm going to eat some lunch and then go down and do a little more staining and then apply polyurethane to the bed. It will need several coats. When that's finished it will be time to take it apart and move it to the person who will be receiving it.

Stay tuned,

VW

Making the Bed continued-Working on the Mattress Frame

Hi Everyone,

Well, I went and picked up some extra lumber that I forgot to purchase when I began the project:

Time to get to work-let's get started!

I decided to fit the frame to this bed exactly so it fits the foot and head boards and to minimize any movement in the corner joints. So the first thing I did was screw the two 2x4s in place (and helping out today is Jim Woodcock-I'm recovering from a rib injury and it would probably take me forever to finish this alone. And he's an engineer and can make stuff fit perfectly). These will be the basis of the frame and also give me a platform for putting the frame together.

Here's the photos:

The bed frame and indeed the entire structure needs to be square so we began by squaring the head and foot boards with the floor. For this a carpenter's square is required:

Next we checked to make sure the 2x4 rails were squared up to the head and foot boards:

Then I screwed the 2x4s in place-note the bed rocks a little from head to foot at this point:

And this is what the structure looks like:

 

Next, the plans call for a 1x6x75" pine board to placed over the long face of the 2x4 rail. This acts to hold the mattress in place and it will eventually be screwed to the legs of the foot and head boards to help stiffen the mattress frame joints. In the photograph you can see one of the 1x6s clamped in place:

Now the screws that I used to attach the 2x4 to the bracket protrude slightly and would push the end of the 1x6 away from the surface of the bracket so I'm going to drill a small hole through the 1x6. In order to get the placement of the hole correct, I clamped the board in place and gave it a whack with a mallet and created a small indentation which will allow me to drill the hole exactly:

To avoid tear out, we clamped the 1x6 to a piece of scrap lumber and I drilled the hole with 1/2" forstner bit:

And I got a nice clean hole:

And here is the board in place and ready to be screwed to the 2x4:

I'm going to stop for today and pick up with this tomorrow. I'll attach both face boards and then cut the slats and screw and glue them in place. At that point the construction will be finished and all that will be left is applying the finish and then disassembling it and transporting it to my young friend's home for assembly and finish photographs.

Stay tuned-almost finished,
VW

Making the Bed Continued-Beginning the Mattress Frame

Hello Everyone,

I've finished the headboard and footboard and now I'm beginning the mattress frame section of the bed.

The plans call for two 75" boards that are attached to the the legs of the head and foot boards. I've decided to use metal brackets to attach 2 2x4's and use these as the basis of the mattress frames. Here's some photos:


In this photo you can see the metal brackets I'm planning on using. They fit around the ends of the 2x4s and are screwed in place:

 In this photo I've screwed the brackets in place on the foot board. They are 11 1/4" above the ends of the legs:

This is the headboard with a bracket screwed into place and one of the 2x4s inserted into it:

And this is what the frame looks like so far. I haven't completely attached the 2x4s into the brackets as yet:

Tomorrow I'll purchase some more 1x3's for slats and also attach a 1x6x75" pine board along the long side of the 2x4s. This will help keep the mattress from shifting on the frame.

Stay tuned,
VW

Making the Bed continued

Hi Everyone,

I had the day off today so I decided to spend part of the day working on the bed project. I finished the foot board by cutting a plywood panel to size and screwing down to the back of the foot board. Then I stained everything. Here's today's photos:


This photo shows the plywood just lying on the backside of the footboard:

 

Here it is with the screws in place:

And this photo shows the foot board and the headboard-the construction of these is completed.

After all this I took both pieces outside for staining. I'm using Minwax honey colored stain. It's coming out a medium brown color. The wood pieces that make up both the head and foot boards are different and so they absorb the stain differently so you can see a color difference in the photos. I'm going to let the stain dry for the next several days and then stain them again so as to make the color more even:

After the stain part of the project I'll begin varnishing everything but that won't be until the end of the week.

Next, I'll make the frame for the mattress.

Stay tuned.

VW

Making a bed continued-screwing up but winding up ok

Hi Everyone,

I'm back-between very hot weather, high humidity, and a rib injury, I haven't felt much like working with anything, let alone a wood project. But this bed is needed and as I'm feeling a little better at the moment, and rounded up my husband to help out, the project is proceeding.

In the original plans, the headboard had a cross-shaped center piece made out of 3 pieces of 1x4" pine. And I had cut the pieces out but I cut one about 1/4" too short. Damn, it was too short to fit in the center and as I was out of 1x4 pine, I decided to re-arrange the design. Instead I used a 2x3 fir stud to make two pieces of wood that are screwed into the headboard frame. Here is a photo:

I also decided not to inset the plywood backing but instead screwed it to the rear of the frame. This modification makes the headboard very stiff so it shouldn't move at all.

All the headboard needs now is to be stained to match the frame.

Next I'll make the footboard and after that the framework that will hold the mattress.

Stay tuned.

VW

Hello Everyone! Making a Bed

Hi Everyone,

Well I'm back after a long absence. I've had a very very busy year and my life is finally beginning to slow down. So I'm back in the shop building stuff.

Today I'm building a bed frame for a young friend who doesn't have one. This is a very simple bed that I found on Anna White's web page called the "Emmett Bed." This bed is made out of construction lumber and is fairly easy to make.

Since her plans are free and available online on the above link, I won't review the cutting list. It only cost about $70 for the lumber and supplies.

Photos

Here is some of the lumber I purchased. I was measuring and cutting when I took this photo:

Here are all the cut parts-I cut these parts according to the cut list:

These are the 1/2" thick plywood panels for the foot and head board:

And this is the color I stained the parts. I always stain furniture parts before assembly. It's easier and it looks better. And it's one less thing to do at the end of the project:

And here are all the parts drying out in the shop:

Ok, as it's really really hot outside, I'm quitting for the day. I still have to stain the plywood panels and for that I'll need to purchase more stain. Tomorrow I'll assemble the frame and I'll show you how I did that.

Until then,
VW

Transitions Or Farewell to Fruit Bowls for a While

Hi Everyone,

Well summer has begun and I hope everyone everywhere is enjoying the nice weather and if you're in the southern hemisphere, a nice fall.

I haven't done any turning in a long while and I decided today to begin working again. It has been a very busy year and one with numerous transitions and while all of this has been most welcome, it has taken away time for thinking and working.

I've long wanted to begin this phase of transitioning out of traditional wood turning but I didn't have any kind of a plan or idea as to how to begin. I've looked at a lot of artistic wood turning but I have neither the tools or artistic training of any kind to begin that type of work. Other methods of wood turning like segmented turning has not caught on with my imagination. Over and over the early work of Stephen Hogbin, who was sawing his turnings into pieces and re-assembling them was the only thing that popped into my mind. But I'm not that creative.

So I have looked elsewhere for inspiration and new ideas and this has led to to examine the work of fiber artists and basket weaving. I love the colors and the textures that I have seen and basket weaving in particular has caught my eye since it involves wood fibers. One artist in particular is Minnesota fiber artist Tressa Sularz.

In searching the internet, I came across a brief essay she wrote entitled Dancing My Way Home along with a photograph of a piece of her work which is woven by hand and has beading on the surface. It's not a basket per se but it is really beautiful and is an example of a traditional craft taken several steps further and made into a beautiful object.

And so I began searching for images of her work and the work of other fiber artists and I decided it was time to stop turning and begin experimenting. So here are some photographs of today's work:

I decided to work on a large block of basswood that I've had for a while. It's soft enough to carve easily with hand tools and the buff color of the wood should let any colorants I use to be visible, unlike walnut or dark red woods (which are going to need a lot of thought but I can do that later on):

Here I've placed it between centers and turned it down to a vase shape: 

Here I've attached it to my Nova chuck and smoothed the surface a little:

And then I drilled hole in it with a 1" spade bit-why I did this I don't know:

And that's it-I now have a turning-carving-coloring-whatever wood blank to work on.

This is just going to be for an on going experiment so I'll keep you up to date as to what I'm doing.

Stay tuned,
VW