Lars Thomas
03-01-2005, 2:08 PM
Good day folks! My eldest son (9) has a baseball themed room and wanted a bed to match. As luck would have it, I designed a baseball ball bed when we first found out we were going to have a boy. The most amazing thing is I was able to find the original sketch I put together. I made this bed about 2-3 years ago, but I don't think I have ever posted details about it
The bed is made of Hard Maple with Cherry inlays. All of the wood is from Kirkland Sawmill in Kirkland IL. Some of you might be familiar with this place because some of the old Badger Ponders had a gathering or two at the mill.
The head/foot boards all sit in dados in the bats. I made a ‘cradle’ to hold the bats while routing the dados. The molding on the head and foot board is solid with a ½” dado to fit over the head/foot board. The most difficult part of the project was figuring out how to hold the bent molding in place. I decided to notch (3/16"- oversized) each bat to lock the molding in place. Basically, I assembled the head/foot board and one bat. I then put one end of the molding into the assembly and bent it around (no steam or laminations) them clamped it in place. Finally, I put the other bat on and released the clamps. The notch in the bats holds the sprung molding in place. Pure genius if I must say so myself! ;)
The bats on the headboard sit on two turned balls – just to give them more height.
The foot board has a baseball diamond (to scale) inlayed in cherry. From a design perspective, I wish I didn’t do it to scale. I think it would have looked better with oversized bases. The inlay was done with a router template/bushing set. The rails are also inlayed, but with three cherry stars (each side). Rails are attached to the bats with Rockler’s mortise rail set – it’s very sturdy.
The finish is water-based Poly.
I hope y'all like the bed. I’d be happy to answer any questions or critiques you might have. Lars
The bed is made of Hard Maple with Cherry inlays. All of the wood is from Kirkland Sawmill in Kirkland IL. Some of you might be familiar with this place because some of the old Badger Ponders had a gathering or two at the mill.
The head/foot boards all sit in dados in the bats. I made a ‘cradle’ to hold the bats while routing the dados. The molding on the head and foot board is solid with a ½” dado to fit over the head/foot board. The most difficult part of the project was figuring out how to hold the bent molding in place. I decided to notch (3/16"- oversized) each bat to lock the molding in place. Basically, I assembled the head/foot board and one bat. I then put one end of the molding into the assembly and bent it around (no steam or laminations) them clamped it in place. Finally, I put the other bat on and released the clamps. The notch in the bats holds the sprung molding in place. Pure genius if I must say so myself! ;)
The bats on the headboard sit on two turned balls – just to give them more height.
The foot board has a baseball diamond (to scale) inlayed in cherry. From a design perspective, I wish I didn’t do it to scale. I think it would have looked better with oversized bases. The inlay was done with a router template/bushing set. The rails are also inlayed, but with three cherry stars (each side). Rails are attached to the bats with Rockler’s mortise rail set – it’s very sturdy.
The finish is water-based Poly.
I hope y'all like the bed. I’d be happy to answer any questions or critiques you might have. Lars