I made this bed as part of a woodworking class held in Hertford, NC. The school, Ben Hobb’s Fine Woodworking, holds a variety of classes for those who want to extend their skills (you do need some woodworking proficiency), and you come away with a piece of furniture whose quality is entirely up to you.
I thought it was about time to replace our 24 year old metal frame bed and wanted to make something I would be proud of. I’m glad I did. This bed, predominately made with Mahogany, not only looks good, but is solid and, as anyone who’s done fine woodwork knows, has that warm luscious feeling – something I can touch every evening when I go to bed.
The mahogany was dyed with a water based aniline dye and then covered with multiple coats of Danish Oil, each coat rubbed in and polished, with a final coat of paste wax to protect it.
I learned to use all sorts of hand tools in this school so, with both the bed and the new skills, it was quite a bargain!
PencilPostBed
[img src=https://tomstudwell.com/wordpress/wp-content/flagallery/pencilpostbed/thumbs/thumbs_img_2350.jpg]850Here we are at school.
Only two other students were there and they were husband and wife, building one bed for themselves.
[img src=https://tomstudwell.com/wordpress/wp-content/flagallery/pencilpostbed/thumbs/thumbs_img_2364.jpg]660Here is my bed being dry fit next to the Instructor's.
I'm pretty pleased that there's no apparent difference between them![img src=https://tomstudwell.com/wordpress/wp-content/flagallery/pencilpostbed/thumbs/thumbs_img_2368.jpg]580The pieces, after dying, waiting to dry.
[img src=https://tomstudwell.com/wordpress/wp-content/flagallery/pencilpostbed/thumbs/thumbs_img_3240.jpg]520The post was one piece octagonal taper meeting the main part of the post with a "Lamb's Tongue" transition.
[img src=https://tomstudwell.com/wordpress/wp-content/flagallery/pencilpostbed/thumbs/thumbs_img_3225.jpg]480We turned our own finial's.
This is the first time I've ever done turning and was very pleased that all four finials actually matched![img src=https://tomstudwell.com/wordpress/wp-content/flagallery/pencilpostbed/thumbs/thumbs_img_3232.jpg]420Detail showing the headboard joining the post.
[img src=https://tomstudwell.com/wordpress/wp-content/flagallery/pencilpostbed/thumbs/thumbs_img_3233.jpg]400I love the WIDE Mahogany planks!
Had to flatten this with hand planes, it was too wide for the thickness plane![img src=https://tomstudwell.com/wordpress/wp-content/flagallery/pencilpostbed/thumbs/thumbs_img_3235.jpg]370Another view of the headboard.
[img src=https://tomstudwell.com/wordpress/wp-content/flagallery/pencilpostbed/thumbs/thumbs_img_3243.jpg]380
I took a class with Ben too, he’s great isn’t he. Your bed looks awesome, you should be proud.
Thank you for the kind remarks. Yes, Ben is quite a character… Did you make the bed too or something else?
Tom
I made the Queen Anne chair. Here is a link to a post by the other student in class with some pictures of his chair. http://www.ncwoodworker.net/forums/showthread.php?t=53884
Very nice work! Thanks for commenting and including the link! I’ll have to check out the ncwoodworker forum since I’m back in NC now.
Did you bend the backsplat (Lumbar support curve) or cut it to shape on the bandsaw?
Tom
We cut them with the bandsaw out of a 2 inch thick slab. We could get two out of each slab.
Thanks! Makes sense, the wood was probably kiln dried so wouldn’t bend very much (if at all) and I doubt Ben does any bent laminations
Tom