walnut wrap bed

[Thomas S Stockton]

Chris Padilla ask that I put this up after I answered a question in another section. The bed is a california king size and is made of eastern walnut and walnut burl veneers. The only solid wood is edgebanding, the top beading and the feet. The first step was to flatten the burls. The sheets were then bookmatched and taped together and the crossbanding was fit.
Thomas S Stockton

[Thomas S Stockton]

These shots are of the panel after it comes out of the press ready to be shaped and of fitting the wrapped corners to the footboard.
Tom

[Thomas S Stockton]

Here is a detail shot of the corner and of the blank I made to turn the foot I messed up the first ones and had to remake them things always go much faster the second time. After bandsawing round the blank just cleared my lathe bed by 1/8" with the tool rest assembly removed.
Tom

[Thomas S Stockton]

The bed was so big that I only assembled it in my shop once after all the work was done. The last shot is of the burl finished but not rubbed out yet there is so much action and different things going on, it's pretty cool.
Tom

[Thomas S Stockton]

So I deliver the bed to the client in Oakland CA and he asks if theres any burl left and I said yes there are 6 sheets so he says how about a matching coffee table, No problem. The coffee table has ebony inlay instead of walnut beading in the top. The final pic is a little weird because I was taking test shots and hadn't dusted it when my camera broke so this is what I have.
Tom

[Carl Hill]

Wow Thomas, that is amazing.

[Dewey Torres]

Alright Tom... now that's what I'm talking about. Great commission and beautiful work. What was the most difficult part out of the two projects?

[Jim Becker]

Outstanding veneer work!

[John Thompson]

Excellent workman-ship and design...

Sarge..

[Guy Germaine]

I QUIT! :eek:

That absolutely beautiful. Great work.

[Brent Smith]

That is beautiful work Thomas!!!!! May I ask where you found those beautiful sheets of veneer?

[Rob Cunningham]

Amazing bed and table. Your craftsmanship is outstanding.

[Barry Bruner]

Very interesting post, and really outstanding work. Barry Bruner

[Don Bullock]

Thomas, those are beautiful. Thanks for sharing.

[Brett Nelson]

Thomas,

Thanks so much for posting this amazing work.

I have a question regarding the combination of the table and bed. I noticed that you changed the direction of the wood grain on the table vs. the footboard/headboard. Was this a concious design choice, or so that you didn't have to band the end grain around the table top?

[Brett Nelson]

What did you use as a core for the veneers?

[Thomas S Stockton]

Sorry for not replying earlier but I'm on vacation for the holidays. The bed and coffee table were actually pretty straight forward, but the hardest part was probably fitting the curved section and applying the beading to it.
Tom

[Thomas S Stockton]

Yes changing the grain direction was on purpose. The reason was that a book match worked best with the bed design and the coffee table top is a 4 way match. The pieces were done to complement each other but neccesarly be an exact match in the design department.
Tom

[Thomas S Stockton]

The core for the bed was 2 layers of 1/2" apple ply to make a 1" thick core and the coffee table was veneered onto high quality 3/4" plywood
Tom

[Derek Stevens]

Beautiful work, Thomas. simply beautiful.

[Glenn Lewis]

wow... this is one of those posts that either inspires me to work to improve my own skill, or discourages me that i will probably never be this good! i can't decide which, but i'm glad you posted it anyway... :)