Walnut Sleigh Bed

[Hans Braul]

Just finished this project. I'll post project pics later. The panels are made from 3 sheets of 1/8" ply laminated in a form, then veneered using the same form. Most of the work for this project was in the curved panels. I learned a lot and if I had to do it again, I would definitely save some time!

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Thanks for looking....
Hans

[Hans Braul]

Here are some pics of the form:
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[Jack Lemley]

Very nice work Hans! I love the look of walnut.

Jack

[Lee Schierer]

Really nice looking bed. It looks really great. Did you also bend the stiles?

[Jeff Monson]

Really nice Hans, you did that walnut some serious justice!

What is your finish on this project?

[Bruce Page]

Wow! That's nice!

[gary Zimmel]

Sweet work on the sleigh bed Hans.

[Baxter Smith]

Great job! I will bookmark this one. My daughter has requested a sleighbed and bedroom suite made from the walnut I have been hoarding for a wedding present.

[Prashun Patel]

Hans-
How did you make the form? Did you just make matching curved strips sheathed with a piece of hardboard?

Really nice work!

[Jeff Hamilton Jr.]

That is really nice looking. Great finish as well -- what did you use?

[Paul Murphy]

Wow! I like your chosen style, and the walnut is beautiful. As usual your workmanship is top-notch.

[Hans Braul]

Hans-
How did you make the form? Did you just make matching curved strips sheathed with a piece of hardboard?

Really nice work!

I used a pattern router bit and made identical pieces. The pieces were registered against eachother using dominos. This gave me a very consistent match when they were glued together. Then I glued 1/8" baltic birch to each face.

Thanks for the kind comment!
Hans

[Hans Braul]

That is really nice looking. Great finish as well -- what did you use?

Two coats of Watco Danish Oil (walnut colour), followed by about 6-7 coats wipe-on poly.

Thanks!

Hans

[Hans Braul]

Did you also bend the stiles?

I cut the stiles from solid stock, but if I were to do it again, I'd do it differently. One of the most challenging things about this project was routing the grooves for the panels into the stiles so that there was no slop. Next time I'd laminate 1/8" strips using the same forms that I used to make the panels. In this way the width of the grooves could be very exact, and the curve would be exactly the same as the panels. Much quicker than my approach, which involved roughing the stiles on the bandsaw, followed by shaping using spokeshave.

Thanks!
Hans

[Will Boulware]

Gorgeous work! Don't mind me. I'm just going to stand over here and gawk at it for another half an hour or so. Absolutely amazing. Beautiful grain, great design, just gorgeous work!

[Mike Wilkins]

That is some fine woodworking. Love that Walnut. Really love those panels. I may have missed it, but what finish schedule did you use? Thanks.

[Pat Barry]

Hans, really nice work on this bed. I tend to disagree with your thoughts on the bed posts though. I think what you did here is the best possible finished results. Using laminated leg assembly, although likely a faster way, would not look nearly as good as your result with the solid material. Congratulations on a well executed project. Sometimes the easy way isn't the best way.

[Roy Wall]

Hans --

That is a Beautifully Designed Sleigh Bed -- excellent. It looks fantastic!

Tell me a bit more about the rail-to-post connections. Where did you get the hardware and does it lock solid? You happy with it, etc...

Roy........... jaw dropped at this beautiful piece of furniture.........

[Hans Braul]

Tell me a bit more about the rail-to-post connections. Where did you get the hardware and does it lock solid? You happy with it, etc....

Hi Roy,
Thanks for the comments. For the headboard I used bolts from Lee Valley:
http://www.leevalley.com/en/hardware/page.aspx?p=40445&cat=3,40842,41269&ap=1
Because they require a medallion to cover the bolt hole if visible, I opted for this hook design for the footboard, also from Lee Valley:
http://www.leevalley.com/en/hardware/page.aspx?p=65401&cat=3,40842,41269&ap=1
Although the bolts are supposed to only require one per end, I used two. They are as strong as anything and provide a VERY rigid assembly. The hooks are not as rigid, but with the headboard fixed, the overall bed assembly is extremely stiff. Easy to assemble and bullet-proof.
Regards,
Hans

[Hans Braul]

I may have missed it, but what finish schedule did you use? Thanks.

2 coats of walnut Watco Danish oil, followed by about 6 coats Minwax wipe-on poly.

Thanks for the kind comments!

Hans

[Hans Braul]

Hans, really nice work on this bed. I tend to disagree with your thoughts on the bed posts though. I think what you did here is the best possible finished results. Using laminated leg assembly, although likely a faster way, would not look nearly as good as your result with the solid material. Congratulations on a well executed project. Sometimes the easy way isn't the best way.

Pat,
Thanks for the comment. I was not suggesting I would laminate the legs. I agree with you - solid wood is the only way to go. I was referring to the stiles - i.e. the vertical pieces between the panels. For those, I could make curved laminations, incorporating the grooves into the laminations. There would be no evidence of the fact that the pieces were laminated, and it would be easier to do. I fully agree that the easiest way isn't the best way, but sometimes the best way isn't necessarily the hard way!

Regards
Hans

[Randy Bonella]

Hans, this is STUNNING!!!

What finish did you use?

I can't show this one to my wife otherwise I'll never finish any of the other projects in the shop at the moment.
Great Job and it is one on my list to do. Looking forward to seeing more detail.

Randy...

[Roy Wall]

Hans, this is STUNNING!!!

What finish did you use?

Randy...

http://www.sawmillcreek.org/images/misc/quote_icon.png Originally Posted by Mike Wilkins http://www.sawmillcreek.org/images/buttons/viewpost-right.png (http://www.sawmillcreek.org/showthread.php?p=1667806#post1667806)
I may have missed it, but what finish schedule did you use? Thanks.
2 coats of walnut Watco Danish oil, followed by about 6 coats Minwax wipe-on poly.

[Pat Barry]

Hans - yes - my misunderstanding - the stiles would work nicely to be laminated as you described. Once again, nice work!

[Jim Becker]

Masterful, Hans!!

[Hans Braul]

A few progress pics in no particular order...
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Finishing was done all advance (2 coats Watco followed by 5-6 coats wipe on poly), then the finished head and foot boards got one more coat after glue-up. One of the most critical parts was routing the grooves to accept the curved panels. This had to be accurate so there would be no slop.

Thanks to all for the kind comments. One of the real joys of doing woodworking is to share our work with others who know what's involved.

Regards
Hans

[Richard Goodwin]

Hi Hans,

a beautiful bed. I am in the process of designing one similar, however I was contemplating larger panels with only one stile in the middle. Your idea of laminating the stile is a good one. I am interested in how you did the forming, but don't quite understand your description above. What is a pattern router bit and I'm not sure what you meant by using dominoes? Also are you able to post more information re the design - height of head and foot boards etc?

[Dave Bower]

That's a beautiful bed and I love the walnut, my 2nd favorite wood!

[glenn bradley]

Beautiful piece Hans. I don't know how I missed this until now. Great design and very cool use of the veneer. Very well done.

[Nelson Howe]

Very nice! That walnut is exquisite.

Nelson

[Hans Braul]

Hi Hans,

a beautiful bed. I am in the process of designing one similar, however I was contemplating larger panels with only one stile in the middle. Your idea of laminating the stile is a good one. I am interested in how you did the forming, but don't quite understand your description above. What is a pattern router bit and I'm not sure what you meant by using dominoes? Also are you able to post more information re the design - height of head and foot boards etc?


Hi Richard,
I'm sorry I missed your post so my response is so slow. Here is an exploded view of the veneer press I made:
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A pattern router bit has a bearing on one end that rolls against the shape you want to duplicate. The blades are the same diameter as the bearing.

I didn't actually laminate the stiles, though if I had it to do again, I would.

For the veneer press, I used a Festool Domino to cut mortices in each of the pieces that formed the press. Since the mortices are exactly registered, the glue-up gives me two uniform surfaces of exactly the same curvature, so there is even pressure on the veneer. The pictures below give some different views.
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The head board is 54" high, the footboard is 39". The panels are 20" high and 12" wide. I used sketchup to design it - if you wish I could email you the file.

Regards
Hans