Pencil Post Bed

[Jack Hogoboom]

My wife is after me to build a new, larger pencil post bed. I've seen a few designs and it is pretty obvious (even to me) that the bulk of the effort is in the posts. I'm nervouse about my ability to properly taper an 80" long post.

I'd sure appreciate hearing from anyone who has a simple, safe and effective way to do it.

Thanks,

Jack

[Carl Eyman]

Norm had one about a dozen years ago. His jig was good. The plans he provides show how. I believe the WWII blade I have now would do even better than the blade I used then, though I thought things came out OK. The problem was when cutting the final tapers the piece was not supported by the table, but by screws holding the piece on centers. The long piece tended to vibrate up and down as the blade cut it. Thus the first tapers cut while there was stock left to suport it down to the table came out ok. The last tapers were not supported and weren't as true. I've had no complaints from my gdaughter for whom I made the bed. Now that she is off to college I've slept in it once or twice and I slept well. I did learn I could do a lot of good taping the cut offs back on the piece. All and all I think Nahm did an OK job.

[Roger Myers]

One of our guild members had a demo on how he does this...made a carrier (or sled) that held the post and also runs along the bandsaw fence. Cut, index and turn the post, cut, index and turn...repeat for each side. Then he finished by cleaning up with a few passes with a hand plane. Really worked slick and was very repeatable. I've got pics somewhere if this isn't clear...
Roger

[Jason Tuinstra]

Jack, you can check out FWW magazine's archives or books from the local library. I know that CH Bechskvoort built one that was published. He used a couple different jigs that he outlines in the article. Hope this helps.

[Ernie Hobbs]

Cutting tapers on a tall pencil post is fairly simple. Mark your tapers on four sides, then cut with the band saw (leave 6 inches or so at bottom so piece doesn't come off. Then with all four sides cut, finish the job with a draw knife.

Here is a picture of the bed I made for my daughter a few years ago. Let me know if you'd like more detail on the exact steps. The only jig you need is a block on the workbench to use your drawknife.

[Jim Barrett]

Hey Jack,

I built a PP bed and matching night stands about 15 yrs ago out of cherry. The posts were not too bad, I tapered using a bandsaw and finished with a scraper and sanding block. Building the smaller pencil post night stands gave me some practice for the longer bed posts.

Ernie, love the detail on your posts, very nice!!:)

Jim

[Steve Inniss]

Jack,
If you have a bandsaw, Nick Engler designed a jig to do the pencil posts. It presents the stock at a slight angle and lets you rotate 45 degrees for each.
I can scan it for you - just pm me. -Steve

[Jack Hogoboom]

Steve,

If you tell me where it is, I can probably find it. I have a pretty extensive library.

Thanks to all for the helpful responses.

Jack

[Jim Barrett]

I did a search and found the 6/2002 issue of Popular Woodworking has the jig that Nick Engler came up with. I do not have that issue :(
Good Luck!

Jim

[Steve Inniss]

Steve,

If you tell me where it is, I can probably find it. I have a pretty extensive library.

Thanks to all for the helpful responses.

Jack

Jack,
The book is called Weekend Projects Plus ISBN 0-87596-785-X