I've moved my blog

I have moved my blog to https://moonlightwoodworker.wordpress.com.

As a Google user, the integration with other Google services and Blogger offers a few conveniences that other blog service do not, but I have always been frustrated with not being able to put pictures side by side using this platform. I've done it by editing HTML code, but that shouldn't be necessary. And while Wordpress doesn't do it natively either, I can at least create a picture gallery that does what I want. I've used the full version of Wordpress in the past and I may eventually go that route again, but for now the free Wordpress.com option is good.

So, if you wish to continue to follow my thoughts and pictures they can be viewed at the link above and will no longer continue to be published here.

I hope to see you there,

Jim

Making a king sized headboard - final

When I was purchasing the wood for this project over the summer the couple I visited asked me what I would be making as we started chatting about woodworking as a hobby. I mentioned fiddling with projects in my basement at night for a few hours a week and quipped that the headboard would probably be done around Christmas. It was placed in our bedroom on Dec 29th.

Making a king sized headboard - Part 5

With the frame and trim complete there are only a couple steps left. Namely, create the panel and apply finish. This may be over simplified. The panel includes a plywood back, furniture foam and vinyl. I'm thinking the panel assembly with be similar recovering a padded seat, which I've done. The finish will consist of stain and some form of a sealer, which I haven't settled on yet.

We hadn't yet decided on a color for the vinyl so I opted to do the stain. I went with Minwax's Red Oak hoping it matched the bedroom furniture. I chose the liquid version over the gel. I've found that the gel doesn't penetrate as well and is more of a mess than it is worth, especially if it is left to dry for too long while hoping time helps it seep in to the wood. Wiping on the liquid is quick and predictable.

Making a king sized headboard - Part 4

With the frame of the headboard assembled it was time to embellish and add the components that will tie the design to rest of the furniture in our bedroom. The original bedroom set included the headboard, two bureaus a mirror and night stand. The remaining pieces all have a similar profile at their top that includes a cap and angled molding. The angle is different on each piece but they all have the same structure.

The cap was easy, just a straight board ripped to length and width. The hardest part was dialing in the length and width, which had to over hang the molding equally on the front and sides by an eye pleasing and similar-to-the-existing-furniture amount. About half an inch, maybe a bit less.

I marked out the molding's profile on the end of a board and colored in the area to be kept.

Making a king sized head board - Part 3

I hadn't realized just how long it has been since I last updated the blog. To my loyal followers (both of you), I apologize. Progress has been slow but steady, and I found myself dragging my feet on some of the components I was less familiar with, afraid to mess up what I completed so far. The firsts on this project were cutting rabbets using a dado stack, making my own molding and cutting miters in that molding.

All of the joinery for the frame has been completed and much of it was cut by hand. With a few mortises under my belt I am becoming more comfortable with digging them out on the drill press and cleaning them up with chisels. I wussed out on the tenons and cut further away from the lines than I should have. This left lots of cleanup before final fitting.

Making a king sized head board - Part 2

I like working with rough lumber because I get more of a sense of freedom working with raw materials. I have the luxury of doing so mostly because I have a thickness planer, which doubles as a jointer when using a jig. I did not have that luxury this time around.

Local wood from a local sawyer

The time has come to build some new furniture for the new house. The item at the top of this list is a headboard. When we replaced our queen sized torture device with a king sized "sleep surface" the old head board went to the basement and eventually to craigslist.

The bedroom set is craftsman style made of a feau oak (foak?). Regardless, it looks nice, is damn heavy and we have no intention of replacing it. I'm the only one who notices the long grain where there should be end grain on the tops of the night stands and dressers.