Project Cabin bed - WIP

[munkypuzel]

Taken a few days off work to start the cabin bed project. I have two to build for the kids that will be identical. I obtained a large pile of beech which was long table tops from a school in a previous life. They are covered in Graffitti on one side and chewing gum on the other!! They clean up real nice though and were held down with very few small screws..

I dont have a particular plan and I am making it up as I go which may or may not prove to be a bad move

Cleaning the timber on the planer, with a nice fresh set of blades

Clamping up three laminations of approx 1" to make the legs..

Some of the glued up legs after planing.

..and a picture of a lot more prepared stock

Marking out and using the Domino. This is the first project I have used it for and my very next project will be sorting out some extraction. This is a real PITA without any!!

A dry fit of one of the 4 ends. I shaved the dominos slightly on the block plane to enable me to get them out again, has anyone else ever done this or is there another way??

Showing the fittings that will connect the ends to the long bed rails. Many thanks to 'wood monkey' on this forum who i got the idea from.

And a shot of the last thing I done tonight, trying the fittings on one corner..

...and one of the workshop/garage

I still have quite away to go, but have been preparing and marking all the timbers for the second bed to make its construction a bit quicker.

Thanks for looking! If anybody has some experience for a finish for beech I would like to hear your suggestions? I tried a bit of Danish Oil but it was very dark and I didnt like the look very much,

 

[Hudson Carpentry]

No Danish Oil isn't a great one for beech. Its a very close grain timber and it don't seem to soak in to well. Polyurethane Varnish works well and so does wax in my experience with beech. Its not a timber I like really, either to work with or the look of it so only tend to use it when its required, asked for or is the better choose. Im sure the bed will look great though.

 

[Dodge]

I agree with Alan (Hudson) that Danish oil doesnt work well on beech - personally I would probably recommend cellulose sanding sealer and an uncoloured/neutral finishing wax over it.

HTH

Rog

 

[munkypuzel]

Thanks guys, I like the idea of sealing and waxing as opposed to varnish. I have a litre of un-opened rustins Shellac that I have had since around 2006, I may have a look what that does to the beech, if I remember it was a little dark though..

BTW Dodge, that davenport is an awesome piece of work.. I am stunned by the craftsmanship and speed of work.. I have spent nearly three days on the beds, my kids would starve if I had to make a living out of wood!

 

[Hudson Carpentry]

If you sand to 120grit (thats like 180-240git to beech) then your wax finish will be floorless and beautiful on beech. I tend to use spirit sanding sealer if using wax but that may penetrate and darken more. No matter the finish it will always darken a wood somewhat and unfortunately it tends to be PU Varnishes thats the least darkening.

 

[ScouseKev]

Looking good Mark and you beat me to it, mine is almost at the same stage so i hope to be posting soon.

Finding those washers is a big help, think they're called lunar washers.

I wasn't brave enough to try a decent hardwood so i went cheap csl.

cheers Kev

 

[munkypuzel]

Hi Kev,

Hows it going, hope that Sedgwick is running well?? I had a call from another forum member who you passed my number to, many thanks for that, I managed to sort him out which was a real coincidence as I had a spare machine at that time! Many thanks,

Cheers
Mark

 

[Cegidfa]

Hello Mark,
As to removing dominos, I use a pair of molegrips set to the least pressure that will grip. This doesn't inflict much damage; as to using the machine without a vacuum, that is fun with a small f. :wink:

Regards...Dick..... Who tried to use his planer/thicknesser without collection...but not for long.

 

[ScouseKev]

I think i must have been having a few blonde moments Mark !

I've only just put 2 and 2 together.... I didn't know you were on this forum, i just knew you as the dealer from London.
The last member i pointed your way was looking for a startrite p/t, he sent me a photo, it looked a good machine.

Yeh the sedgwick's going fine ta, although i did have a bit of a scare when the yellow blade guard got loose and was pulled into the knives.
Thankfully no damage to me or the machine, just a mangled guard.

I will be in the market for a startrite 352 or 502 at some point soon so keep me in mind if you get one.

cheers for now mate

 

[munkypuzel]

Kev, I have PM'ed you.

Have you sorted a new guard for that Sedgwick yet? you had a lucky escape there..

 

[munkypuzel]

Spent a bit more time in the workshop today, had previously done a coupe of glue-ups which was a messy experience! I think I have now worked out the right amount to stick in domino holes.. :?

A dry fit of the ends attached together

Since then, I decided to make the sides part of the strecher bar and will attach a ladder to the free end to give it some extra support.

And with sides attached, and a mattress in place to check the size.. although I measured numerous times, I needed the comfort of seeing it in place!

Hope to get on with the ladders tomorrow and maybe some more sticking.

 

[katluke]

Nice project,any updates ?

 

[sometimewoodworker]

Marking out and using the Domino. This is the first project I have used it for and my very next project will be sorting out some extraction. This is a real PITA without any!!

A dry fit of one of the 4 ends. I shaved the dominos slightly on the block plane to enable me to get them out again, has anyone else ever done this or is there another way??

,

The bed is looking good.

First point the Domino is designed to be used with dust extraction. It won't work well if you don't use it, and you could even find the slots are not perfectly sized without it. it will also reduce the life of the bits.

The second is on dry fit dominos. Many of us have a set of dominos that have been sanded down and marked just for dry fitting.

Also if you are finding that many of your domino slots are very tight then it is most probably user error. Over on the Festool owners group there are several threads explaining the correct plunge speed.