Newbie help with potential project.

[brianlanning]

A lot of people use routers to make mortises. I have a mortiser which I usually use although I'm considering making my own multi-router type machine. If you use the router, you'll have rounded mortises, so you'll either have to square the mortises to match the tennons or round the tennons which is easier I think. You may want to do it the other way around though. Clamp the post down and use a plunge router freehand with an aux fence attached to the router.

Do you have a table saw? You set it up once, then run all the boards through. The width should be the same.

You could also make a sled that sets the width of board, then use a flush cut router bit with a bearing to flush-cut all the boards. That would make them identical also.

You should also cut the boards slightly wide, then run the glueup through the jointer and planer again. That should make the sides perfect.

brian

[Andy]

table and a straight bit. What do you think?

A plunge router with a spiral upcut bit would be easier in my opinion. Or using a drill press with a forstner bit, then chiseling it square. I think I just saw a book with 12 ways to cut mortise and tenon joints, or something like that, so there definitely is not just one right way to do it. I'd strongly suggest getting a couple books on general woodworking, power tool joinery, wood basics, finishing, etc., and then posting here with more specific questions. It's difficult for people to respond when a thread kind of turns and gets on a different subject than it began, and after you've looked through some books, you can ask questions here that would probably be more helpful to you, and you can make more informed tool purchases. One good general book that I strongly recommend is "The Complete Book of Woodworking: Detailed Plans for More Than 40 Fabulous Projects" - the hardcover isn't available on Amazon any more, but paperback is. This book really got me started in woodworking - good background info on wood, joints, finishing, etc., and some fairly detailed plans. Tage Frid's 3-volume set is also very good, and though it's expensive, it might be available at your library. Definitely worth looking at. Good luck, Andy

[dadiOH]

If that worries you the entire project is too much to undertake before you gain some experience.

-- dadiOH ____________________________

dadiOH's dandies v3.06... ...a help file of info about MP3s, recording from LP/cassette and tips & tricks on this and that. Get it at

[brianlanning]

I agree. It sounds to me like he doesn't have a table saw either since that machine makes his worry trivial. Still, I made a twin sized canopy bed as my second project with bench top tools. It was painted though which hides a lot of sins.

brian

[stoutman]

If you plan on using bed rail hardware that is mortised into the posts (allows for the rails to be disconnected from the head/footboard) this might present a problem. Do you plan on having these detachable?

see:

How would the top "sill" board attach to the hollow box?

All the more reason to use solid posts.

You could use 12/4 oak or you could use 12/4 ash (almost indistinguishable IMHO). You could also glue up in laminations 5/4 or 4/4 to your required thickness.

Here is a great link for making a similar bed:

you can take a look at the one I made for ideas?

[Ben Golding]

I made a bed that was quite similar to this one last year. I put up some photos of the process of building it here:

wouldn't use plywood, beds get stresses and strains from all sorts of unconventional angles (if they're being used correctly) so strength is important.

I didn't use a planer or a jointer, I don't have either of those -- I must be old-fashioned or something. I adjusted my plans to use the sizes of finished timber that I bought. I cut the mortices and tenons using my hand router and a mallet and chisel. Finish was boiled linseed oil, cheap, easy to apply and (perhaps most importantly) forgiving if final adjustments need to be made.

The head and foot of the bed are joined to the supporting rails using bed bolts (from Rockler). They are extremely strong and the bed doesn't creak even under, um, serious use ...

Ben.

[Enoch Root]

hoo, that's a keeper.

er

[stryped]

[stryped]

x-no-archive:yes

I like that do you have plans or the dimensions of the bed? What did you use for posts?

[brianlanning]

Even a benchtop table saw should be able to make repeatable cuts on boards mayb 4" wide and 3' long. I doubt you'll have problems with that.

brian

[stryped]

[brianlanning]

If you get the jointer, use that. otherwise, a router with a flush cut bit and something that's straight enough, like the factory edge on plywood.

If you set your miter saw on the floor, I bet you'll find that the table is 3.5" high, exactly the width of a 2x4 you can put under your board to support it.

brian

[Ben Golding]

[I tried e-mailing a reply to you but it bounced]

I do have plans but they're on my computer at home. Send me your e-mail address and I'll forward a copy.

For the posts, I used some local hardwood, Victorian Ash (a eucalypt variety), which I bought milled to about 90x44mm (I think, it's all on the plans). They have prove to be more than strong enough, and we've been using the bed for over a year.

The wood cost me about A$400 (~US$300). Most of that was on the rails which were hopelessly over-engineered, they simply will never have to take the load which they are could bear unless I have some sort of Roman orgy with most of our suburb attending. I think my wife would have something to say about that, and it wouldn't be "goodness dear, aren't the rails holding up well".

Can I also say that the bed bolts are great. When I was doing research for the project, I found somewhere on the web which said that the combination of a mortice and tenon joint bolted together is one of the strongest joints in woodworking. It is unbelievably strong and hasn't shifted an iota since we put the bed up.

Here's a link:

Ben.