Replies

1. 
   Kell | Aug 28, 2002 05:15pm | #1

   Hey Mike,

   I made a bed similar to this about 8 years ago.  It's very similar to the one done by Norm Abram in one of his books.  To make the first set of tapers, I made a jig to cut them on the table saw.  The jig rides the rip fence and holds the stock at each end, tilted to cut the proper taper.  For the chamfers that create the octogonal shape, I used the same jig with the stock turned at 45 degrees to the first four cuts.  The chamfers require you to stop the cut just above the spot they emerge from the wood and turn off the saw.  I then used a 45 degree jig to hold the stock and finish the cut on the band saw.

   The info on how to build the jig can be gotten either in Norm's book or through the New Yankee web site, http://www.newyankee.com.

   Hope this helps.

   Kell

2. 
   WilliamHF | Aug 29, 2002 06:00am | #2

   I suggest that you buy a copy of Carlyle Lynch's Plans for the Pencil Post Bed. He describes how to make the 8 sided posts very well. I made his Pencil Post Bed back in 1991.

   Lynch's plans are advertised by some  company or other in the smaller classified adv.'s in the back pages of Fine Woodworking Mag. The company is in Texas as I recall it.

   Carlyle is deceased now. He was a very able man. He helped you personally by mail or phone if you needed any help.

   William

   I make something, sometimes twice, each year.
1. 
   oxmach | Aug 29, 2002 08:09pm | #3

   As I recall, Carlyle Lynch's plans for an 8 sided pencil post bed, are in "the Best of Fine Woodworking- traditional furniture projects".  This is available from Taunton's online store.

   View Image

   View Image

   Traditional Furniture ProjectsDesign, proportion and techniqueFine Woodworking magazineMore Info…$15.95

   Greg

2. 
   mikeh92 | Aug 30, 2002 04:53pm | #4

   William  being new to the forum I happen to look for past comments on tapering pencil posts and found your recommendation on tapering the posts.That sounds like the best way for me to achieve the look I want.I have just one question , when you start the taper on the post are you starting on the tip of the post or  where the taper starts from the base. I am also putting a lambs tounge finish at the point where the taper meets the base, I assume that is best done by hand filing and sandpaper.If I use tape to mark the tip of the taper I assume that this portion of the post that does not get tapered willget cut off therefore the post should be made a few inches longer.   thanks for the help  Mikeh

1. 
   WilliamHF | Aug 30, 2002 10:49pm | #5

   The Carlyle Lynch Pencil Post Bed's Posts have a double taper. By that I mean that at floor level, the bottom end of the post is 2" square. It is not octagonal in cross section.

   At about 24" above the floor the Front Posts post begin their octagonal shape. That is to say, the Front Posts are tapered but square in cross section from floor level up to a height of about 24".  At 24" above the floor level, the Front Posts are tapered from a cross sectional 2 3/4" square. At the top of the Front Posts, the post is 1 9/16" from front to back and from side to side. The Front Posts are also fluted as well as octagonal. Every other surface, as one moves about the octagonal beginning of the taper at 24" above floor level, begins with a curved area 1 3/4" long. Perhaps this is the "lamb's tongue" beginning of every other surface to which you've alluded.

   The bottom 24" of the C. Lynch Pencil Post bed is tapered from below upward and is square in cross section. (That doesn't mean you taper on the jointer from smaller to larger width.)

   From 24" upward, the cross section of the Front Posts are Octagonal, with a longitudinal flute in each surface. The taper begins at the 24" level and continues all the way to the top of the Post.

   The Posts are 84" tall.

   The Back/Rear Posts are very similar but they are not fluted.

   There are a couple ways to easily do the lamb's tongue effect. Do what's comfortable for you---it's the end result that counts. Nowadays I'd use a knife, a gouge, files and paper to achieve the effect. I'd probably draw the shape of the "tongue" on the material, score the line with a sharp fine knife and use a good carving knife or a gouge, traveling with the grain after incising the tip of the tongue so as not to fracture it off at the last effort. If you have a good fret saw with a fine blade you could saw the piece out, file, sand etc.

   Short and sweet:  Begin the taper at the fattest part of the Post. If you begin there on the jointer and the grain just seems not to want to come off smoothly, reverse the work and  run the cut in the opposite direction. Still, honor your beginning and ending marks. The wood'll tell you what to do.

   When tapering stuff now, sometimes I work a bit differently than formerly. I make sure I know what the finish dimension of a leg or post is. I start where I'm supposed to, make shallow cuts,  and, presuming it's a four sided leg and I'm tapering all four sides, I just run the first four jointer passes and measure what I've got at the small end of the proposed taper. I keep making shallow passes. When I reach the dimension that I aimed for at the small end of the taper, I quit.

   Good luck; enjoy your time in the shop. Every day is a learning experience.

   William

   I make something, sometimes twice, each year.