Replies

1. 
   MikeHennessy | Jul 15, 2009 04:07pm | #1

   I like the design, tho' I'd make the box springs rest on cross-wise slats mounted as near the bottom of the rails as possible. IMHO, mounting the box springs higher than necessary detracts from the design of the bed and makes it look like some wood wrapped around a matress set.

   Also, I didn't open the measurements, so I don't know what thickness you're using, but I'd suggest at least 5/4 for the rails.

   How are you doing the lizard inlay?

   Mike Hennessy
   Pittsburgh, PA
   Everything fits, until you put glue on it.

1. 
   Michael503 | Jul 15, 2009 04:17pm | #3

   There will be no box spring, just a mattress and lots of slats. my mattress set has a support frame that is not in the least bit springy. My mattress is 11" tallI just edited the first post to indicate this.Edited 7/15/2009 9:21 am ET by Michael666

   Edited 7/15/2009 9:37 am ET by Michael666

1. 
   MikeHennessy | Jul 15, 2009 04:48pm | #7

   With no box spring, I'd be tempted to just use plywood (with holes drilled for ventilation) instead of slats. If you need additional support in the middle, you can fasten a tapered rib to the underside, but you may not need it. I've done that successfully in the past when "renovating" an old rope-sprung bed.

   I've used both walnut and cocobolo for inlay (and mortise pegs) on cherry and have been pleased with the results.Mike HennessyPittsburgh, PAEverything fits, until you put glue on it.

2. 
   Michael503 | Jul 15, 2009 04:34pm | #4

   I have to use 4/4 -4.5/4 for the rails because that's what I've got.
   There will be lots of slats and I will probably double thickness the rails below the slats. There might be 2 center rails, depending on slat thickness and flex. I would opt for 1 center rail but it might interfere with the 3 thru mortises at the bottom of the footboard which are complimentary to my dresser
   I have to work with what I have and I've got a butt-load of cherry, just not good cherry. I had to sort thru about 1K board feet in my lumber pile to get the pieces for this project and what I have will have to have defects filled.I have not settled on a plan for the inlay. I did some light research on bolection inlay, but it appears to be beyond my skill set. I may try an dyed epoxy inlay, or I may experiment with the small amount of ebony I have. I'm open to suggestions. I really would like it to stand proud of the surface a bit. The lizard in the design is from a tattoo I found on the net that I photoshopped for the bed design phase. It may and probably will be different, but it will still be a lizard.

1. 
   daverichards | Jul 15, 2009 04:39pm | #6

   I think the lizard done in ebony with a slight pillowing effect would be cool. Or you could fill epoxy with graphite to make it black and do a similar thing. Would the lizard be carved into a panel applied to or let into the slat or would it be carved directly into the slat?

1. 
   Michael503 | Jul 16, 2009 02:28am | #10

   The lizard will be carved into the slat. I have found that tempera powder makes an excellent colorant. I little bit of black makes a translucent black filler for defects and looks great in cherry. To much and it looks plastic, a little bit of translucency helps blend the filler with the wood color underneath. I have considered trying this with chunks of something less subtle that can be sanded, such as crushed pipe stone or terracotta, and then sanding the high spots down to give it a multicolored surface, like reptile scales. I'm still batting ideas around though.

3. 
   Michael503 | Aug 19, 2009 07:06pm | #16

   I think I'm gonna go with your plywood and holes idea. The more I fool with this, the better I like it.
   What hole size did you use and what kind of spacing?

1. 
   MikeHennessy | Aug 19, 2009 07:12pm | #17

   Hmmm. It's been years since I did this. It was a single bed that had originally had rope "springs" to hold up the matress. I attached a ledger to the rail and dropped in a sheet of 3/4" ply. I just drilled holes with whateve the largest bit I had on hand was -- prolly around 1", spaced about every foot.

   Hope that helps.Mike HennessyPittsburgh, PAEverything fits, until you put glue on it.

1. 
   Michael503 | Aug 19, 2009 07:25pm | #18

   yes it does, thanks

1. 
   Michael503 | Aug 20, 2009 04:19am | #19

   Update.Well tomorrow morning, I apply the first coat of finish to this project. It will be mostly finished prior to assembly. To those who were interested in the lizard inlay, I have posted some pics. I settled for flush vs pillowed for 2 reasons. Its easier to do and I won't run my knuckles over it every night (I sleep on my arm a lot)
   I used a dremel class tool with a flex shaft and a variety of bits to "carve" the cavities and a 30 minute epoxy dyed with india ink and mixed with cherry wood flour. I used Inlace granules and nuggets to add color. My first attempt resulted in so much air being included that I was forced to carve it out again and redo it. Mixing in the granules added to much air to the mix and thickened it so that it would not flow. Even so, I still had to repair the inlay due to air inclusion. Using ink vs tempera powder increased the opacity of the epoxy, but it has a tendency to bleed (see the tip of the tail)
   The inlay should get darker and the colors should pop more with the first coat of finish.

   
2. 
   daverichards | Jul 15, 2009 04:14pm | #2

   Looks interesting. Needs slats to support the mattress of course. I look forward to seeing some photos of the bed.

   BTW, your model could use a wee bit of help. If you're interested, I'll share with you.

1. 
   Michael503 | Jul 15, 2009 04:35pm | #5

   sure, thats why I posted it :)thanks

1. 
   daverichards | Jul 15, 2009 04:54pm | #8

   I tagged the things I've seen so far in the attached SKP file. In addition, you might consider applying the materials to the faces of the components instead of the component "wrappers". This will do two things. first, you only need to apply the material to one instance of each component. Second, it'll allow you the option to correct the grain orientation. As it is, it appears that the grain runs the short direction on all of the horizontal members in the frame. I'd scale the cherry texture down to maybe 24" square, too.I don't know if this is intentional or due to Precision being too coarse but the headboard is 65 11/16" wide at the bottom of the legs. From the outside corner of the headboard (again, at the foot) to the outside corner of the foot board leg is 85 11/64"The file is attached twice. Once before and once after purging unused stuff. You can see the difference in the file size. Purging eliminated 11 components, 2 materials and a style. There are several styles used in the model because I changed them for the scenes I made. With the scenes and the extra styles removed the file size is even smaller.

1. 
   Michael503 | Jul 16, 2009 02:21am | #9

   Thanks for the tips!I don't use Sketchup much and if I make a mistake, I usually don't catch it until its too late to fix it easily. I always have some face thats 1/16" out of line with another one over the pieces longest dimension, probably cause by me.I am aware if some small distance discrepancies between the head and the foot and of the missing faces, I'm just to lazy to fix them since I know what to cut and where :)This drawing is for my use and not for show to a client (I am not a professional), and its dimensions are double checked by me as I cut and fit them, so something being a wee bit outa wack is not a huge issue. I know what I'm gonna round and where and that may change a bit as I assemble it. So far I have designed and built 2 pieces using Sketchup and I have a rough drawing for a third, which I may not ever build (conceptual drawing for a sweater closet w/3 drawers)If you like I can upload the other pieces, they have the same craftsman feel. The dresser is in the readers gallery.I use Sketchup so I can walk around the piece and get a feel for the overall aesthetics. I move this and that a little bit here and there until I like the proportions. I tend to fill in the construction details such as drawers and mortise and tenons as I build.

1. 
   daverichards | Jul 16, 2009 04:05pm | #11

   I'm interested to see how your lizard turns out. I think it'll be a nice detail.As for your SketchUp models, as long as you get out of them what you need, there's not much reason to do more. I think it is possible to go a little overboard in modeling detail (screw threads or maybe even screws on some models would be overkill) and, in my mind, that's a waste of time. On the other hand, I think it is easier to draw if the drawing is accurate and precise. Fortunately this isn't difficult to do if you set Precision as fine as possible. Its much the same as when working in wood. It's much easier to fit joints when you're working with straight and square stock. (Imagine cutting the shoulder of a tenon to fit tightly against a live edge.)In the end, you should do what you need to do to get the information required to move on with the project.I wouldn't mind seeing your other models if you want to post them.Dave

2. 
   Michael503 | Jul 17, 2009 03:16am | #12

   OK, here's all I have. The dresser and the bookcase are finished, the tallcased cabinet may never be built, since our plans for the room have changed and my wife has finally cooled on the idea of a case with a door to put sweaters in. She originally wanted one of those trendy doors in the dresser that took up loads of space and was useless to store anything in. I talked her into a second cabinet (the tall one). I hate HGTV!I have photos of the dresser, but the bookcase is in the hall and its too dark for my camera right now. I did not install drawer handles on the bookcase drawers, but I may make something from ebony just to impart some color. I finished it several years ago and it has become quite dark. The bookcase plan is full of errors, I barely used it to build it.You can see pics of the dresser here.
   http://finewoodworking.taunton.com/item/9311/cherry-dresserBTW, how did you weed out the useless components from my bed plan, is there a feature that does that?Michael

   Edited 7/16/2009 8:17 pm ET by Michael666

3. 
   daverichards | Jul 17, 2009 03:32am | #13

   Hi Michael,

   I'll take a look at those files as soon as I get a moment.

   As far as purging the unused components goes, you can do it a couple of ways. One is to open the Components browser and do it there.

   View Image

   Click on the drop down arrow (blue circle) and choose In Model. Then click on the Details arrow (red circle) to get the flyout menu.

   View Image

   Click on Purge Unused. (highlighted in yellow here) If it is not greyed out as it is in my screen grab, there are unused components in the In Model component library.

   You can do similar things for Styles and Materials as well.

   It can also be done from the Statistics window. I use a plugin for which I have a keyboard shortcut assigned. The plugin gives a report after purging to tell me how much stuff was removed. For the plugin see my latest post on the Design. Click. Build. blog here on the site.

   Dave

4. 
   Michael503 | Jul 17, 2009 03:40am | #14

   Thanks! I haven't explored the guts of the program, only enough to do the basics

   Edited 7/16/2009 8:56 pm ET by Michael666

3. 
   AZMO | Jul 17, 2009 03:38pm | #15

   Love the design, very nice. I would only comment on where you or your clients feet go. Being over 6' tall, my feet have always dangled over the mattress end. I have never really liked sleeping on a bed with a rail at the bottom. Might be good to verify that first, so the bed is really apprieciated. I would definately double the side rails up, it is a bed after all.....and not a meditation spot.

                     

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