Wood ID

[Matt Sollars]

Was considering this bed for a project and wondered what type of wood you thought they used. seems to be enough grain that you all may be able to spot it, i'm sure it's been stained though.

also,
when doing a 'frame' type border this large for a bed (king).....what is the strongest way to make this joint, dowels? splines? etc.


thanks.
Matt

be.jpg

[Jamie Buxton]

Looks like oak to me, with a brown stain.

If I were making those mitered frames, I'd use splines. Probably double splines, to make sure I have lots of glue area. The grain direction of the splines must be crossing the seam, not parallel to the seam.

[Prashun Patel]

I agree that it looks like oak. However, the foot board panel looks like a veneer to me. Flatsawn oak boards would have a cathedral style pattern to them.

[roger wiegand]

You might want to be sure you have a really flat floor before going with that rail across the bottom. Lots of places I've lived you could end up with one end hanging in the air. Lots more surface to get banged up with the vacuum cleaner as well.

I'd be tempted to use a joint like this miteredbridlejoint.jpg with the mortise and tenon fully hidden within the large members. (probably has a name, but I don't know what it is)

[Matt Sollars]

i had a hunch it was oak, but was looking for some better eyes.

i'm thinking about using a 'half lap miter' joint. benefits of the half lap (surface area for glue, and forces coming down on half endgrain of one board and straight grain of another) and the outside look of the 45 miter.
if i didn't have thick carpeting in that room, i'd be iffy on the bottom bar as well. but yes....it would get dinged by the vac.
thanks guys.
Matt

[Yonak Hawkins]

i had a hunch it was oak, but was looking for some better eyes.

i'm thinking about using a 'half lap miter' joint. benefits of the half lap (surface area for glue, and forces coming down on half endgrain of one board and straight grain of another) and the outside look of the 45 miter.

Matt, if you don't mind end grain on both edges and, as you're concerned about support, you could consider a bridle joint.

[Matt Sollars]

I like the look of 45 miter from the outside, but the support that the straight bridle joint is tempting. I guess i could alway score the faces on a 45 and let the finish give it a mitered look.
lots of options i guess. thanks again guys.
Matt

[Kent A Bathurst]

I'm not so sure it is oak, but I am also not so sure it ain't.

One thing on the footboard - as best as I can see - there is one wide board, with a narrower board on top - and the grain of that top board looks nothing like the grain in the wide board. The wide board grain looks cool. The narrow board grain does not come close to looking like an appropriate match - to me.

And that wide board grain - it sure as heck looks to me like it is a pair of book-matched veneers butt-joined in the middle. The grain pattern on the left and on the right look identical to me.........????

One design note - every time I look at the corners of the frame, I imagine myself hitting it in the dark - and all the cuss words that will some out from hitting that sharp corner.......... I would be working out chamfers in my mind if it was me - - but it isn't me - - just a thought.

Joinery - I assume you want to avoid seeing endgrain at the corners, hence the miters? I think the best way is the M&T joint Roger shows, or a loose tenon into a pair of mortises cut into the 45* faces. If that isn't doable for some reason, then dowels if you have that capability.

[Pat Barry]

It doesn't look natural to me, are you sure that's not some type of laminate on the footboard / headboard?

[Larry Browning]

It doesn't look like oak to me. It looks more like clear pine or fir. Also, that whole thing looks like its about to fall apart. That top left joint in the foot board looks to have 1/8" gap and the headboard board is mounted way crooked and even looks like one good bump would knock it free. Is that a pic from a catalog? What catalog would use a picture of such a poorly made piece of furniture?

[Mel Fulks]

Larry, I agree ....don't like it. But I bet it's expensive, guess we ain't sophisticated enough to like crooked stuff

[Mark Blatter]

+2 on what Larry said. Looks like a stained fir to me. I didn't even 'see' the poor fabrication job until Larry pointed it out. I was too focused on the grain. It does look like cheap sidewalk furniture, which also makes me think it is fir.