Tornado Bed: I run into a problem

With construction complete, it is time to get ready for stain. Here I have just applied a coat of pre-color conditioner.

Finally, this project, which started in May, is coming to a close. Construction is complete on the Tornado Bed (or at least I thought it was - read on). I added the last of the pins for the mortise and tenon joints Friday evening. It was good to think that I would be putting away tools like my drill for the last time on this project.

This week was basically a repeat of the steps I took in my last post, except I worked on the head board this time and fine tuned my process for eliminating drill tear out. In case you missed last weeks post, the process looked similar to this…

My drill bit is just barely long enough to go all the way through the posts. So, I have added some painters tape to protect the soft pine from the spinning drill chuck (which can leave a nice circular scar around the opening - note the hole on the left). Also I have clamped a backer board securely in place to minimize tear out.

Pins which are quarter inch oak dowels are driven into place. There was still a little tear out around the holes. I wonder if this is just hard to control in a soft wood like pine? Maybe some higher quality drill bits like these would help?

The view after cutting the pins flush and sanding the post smooth.

With the end of construction comes final preparation for the finish, and this means a lot of sanding. In general, I think that like 95% of woodworkers dislike sanding. But it is a necessary evil. I try to make the best of it with fresh paper in my sander and I also have plenty of 320 and 400 grit paper at the ready for final hand sanding.

The problem
After applying a coat of Charles Neil's Pre-Color Conditioner, I begin to lay down some stain. Since I am staining pine, I keep my fingers crossed for good luck. Everything goes well until I get to the finials. See the pic below...

I stain two finials and find that they look horrible. Let's just say I have a thing or two to learn about applying conditioner to end grain.

The one on the right is particularly bad - note the lighter triangle coloring in the upper right of the finial. These two finials are now basically trash, and fortunately I did not proceed further with the remaining two un-stained finials.

This coloring is after one coat of conditioner and one coat of stain. I knew that the end grain would be darker, but since this is the first project I have used this new conditioner on, I did not know how dark (and I think it is too dark).

To correct this, I will apply three coats of conditioner on the remaining two finials and then stain them. I need to come up with a way to test this so as not to ruin them. I will also make two new finials to replace the badly stained ones, which means construction continues. Not a big deal since they are easy to make; I consider this just a minor set-back. If you have any staining ideas different from this, please tell me in the comments. I'll update this situation when I can.

This project is being built in response to the historic tornado outbreak that occurred in Alabama on April 27th. On that day, 63 tornadoes struck our state which claimed the lives of 247 people and caused between $2.45 billion and $4.2 billion in property damage (click the image at the right). The Tornado Bed will be given free of charge to a needy victim of the April 27th tornado event.

To view all posts on this project click here. This is post fifteen in this series.

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Have a question or comment? Leave yours by clicking on the "Comments - post yours here" link below. My email is jobranch@yahoo.com. Consider subscribing via email or RSS by clicking here.

Some popular projects:

1. A bedside table. 2. Beth's built-in. 3. The TV Console project.

Tornado Bed: Getting Close

Getting close - I've been organizing my final to do list for the Tornado Bed.

t is so cool when everything goes as planned. The last step in construction for the Tornado Bed is to peg the mortise and tenon joints in the head board and foot board. Again, some hesitation sets in as I contemplate drilling holes into the sanded clear pine – such a handsome wood in its pre-stain state. I sure would hate to mess it up at this point.

The tool selected for creating the holes is my corded Craftsman drill. It is old, but still is more steady than my cordless drill. In an effort to control the drilling process, I bought a drill guide to help ensure the bit goes in nice and straight. I will be drilling all the way through the posts. On to the photos…

Here is the drilling guide in use. I only get 2/3 through the post and then have to finish drilling all the way through without the guide.

With pine being so soft, I was concerned about getting some tear-out around the drill bit's entry point, but the cuts on the front were nice and crisp.

Here the oak dowels are in place. I added glue to the inside each hole from the back of the post.

I cut the dowels flush with my pull saw and sand everything nice and smooth. Emphasis on nice.

I have to sort of smile as I contemplate staining the Tornado Bed. All the prep work: sanding through multiple grits of paper, inspecting the wood surface under the shadow of a carefully placed shop lamp, more sanding, dust removal – all of the work leading up to this point will be either deemed a success or a disappointment with just a few wipes of a stain soaked cloth. It is a humbling experience for any woodworker. But luckily everything goes very well with this process.

The color is Minwax English Chesnut and the stain goes on mighty dark. I use a foam brush due to the large area I need to quickly cover.

Wiping away the excess stain with a cloth reveals a uniform color and a color that is similar to the headboard stained weeks ago.

The only real issue I ran into was with a couple of holes in the right front foot board. As I was drilling the holes for the dowels, some of the exit holes on the back side did not cut clean. I thought I had provided enough of a backer to prevent this minor blow-out, but it wasn’t sufficient. I had used painters tape on the left side which did a fantastic job. I guess it is back to the painters tape when I do the head board.

Anyway, I still have to pin the mortises in the head board and do a little repair on a couple of dings that have developed. While moving the head board and foot board around the shop, things like poles and power tools have come into contact with them.

With all the polyurethane which needs to be applied, I think I still have a couple of weeks of hard work ahead of me. But final construction is at hand.

This project is being built in response to the historic tornado outbreak that occurred in Alabama on April 27th. On that day, 63 tornadoes struck our state which claimed the lives of 247 people and caused between $2.45 billion and $4.2 billion in property damage (click the image at the right). The Tornado Bed will be given free of charge to a needy victim of the April 27th tornado event.

To view all posts on this project click here. This is post fourteen in this series.

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Have a question or comment? Leave yours by clicking on the "Comments - post yours here" link below. My email is jobranch@yahoo.com. Consider subscribing via email or RSS by clicking here.

Some popular projects:

1. A bedside table. 2. Beth's built-in. 3. The TV Console project.

Making finials for the Tornado Bed

The updated finial design. Here I have added a base for the finial to rest on.

ne design change I made after drawing the SkecthUp illustration of the Tornado Bed was to add a little base to the finial. If this base did not exist, then the finial would sit on top of visible end grain, which I decided wouldn't be proper.

Making the bases was pretty straight forward: four pieces of wood cut into small triangles. Sort of a challenge to make them all square (some of them are slightly out of square, but they're close enough). See below...

Using my 45 degree miter gauge, I cut four pieces to form the finial base.

Using painters tape, I join all the pieces together and add glue.

All taped up, the bases are set aside so the glue can dry.

I once visited Tommy MacDonald's website. I was viewing a video about the construction of his very impressive bombe secretary. Tommy was cutting a delicate piece of molding and he commented that it took something like 15 attempts before he got one that fit just right. I remembered that when it came time to form the finials for my bed project.

Here you see the glued-up stock which is 2 3/4" square. I move my fence to the left side of the blade and repeatedly cut away 2 3/4" blocks which will become the finials.

I envisioned making some elaborate jig to cut the corners away, but what I came up with was actually pretty simple. The blade is tilted to 35 1/2 degrees.

Here is where the Tommy Mac video influence comes into play. I cut seven finials and begin to decide which four I'll actually use. Already the one in back has been excluded due to some tear-out along one of the edges.

After selecting the best finials, I use a 3/4" forstner bit and drill holes to make way for the dowel tenons. I cut corresponding holes in the bases.

I then temporarily attach a base to the top of each post with two carefully located screws. The finials and the bases will be permanently attached with glue after I stain everything.

Here is the head board along with the and foot board mostly completed.

At this point construction of the Tornado Bed is about 97% completed. I am toying with the idea of adding dowel pins to the mortise and tenon joints located in the head board and foot board, and technically, I need to cut slats for the box spring to rest on. But the major work from this point forward will be final sanding and applying the finish: pre-stain conditioner, stain and polyurethane - no small task. The end is in sight!

This project is being built in response to the historic tornado outbreak that occurred in Alabama on April 27th. On that day, 63 tornadoes struck our state which claimed the lives of 247 people and caused between $2.45 billion and $4.2 billion in property damage (click the image at the right). The Tornado Bed will be given free of charge to a needy victim of the April 27th tornado event.

To view all posts on this project click here. This is post thirteen in this series.

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Have a question or comment? Leave yours by clicking on the "Comments - post yours here" link below. My email is jobranch@yahoo.com. Consider subscribing via email or RSS by clicking here.

Some popular projects:

1. A bedside table. 2. Beth's built-in. 3. The TV Console project.

Free on Friday #3

veryone could use another bookcase right? I once happened on a forum discussion about bookcases and realized for those who love to read, there just isn't enough room for all those books - some people submitted comments saying they stored books in every room of their home! That is why I have said several times, a woodworker could make a living just making bookcases.

If you agree, then this "Free on Friday" give-away is just for you. Fine Woodworking.com has made available a DVD titled "Bookcase with Bracket Feet" and, to me, a great feature of this DVD is in addition to the flat bracket feet shown on the DVD cover, award winning teacher Phil Lowe also demonstrates how to make beautiful ogee bracket feet - something I have never attempted (the ogee bracket feet include hand cut dovetails as well).

But what I find most interesting about this video is simply seeing how someone else tackles this project. Several of Phil’s processes vary from how I have constructed similar bookcases, which always makes me think a little. Also interesting: this elegant bookcase is made from oak and oak plywood and Phil’s approach to this project strikes a nice balance between power tools and hand tools.

The standard price for this 40 minute DVD is $29.95. Fill in the information below and it could be yours free of charge

Here is how this will work. I'll close submissions at noon Central time on Saturday and will update this post with the winner's name at that time. The winner will be chosen with the help of Random.org. An email will then be sent asking for the winner's mailing address. I'll forward that to FWW who will then ship the DVD.

One submission per email, and this promotion is limited to residents of the USA and Canada. Good luck and a BIG THANK YOU to Fine Woodworking magazine!

And the winner is...
A. Marshall
Thanks to everyone who submitted an entry.

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Have a question or comment? Leave yours by clicking on the "Comments - post yours here" link below. My email is jobranch@yahoo.com. Consider subscribing via email or RSS by clicking here.

Some popular projects:

1. The Massive Bookcase. 2. The Coffee Table. 3. The TV Console project

Tornado Bed: the hardware, part 2

Ready to start cutting the mortises in the foot board. I place it on top of my table saw and out-feed table. As this project takes shape, I begin to run out of work surfaces in my shop.

After some slow progress on the Tornado Bed, things have advanced extra quickly this week. It seems that all the time I devoted to making a precision jig for the hardware mortises paid off, because I basically used that same jig for the head board and foot board posts with just a minor adjustment. There were moments of anxiety while sinking my router bit into the side rails (previous post). Not this time; I powered up my router with more confidence and got after the mortises in the bed’s posts.

I draw the outline of the rail (the rectangular box) and mark center lines horizontally and vertically.

I then align the center lines on my template with those drawn on the post and clamp the template in place. The collar in the base of my router rides along the inside of the template and the router bit cuts the needed mortise for the hardware.

A chisel is then used to clean up the cut. The hardware is temporarily installed using sheet rock screws. Note the two openings in the hardware. I use chisels to mark the location of these openings to help with the next step.

I then clamp a straight edge to the foot board and use my router to cut slots in the mortise. These slots are needed to allow room for the hooks found on the male part of the hardware.

Here, I have the post hardware installed.

I did all this work during the week. It has become harder to find significant time to work on this project. I have to insert a little time in the evenings and some early mornings in order to make this progress. Then on Saturday, my wife and I went to this...

The season opener for University of Alabama Crimson Tide football. Close to 100,000 of our ROLL TIDE friends cheer the Tide on to their first victory of the season. The weather co-operated, we had great seats, and afterwards, we met up with our daughter for some bar-b-que. Big fun.

Today, I cut the mortises and installed the hardware for the head board, and then, finally...

For the first time, I was able to set the bed up in the driveway. It is looking just as it should at this point and I am very pleased.

Next, I need to form the finials - no small task. I can also begin staining and finishing the side rails and foot board.

I still see this project lasting until the end of September before I am finished with it, but at least the end is in sight.

This project is being built in response to the historic tornado outbreak that occurred in Alabama on April 27th. On that day, 63 tornadoes struck our state which claimed the lives of 247 people and caused between $2.45 billion and $4.2 billion in property damage (click the image at the right). The Tornado Bed will be given free of charge to a needy victim of the April 27th tornado event.

To view all posts on this project click here. This is post twelve in this series.

________________________

Have a question or comment? Leave yours by clicking on the "Comments - post yours here" link below. My email is jeffbranch@mail.com. Consider subscribing via email or RSS by clicking here.

Some popular projects:

1. A bedside table. 2. Beth's built-in. 3. The TV Console project.