King size bed with rice posts

[Jerry Bittner]

I've acquired from Adams Wood the four rice posts I plan to use for the construction of my daughter's king size bed. The posts are made in three sections, the bottom square is no problem for the rails. But the middle section is round decorated with carvings -- all very beautiful but creating a nightmare for me trying to figure out how I will make mortise joints in the middle section to accept the head board.
You can get an idea of the dimensions of the post from the supplier but in the main, the base section is 3 1/2 inches square and the round section varies.
https://www.adamswoodproducts.com/configure.asp?cat=42



Any information or sources to refer to would be appreciated.

[David Keller NC]

Depends - One solution is simply not to mortise the head-board at two locations per side. There's a possibility that the headboard will warp through seasonal humidity changes, but you could control that by making two sliding-dovetail battens that fit on the back of the headboard. I've seen "rice beds" constructed this way, and they seem quite sturdy.

If you decide you need a top mortise into the middle section, I would make a cradle out of very soft wood - basswood or eastern white pine would be suitable candidates, and after using some carving gouges to make the cradle surface match the carved surface to increase the surface area and decrease the force on a specific area of the carving, I'd band-clamp the cradle to the post. I'd then use a drill to waste most of the mortise (using mortise chisels might break the back side of the carving from the force of mallet blows), then carefully pare it true with hand pressure only.

By the way - it occurs to me that you might want to call the company you purchased the posts from; it's unlikely that you're the first that's run into this situation, and they've probably got some good advice for you.

[Jamie Buxton]

I'd build a wooden U-channel to enclose the post where I want to make the mortises. I'd wedge and clamp the post into the U-channel so it doesn't move while I'm working on it. The I'd use an edge-guided router to mill the mortise. The router would sit on the open side of the U-channel, and be guided by the side of the U-channel.

Can you tell me why those posts are called rice posts? I was expecting a pic of a post made with little grains of cereal.