Woodworking
Building the Stairs and Installation
Building the stairs With the main bunk bed complete, it was time to turn my attention to the stairs. For safety reasons, mom insisted the bunk bed have stairs instead of a ladder. The original design featured drawers on the end and paneled sides. Upon further reflection (and measuring) it was clear that this placement … Continue reading
The Back “X” and Top Bunk Safety Rails
In the last few weeks since my latest post, I’ve made significant progress on the bed. I applied the finish to the poplar parts and glued up the head and foot ends of the bed. At this point I was able to test-assemble the bed and give the kids a chance to take it for … Continue reading
Test Assembly and Finishing the Ends
Over the last couple weeks I’ve completed the construction of the side and end rails and cut the slats for supporting the mattresses. I also settled on somewhat novel connection hardware for the rails. Woodcraft sells a very inexpensive bed rail set bracket set that are nonetheless very sturdy and heavy duty. I’ve augmented the connection … Continue reading
A Bunk Bed for My Superheroes
UPDATE Based on some excellent feedback, I’ve made some changes to the design. The front rail was a bit troublesome from both a design and stability perspective. I’ve replaced it with 1-1/4″ tube steel posts extending from the head and foot of the top bunk, with angles that mimic the back “X”. UPDATED DESIGN … Continue reading
The Soundboard and Back
Back to work I took some time off guitar building to spruce up the shop and make some much needed improvements. Also, with the parents visiting for the week, the shop was occupied for a time with more pressing matters… Alterations This weekend I was finally ready to get back to the build. Since carving … Continue reading
Some Long Overdue Shop Upgrades
Although I’m rather anxious to make progress on the acoustic guitar project, the recent departure of a close family friend caused me to shift gears briefly to build them a going away present. During the glue-up process, I was frustrated by the lack of suitable bench space. My old glue up table was a $50 … Continue reading
Constructing the Frame and Panels
Birdseye Maple on Cherry The design for the top panel calls for birdseye maple. It seemed a shame to use my only piece of birdseye maple up on just one project. I decided to resaw the board. A few passes through my old Grizzly G1066 sander later and I had a beautiful 3/32″ sheet of … Continue reading
Puppet Theater
The other night my wife’s best friend’s daughter stopped by to help out with the kids while we ran some errands and completed some chores. She showed them a new game. They spent the evening in the basement hiding behind a blanket draped over a couple chairs, putting on puppet shows with the numerous dolls … Continue reading
DuPage Woodworkers Pay a Call
I had the distinct honor of hosting the DuPage Woodworkers as they toured my shop this past weekend. I had a great time talking about the shop and sharing ideas with the club members. I had a blast meeting you all! Thanks!
Framed!
It’s been a very busy past couple of months. I’ve built a couple more mantels that I still need to post some pics of and in my “day job” we’ve moved offices…which meant a great deal of planning and work on setting up a new server room. I also had the Woodcraft Magazine article matted. … Continue reading