I am building a bed frame and have a design question. I am building the bed with Mahogany with mostly clear straight grain. When looking for the wood I found some boards with some interesting grain pattern and want to incorporate them into the project. I have attached a picture of the crude drawing.
The top and bottom rails of course have grain running horizontally and the area with the question mark is where I wanted to add the wood with the interesting grain. The rails will be 1 ¾” thick, the panel will be ¾” thick and the posts 4” square.
Finally the question: I wanted to leave the panel board basically uncut but that would mean having the grain run the same direction as the rails. I am just not sure the final project will look good or if is breaking any basic design rules. Also I was afraid if I cut the boards and place them vertically side-by-side the inconsistency of the grain would make the panel look too busy. Any comments or suggestion welcome.
Replies
Starrman,
Can't you just roughly assemble and clamp the panel in place to see what it looks like before you make your decision? Also, is your drawing of the head or foot board?...and what will the other piece look like? Lastly, is the panel veneer?
BG thanks for the reply. The picture I attached is actually the footboard, but the headboard will be the same only the panel will be 2-3 times wider. Clamping them together is a good idea; I will have to try that. Both panels are solid, not veneer.
I guess it would have been good to put some dimensions on the picture. The bottom rail will be 6” and the top 3’ at center and 6” at the ends. The panel will be 6-9” wide for the footboard and 18-24” for the headboard.
Horizontal would look fine IMHO. I am also curious as to whether that is a picture of the foot or headboard. I you were to cutr the board and run the grain vertically I would install stiles between each panel rather than glue them together. Less wood movement issues that way.
Thanks Tom for the reply. The picture I attached is actually the footboard, but the headboard will be the same only the panel will be 2-3 times wider. I am going to clamp them together like BG suggested and see how it looks.
If I were to place them vertically I thought about re-sawing each panel piece and book match them, using stiles between each panel section. The only problem with that idea is the panel material will only be 3/8 inch thick at best. With the bottom and top rail being 1 ¾” thick I think it would look funny with such a thin panel.
Decisions, decisions, decisions……
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