What I gave my wife...

[Steve Vaughan]

I know, no pictures, it didn't happen. The fact is, it hasn't...yet. I've given my wife a bunch of board feet of mahogany to make her (well, us) a queen size poster bed. The bedposts will be turned and as close as I can to copy the original bed that my late uncle made for my mama about 40 years ago. My Uncle Mac made custom mahogany furniture FOREVER. When he died in 97 at 95 years old, he was still 2 years behind in orders!

I did get some bowl sanding sets, but my real Christmas will be making this bed on the lathe and being able to copy my uncle. It don't get much better than that right there! And, I will post pictures just as soon as they become available, but don't wait up for 'em!:D

[Roger Chandler]

Look forward to seeing your work on this bed Steve.............that sounds like a project that would be right up my alley! It will be a labor of love............probably will become a family heirloom as well. Where did you locate the Mahogany.......in the Richmond area?

You might ought to see if someone in your area has a duplicator, especially if it is a 4 poster, bed. Of course close work with a caliper and meticulous attention to the coves and bead diameters might get you close without one.

[Steve Vaughan]

I going down to NC this week to Steve Wall Lumber in Mayodan. He usually stocks really nice wood at the best prices. There's a great supplier here in Richmond that also carries nice wood, and will even let you pick through the stack, but their prices tend to be steep.

No duplicator on this deal. My uncle didn't use one, so I'm not either! I figure they'll be far enough apart to not tell the difference. I'll be going back to mama's house again this week and taking measurements and pictures. Should be a fun process.

[Roger Chandler]

Steve.........

If you could take with you a good contour gauge, then you could get the exact curves on the post and cove, bead combinations. I have two of them, one with metal fingers, which is about 8 inches long and another that is 12 inches long and has plastic fingers............let me tell you, for a project like this, one of these would be invaluable. You can get them online or from some hardware stores. I like the plastic one better myself and it covers a wider section of a post when putting it together on a drawing or a template.

Take a look!

http://www.google.com/search?q=contour+gauge&hl=en&client=firefox-a&hs=nV1&rls=org.mozilla:en-US:official&prmd=imvns&source=univ&tbm=shop&tbo=u&ei=_t33TvmTMonr0gGNuvC1Ag&sa=X&oi=product_result_group&ct=image&resnum=1&ved=0CH8QzAMwAA&biw=1280&bih=885

[Steve Schlumpf]

Steve - sounds like a fun project! Looking forward to seeing the photos!

[Nate Davey]

Can't wait for this to start, going to subscribe and follow.

[Ralph Lindberg]

I gave my wife a Jet 1220VS... Honestly, it was what she wanted. She got a set of tools for her birthday, and she was thrilled.

Of course that was not all she got, but the fact remains, she is as vortex drawn as me