Poplar Bed Build

[Mike Allen1010]

Now that our oldest son is officially a college graduate and gainfully employed (thank you God!), it seems he’s thinking about getting his own place. I guess “date night” at Mom and Dad’s house isn’t ideal.
This thread is a hand tool build of a bed for him in Poplar. He sent me a picture of what he wanted. Only modification is he wants the footboard to be lower so his feet can hang over the edge of the bed (he’s 6‘ 5”).
Here’s the pile of lumber in the driveway. Also includes 8/4 piece of Walnut I just couldn’t pass up, but that’s for another day.






Here’s breaking down the 6/4 rails. Jobs like this provide the feeblest justification for embarrassing number of handsaws – 5 PPI crosscut D-8 makes for quick work.




Next is smoothing the bedposts, rails and drilling mortises.





I found a 6/4 piece with interesting figure I’m going to try and squeeze the headboard and footboard out of.



Crosscutting small vertical stiles at the bench hook.

[Mike Allen1010]

Every project seems to have unanticipated delays for tool maintenance. In this case backsaw needed a quick tune-up (that didn’t take very long), but the most finicky tool in my shop, an ancient 14” Taiwanese band saw, needed a new table/fence, which took forever and I’m them still not sure if it’s cuts straight.










Here is cutting the four shouldered tennon’s for the middle stile in footboard.

[Mike Allen1010]

The raised panels for the footboard are really narrow (so it’s low enough for his feet hang over), and plowing grooves in the short vertical frame pieces was easier with saw/chisels than a plow plane.

[Mike Allen1010]

Here are the bedposts morticed for the head/footboard rails.



Design calls for 1” vertical dividers between the middle and top rails; these will be doweled. The middle stile is more structural and gets M&T’s.




I added a little cloud lift detail to the bottom rails which will be carried through on all four sides. Sort of matches a Greene & Greene inspired coffee-table.





Here is shaping the curve in the top rail and the dry fit for major foot board elements.






Middle rails are mortised into bedposts and central stile. . The best way for me to get the shoulder to shoulder dimensions right so that everything glues up tight/square is to dry fit and mark shoulders directly off reference pieces.

[Mike Allen1010]

Here are panels for the footboard that are raised on both sides. The LOML asked me why I raised the inside of the panels because you never see them - dammit I hate it when she’s right.
Short ends were easiest to shape with paring chisels and smooth with a small rabbit plane.

[Mike Allen1010]

Here’s the finished footboard. I’ll add some decorative caps to the posts; what would be a good contrasting wood?








I suck at finishing. The bed needs to be sort of brown to match other stuff, but at the same time I don’t want to obscure the figure if I can. I would very much appreciate any ideas or suggestions.

Thanks for looking.
All the best, Mike

[Brian Holcombe]

Coming along very nicely Mike!

[Joe Tilson]

Hey Mike,
So far that bed board is looking pretty good. That D-8 looks good too. As far as finishing goes, keep plugging away, you'll make it very nice for your son.
Best wishes,
Joe

[Jim Koepke]

Looks good.

My only question is why a rip handle on a crosscut saw?

jtk

[bridger berdel]

some of that 8/4 walnut in the first pic.

walnut responds well to iron/vinegar stain. it gets nice and black. plenty of contrast to the poplar.

Here’s the finished footboard. I’ll add some decorative caps to the posts; what would be a good contrasting wood?
Thanks for looking.
All the best, Mike

[ken hatch]

Mike,

Great build. Now tell me the secret to remembering to photograph each of the steps as you go.

ken

[Mike Allen1010]

[QUOTE=Jim Koepke;2571563]Looks good.

My only question is why a rip handle on a crosscut saw?

jtk[/QUOTE

Hey Jim, I'm no expert, but as far as I know; aside from timber/log saws, the only "carpentry style" saws in 5 PPI pitch were are originally manufactured/ sharpened as rip saws.

That is certainly my experience with all the Disston D-8 thumbholes (like this one) I've run across. Personally , I don't need the thumbhole tote for this saw, but I do like the 5 PPI pitch for crosscutting thick stock. Their a package deal - can't get one without the other.

As I mentioned, most people probably have no interest in a 5 PPI crosscut saw and mine is part of an excuse for having too many saws. In my defense, I helped a friend build a patio cover out of construction lumber, including lots of 4x4's, and the 5 PPI crosscut was at least as fast as the portable, worm drive power saw. Plus I'm way more swole from pushing the handsaw than my buddy pulling the trigger.

Cheers, Mike

[Mike Allen1010]

some of that 8/4 walnut in the first pic.

walnut responds well to iron/vinegar stain. it gets nice and black. plenty of contrast to the poplar.

Thanks Bridger, that's exactly the kind of advice I'm looking for. I really appreciate your suggestion - walnut it is!

Still gratefully for any tips on finishing he poplar. I know I need some kind of "brown" stain or dye to match other furniture. Still suck at finishing; when forced to add color, my experience with dyes is better than with stains (which seem to require some kind of artistic ability). Any suggestions much appreciated!

Cheers, Mike

[Mike Allen1010]

Mike,

Great build. Now tell me the secret to remembering to photograph each of the steps as you go.

ken

Ken, you give me way too much credit. Hours and multiple build steps go by w/o thinking of photo's, especially when I'm struggling. Much easier to remember pics when things are "cruising on autopilot".

See what I did there...- yeah that's right, blatant "piloting" pun !!( FYI, I think Ken is a veteran, instructor pilot). Note to self: If I feel compelled to explain pun, probably not entertaining to anyone but me. None the less, one can only take so many deadly serious sharpening theads, etc.

Best, Mike

[John Kananis]

If you prefer dye, trans-tint works well. If you want to stain and have trouble with adding color then gel stain is your friend. I like to use (by the way, I'm no expert in finishing but I do well enough) an oil first to enhance the figure (Danish oil works well for this), then a sanding sealer and finally the gel stain followed by shellac (or more sanding sealer if you're so inclined).

Project is looking good - can't wait to see the rest.