Cherry Bed Build

Mark Johnson

Mark
Corporate Member
Just completed a cherry bed for my wife. She wanted one that looked close to a very old family bed, but allowed me some liberties. I used walnut trim to provide some accents, and turned the acorn finials in three pieces so that I could insert a textured acorn base. I'll include some construction shots and take a few posts to get through the build. Here though is the finished product. IMG_0218.JPG
 

Mark Johnson

Mark
Corporate Member
I didn't think about starting pictures until cutting mortises in the post bottoms, but here are the mortises shots and the drilling of the post for the upper sections of the post. I used my own mortise "rig" with a router and got good results that I cleaned up with chisels later. The drilling was done on a Shopsmith which allows horizontal drilling and a wonderful way to handle this project.IMG_0163.JPGIMG_0165.JPGIMG_0168.JPGIMG_0169.JPG
 

Mark Johnson

Mark
Corporate Member
the next step was getting the headboard and foot board started. I used the foot board as practice for techniques since less damage if I messed up. I have a shot of planning the cherry since there has been a recent discussion of J/Ps. I can get completely repeatable settings using the optional calibrated height adjustment wheel. IMG_0172.JPGIMG_0177.JPGIMG_0178.JPG
 

Mark Johnson

Mark
Corporate Member
Lots of sanding even though I used a flush cut bit in my router. Some parts of the shape were simply not accessible to the bit. I ended up making several sanding forms and gluing sandpaper to them. Some were stiff like the one shown, but some were flexible to allow me to sand in a fashion that would simulate a hand plane across the curve to get a completely smooth curve. Then a dry fit to make sure everything fit. I only required some minor trim of the tenons for everything to be tight.IMG_0180.JPGIMG_0181.JPGIMG_0182.JPGIMG_0184.JPGIMG_0185.JPG
 

drw

Donn
Corporate Member
Very impressive; I am sure your wife is very pleased with your craftsmanship and the "liberties" you were allowed!
 

ssmith

New User
Scott
Nice bed! The design is cool - not overly complicated but enough features to keep it interesting, and the walnut accents put it over the top.
 

Graywolf

Board of Directors, President
Richard
Staff member
Corporate Member
That turned out great Mark. Congratulations on completing this and I look forward to other projects!
 

Mark Johnson

Mark
Corporate Member
Here is how I tried to make sure the posts looked close to the same. I found I had to have either the drawing or a post physically behind the work piece. Also shown in this is taking a "ding" out of a piece using steam. It's amazing how well that worked and it is not visible in the finished piece.IMG_0189.JPGIMG_0190.JPGIMG_0192.JPGIMG_0193.JPG
 

Mark Johnson

Mark
Corporate Member
Headboard cut out was similar to foot board. Glue up was a little more tricky with 3 mortises that had to fit square at the same time.IMG_0196.JPGIMG_0197.JPGIMG_0198.JPGIMG_0199.JPG
 

Craptastic

Matt
Corporate Member
Nice. Very nice. Good job and thanks for all the pics and commentary you posted with them.

Using steam to pop out dents was a technique I learned at a door factory I worked at. They could do some amazing things with steam on wood if you had a large and steady enough supply. They didn't use irons and wet washcloths but had a small low pressure supply that came in on nozzles on tubes from a central boiler and set up small hoods over the spot. Production shop. Have to move product through you know.

But remember that it does reduce the density of the wood at the place/point it pulls the wood out. On the side of the piece corner piece it's OK but if it was the acorn (where it would likely get bumped again repeatedly) just not a good idea.
 

Mark Johnson

Mark
Corporate Member
Nice. Very nice. Good job and thanks for all the pics and commentary you posted with them.

Using steam to pop out dents was a technique I learned at a door factory I worked at. They could do some amazing things with steam on wood if you had a large and steady enough supply. They didn't use irons and wet washcloths but had a small low pressure supply that came in on nozzles on tubes from a central boiler and set up small hoods over the spot. Production shop. Have to move product through you know.

But remember that it does reduce the density of the wood at the place/point it pulls the wood out. On the side of the piece corner piece it's OK but if it was the acorn (where it would likely get bumped again repeatedly) just not a good idea.
thanks for the insight on this. Fortunately, this spot is very unlikely to be hit again.
 

Red Baron

New User
John
I didn't think about starting pictures until cutting mortises in the post bottoms, but here are the mortises shots and the drilling of the post for the upper sections of the post. I used my own mortise "rig" with a router and got good results that I cleaned up with chisels later. The drilling was done on a Shopsmith which allows horizontal drilling and a wonderful way to handle this project.View attachment 217892View attachment 217889View attachment 217890View attachment 217891
Impressive work!
I'm also making a cherry bed for my wife -- a simpler Shaker design, but still a stretch for my experience.
Did you use the same mortise jig when you cut the mortises for the headboard in the turned parts of the bedpost?
Any problems with that?
 

Mark Johnson

Mark
Corporate Member
Impressive work!
I'm also making a cherry bed for my wife -- a simpler Shaker design, but still a stretch for my experience.
Did you use the same mortise jig when you cut the mortises for the headboard in the turned parts of the bedpost?
Any problems with that?
I did use the same jig. All mortises were cut while stock was still square though. The mortise cavities were then filled with a fiction fit plug of cherry before putting on the lathe. This keeps things balanced, and avoids tear out at the mortises that are in turned sections.
 

Red Baron

New User
John
I did use the same jig. All mortises were cut while stock was still square though. The mortise cavities were then filled with a fiction fit plug of cherry before putting on the lathe. This keeps things balanced, and avoids tear out at the mortises that are in turned sections.
I've already turned the legs. Do you anticipate any problems cutting the mortises with either a router (suitable jigged) or a drill press?
Thanks for the advice!
 

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