I’m not an expert here, but have been building a reclaimed barn wood bed frame. Ready for mortise and tenon work, but I’m stuck with the posts. These are the only purchased items, 6×6 cedar cut at the yard. I have hand planed and lightly sanded, but when I clamp 2 of them in a Jawhorse, evened them up, the lengths are the same, but they are not flat and square. They need to be for a rail to sit on top of them.
I have a band saw with a 1 inch blade, but am not sure a side support table will be the answer. I have an older Delts 8 inch jointer, though, and thought that I could clamp 2 pieces together and run the tops through in tandem, keeping them as plumb as possible. But the weight is a concern.
Any thoughts on how I might square and flatten? I am sure that there is a simpler approach that I’m not seeing.
Thanks very much.
Replies
Cedar Post
Hi,
Biggest issue now is probably how dry, or more likely how wet, your cedar 6x6s are. For what ever reason, cedar tends to show up at the lumber yard soaking wet. 1 inch boards tend to dry out fairly quickly, maybe a month or so, but a 6x6 will take quite some time to dry out. Even fresh out of the kiln, at best it was only dried to 12%. Until most of the post gets to your ambient moisture it may keep moving and possibly cracking. Also, how straight the grain is will affect how straight or bowed the posts end up, same with the location of the pith.
After your cedar is dry...
How long are your posts and where are the mortices going and what type are they (through, partial, shouldered, haunched, etc)? That will affect the ways to cut them.
One last thing on the reclaimed barn wood for the bed, make sure there isn't any lead paint or critters in them:)
barnwood bed
Thanks for the reply.
These have straight grain, haven't used a moisture meter, but seem quite dry compared to some other stock (3x8 we were using for a pergola). No lead paint, and critters will die from all the poly embedding them if there are any left after all the prep and high pressure air blasts.
I don't mind cracks, as these will be fine aesthetically, as long as not structurally.
The foot board posts are 36 inches, headboard 48 inches.
Partial shouldered 2 inch tenons for the two horizontal barnboards (see photo). Mortices into the inside of the posts. Countersunk timber screws down through the top flat grain elevator boards into the posts with proud plugs.
Assuming they are reasonably dry after months in my shop, what would be the best approach to finishing the ends?
dry vs. DRY
Remember, the rule of thumb for air drying is one year per inch of thickness. Until the centers of your 6x6s are as dry as the surfaces, you won't really know what the wood is going to do.
Cedar posts
With 6 in thick wood, a moisture meter won't do much good before you cut it; the moisture you would need to worry about is too deep in the board. The concern here is that the center could be way wetter than the outside.
1 inch per year of thickness is a general rule for air drying wood, but it tends to apply best to hardwood that is an inch thick. Cedar dries fairly fast compared to most woods. Also, if the wood was kiln dried (and not left to soak in the rain, why they kiln dry wood and then leave it out in the rain is beyond me), the moisture content might not be too bad. The only way you will know is when you cut into the wood, which brings us to...
Cutting the posts. Easiest way is probably to use a circular saw with a fence clamped or screwed to the board on all four sides. Use a sharp blade with a good number of teeth, maybe not a plywood blade but something closer to trim. Mark all the way around the board for the cut, and measure back for the fence, mark it and attach it, and feed a little bit on the slow side, as the cedar tends to chip. If it binds or stinks bad, the wood is still too wet. If the blade doesn't go all the way through, you can finish it with a Swede saw, band saw, or panel saw.
Since you don't have a way of knowing the moisture content when you first cut, you will need to cut the board long -- with an 8 ft post needing to be 3 and 4 feet that should not be a problem -- after you make the cut, see what the board feels and smells like in the center. You sound like you know what to look for. Either way, leave the post for a couple weeks after the cut and see what it looks like and how it has moved. Make the final cut when it seems like the wood has settled down (or you can't wait any longer; cedar is a bit forgiving).
For the mortices, consider pinning them with a couple dowels. Cedar is pretty stable, but there is no guarantee that you won't get a split passing through a mortice, plus sometimes cedar doesn't take glue well.
Good luck on the bed, it looks like it could double as a tornado shelter:)
Cedar posts
Thanks very much for the advice.
The 4 posts were already cut by the supplier. I need to trim the least amount to square off and flatten the tops. The cabinet saw might work, except for the center. Hand sawing the center absolutely flush with the outside cuts would be ideal. This sounds a bit more sane than balancing the posts on end in the jointer.
Bring the dowels in from behind, so they are hidden? Adding dowels is a great idea!
Didn't know that cedar doesn't glue well. Try Gorilla or epoxy?
Tornado shelter is a good idea if I were skinny enough to fit underneath. But might need dedicated footings under the cabin.
The barn wood looks great after the screws and nails are found and removed, some filler and some light sanding. Good stain and clear coat, and it has real character. But I missed one small bit of screw shank, and the planer blades got nailed. No fun replacing. Just got the Makita slow speed horizontal wet sharpener to brighten the day.
THanks again.
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