Quartersawn White Oak Bed - Picture Heavy!

[Dodgy Loner]

Here's a bed that I just finished for my favorite customer – my wife! The build took about 3 weeks; 90% got done the first week, then I just piddled for a few evenings a week for two weeks until it was finally completed.

The design is my own – though I used Google Images to a large extent for inspiration. It's made of quartersawn white oak that I had milled from a tree that came down in a friend's front yard about 6 years ago. The tree was over 135 years old and just under 3' in diameter – I got enough wood from it to build this bed, make 250 sq.ft. of T&G flooring for my kitchen, and I still have about 50 B.F. left over

I hemmed and hawed about the finish the whole time I was building the thing. I've always wanted to try an ammonia-fumed white oak finish, but not on something this big! Stains scare the crap out of me, but I was afraid the ray fleck wouldn't be prominent enough if I didn't do something to darken the wood. Thankfully, I was wrong! One coat of linseed oil ended that thought. I let the linseed oil dry for 3 days, then shot it with 3 coats of blonde shellac on Sunday, followed by 4 coats of satin lacquer this afternoon. I sanded between every other coat, and the lacquer has a wonderful tactile quality. First time using lacquer, and I can promise it won't be my last!

I used a healthy blend of power and hand tools on this build – just about every tool in my shop saw action at some point. I was especially thankful for my brace and bit when making the fourteen 5/8" x 5" deep mortises! My card scrapers got a workout, too. Quartersawn white oak loves to tear out deeply and quickly whenever you plane a patch of reversing grain. I had three scrapers at the ready throughout the whole project, so I didn't have to stop too often to sharpen.

Overall, I'm very happy with the results, but more importantly, so is my wife!





My wife's favorite flowers are tulips, hence the tulip on the headboard.





And I love my wife, hence the heart on the footboard



I must say, finding posts with quartersawn figure on all four sides was the hardest part of the whole build ;D. You can see the drawboring pegs in the tenons here.





I used bed bolts to attach the bed rails. They were time-consuming, but not difficult to install. And the pull the joints up nice and snug!



Sorry, I just can't stop ogling that quartersawn figure :D



You can see the shop where the bed was made in this picture:



Thanks for looking! Critiques of all kinds - design, finish, whatever - are welcomed and appreciated.

[fishpharmer]

WOW!  I wish I had the time, patience, skill and quartersawn white oak  lumber to make such fine furniture for my wife.  I do know a guy that can get some quartersawn white oak for me  ;) . 

Very nice.

[WDH]

I have to say that this is one of the finest projects that you have made!  That wood is simply incredible.  I love the circular, swirly, ray fleck on one of the slat boards on the left side of the headboard, kind of like the Starry Night, which is very appropriate for a bed  ;D.

You have done yourself proud.  The quality of both the wood and the craftmanship are superb.

[bugdust]

Great job DL! Fantastic quarter sawed lumber. Momma has to be happy now.

[Red Pill]

Really great figure on the wood. I love me some quartersawn white oak. And you did a good job on the bed. How did you make the legs? For the headboard I made, I cut a 45 with a kind of a 90-degree key on the inside. I got the technique from a Wood Magazine plan. It worked really well.

Will you fume or stain it?

[Larry]

I like your design and execution.  Bet your wife is really pleased.

Just what variety of white oak produces that four sided fleck?  I bet it's really hard to find. ;D

What brand of lacquer did you use?  Spray or brush?  I'm contemplating trying some pre-cat lacquer on a project for the first time.

[Okrafarmer]

Beautiful tiger-striped oak there, man! I wish I had patience for a project like that. I'm much better at producing raw materials.

[Tdawg]

Sweet work dude smiley_clapping smiley_clapping...hard to tell from the pics-what size bed is it?

[pigman]

Beautiful bed and the right size. It is not one of those giant size king beds where the occupants sleep far apart. ;)

[Okrafarmer]

I thought it looked rather cozy! Mrs. Okra and I have just a regular double bed, sometimes it's too big, sometimes it's too small! I just wish it were longer so I could sleep with my arms over my head sometimes to stretch out. Oh, hope that isn't TMI.

[sandhills]

Very, very nice!  It looks to me like that headboard alone could sing you to sleep, very pretty wood.

[Dodgy Loner]

Thank you all for the kind words. This was, quite literally, a labor of love. I could hardly be happier with the results. I have been building this bed in my mind for almost a year, and it's nice to see the plan finally executed. My craftsmanship may have been better in my mind, but the wood is better in real life

To answer a few questions:

Red Pill - The legs are made of four pieces, each with a rabbet to form an interlocking joint with lots of glue surface. The chamfer on the corners goes right to the edge of one of the rabbets, so the glue joint falls on a corner and practically disappears. I will try to sketch out a cross-section later for those who have trouble picturing this. The finish is complete - no stain or fuming for me, although I considered it. It seemed almost criminal to change the natural color of the wood!

Larry - The lacquer is just the rattle-can variety that they sell at Lowe's. I forget the brand, but there's only one brand there. I was skeptical, but gave it a try on the recommendation of another woodworker. I am pleased with the result.

Tdawg - The bed is queen sized.

pigman - You're right, we don't want to be too far apart at night ;)

[SwampDonkey]

That's outstanding work and wood figure. Very nice indeed. We don't have much opportunity up here to get white oak let alone quartered white oak. 

[T Welsh]

Great bed ;).Tim

[Lud]

I quartersawed a whack of white oak last year.  You've really given me some ideas with  your excellent bed.  Besides showing the fleck better, if your posts are hollow you've kept the weight down and oak is a heavy wood!  Well done!

[POSTON WIDEHEAD]

Dodgy.....You killing me son!

DanG, I wish I had your talent! That bed is gorgeous. I'll bet your favorite customer was HAPPY!  8)

David

[ely]

i believe i said it once before here on the forum......WOW!!

i will add that i really do like that finish, thats where i am sortof an ametuer. i built a bathroom door out of cedar and pine, it took over a quart of spar varnish brushed on.

[submarinesailor]

OUTSTANDING JOB!!!!!!!!!!!! 8) 8) 8) 8) 8) 8)

Bruce

[Dodgy Loner]

Besides showing the fleck better, if your posts are hollow you've kept the weight down and oak is a heavy wood!

Yes, the posts are mostly hollow, except where the rails are mortised into the posts. I added a filler block there, to stengthen the joinery. All of the rails have 2" long tenons on both ends with drawbored pegs, except for the removable rails which have only 1" long tenons and bed bolts.

[Axe Handle Hound]

Awesome job Dodgy.  That is a seriously fine looking piece of woodworking.  From the bookmatched quartersawn grain to the tulip accent that is a piece to be proud of for sure.   

[Al_Smith]

Very nice indeed .FWIW to those who don't know you can quartersaw ash and get just about the same grain pattern effect .Although it isn't white oak it comes out nicely .

That bed is made so solidly you'd about need a crane to move it but then again built so well it will be a family heirloom long after you depart this old world .

[Burlkraft]

Good work Dodgy  8) 8) 8)

That's awesome

[Dodgy Loner]

Al, you're right, that sucker is heavy, and I'm ready to get it in its proper place and be done moving it! It's about as close to timberframing as I care to get. :D

As I promised last night, here is a cross-sectional view of the bed posts:



The rabbets were all cut with a rabbeting bit on the router table. After it was glued up, I chamfered it with a hand held router and a chamfering bit.

[scsmith42]

Spectacular job!  Looks like you've been hoarding some nice oak for that project too!

I like how you did your legs.  I'm familiar with the 5 piece and 3 piece designs, but yours is new to me.  Very practical approach.

Scott

[Paul_H]

It's about as close to timberframing as I care to get. :D

I got a laugh out of that! :D

Excellent job on the bed.

[beenthere]

....... .FWIW to those who don't know you can quartersaw ash and get just about the same grain pattern effect ..........

Any pics of quartersawn ash? I'm curious how similar the grain pattern effect is to the quartersawn oak.

[SwampDonkey]

I would be highly skeptical because you can barely see the rays. I've worked with a lot of ash and I've never seen anything close to white oak from it. Other than being ring porous. ;)

I like ray fleck in maple as well. There is some interesting spiral graph looking patterns. ;D

[tcsmpsi]

I have to say that this is one of the finest projects that you have made!  That wood is simply incredible.  I love the circular, swirly, ray fleck on one of the slat boards on the left side of the headboard, kind of like the Starry Night, which is very appropriate for a bed  ;D.

You have done yourself proud.  The quality of both the wood and the craftmanship are superb.

Yep.  What Danny said.   ;)

[oakiemac]

Remarkable job. That bed is gorgeous. You got the old wheels turning in my head about making something similar (although I'm not skilled enough) but another project is not what I need right now.
I loved the way you made the posts with QS figuring on all 4 sides. Did you mill the lumber as well?

[Bill Gaiche]

That is a very nice piece of furniture. I know the wife is going to love sleeping on it. It will last you a life time. Then some lucky family member will get there chance at a great bed. bg

[Magicman]

Very nice Justin and you did your lady up proud.  That QS is awesome and it looks like you hand picked the tight piece for the right place.  Adding the decorative art was a nice personal touch.  You are truly gifted.

[WDH]

I keep clicking on this thread just to see that spectacular wood again.  I love the simplicity of the lines and the design.  That is so beyond furniture-store quality that you cannot even imagine it.   It also takes an exceptional log to get quartersawn grain on all four sides of a post  :D.  The way you made the posts is very innovative.  Chamfering the corners makes the joint disappear.  I am going to go Chinese on you and steal that idea  :D.

[Don K]

That is a truly exceptional work of art, Justin. I can only wish for a talent like yours. I know a lady that is very proud of her husband.

Don

[Tree Feller]

I don't check this forum every day so i'm just now seeing the bed.

WoW is an appropriate response. The ray-fleck figure in that QSWO is awesome and the design matches the lumber perfectly. I like how you did those posts. I think I'll borrow that technique.   ;)

I really like the tulip cut-out in the headboard, too. That's a nice touch.

[metalspinner]

Very nice job, Dodgy!

I love it when those projects you've built in your head countless times over several years finally become reality.

[CHARLIE]

Absolutely beautiful design and craftsmanship!  Very nice!  An heirloom if I've ever seen one. 8)

[Dodgy Loner]

Did you mill the lumber as well?

No, I actually got the logs from which this wood was sawed about 2 years before my Dad got a sawmill, so I took the logs to a custom sawyer. I remember it well - he had never quartersawed a log before, and he didn't really understand why I would want to saw a log the way I described. To make things easier on him, we sawed the log a little differently than usual. I'll call it "third-sawing" ;D



Luckily, the wood turned out just fine . When my dad finally got a sawmill, I was able to saw my oak for more quartersawn yield, like this:



I've got a fair amount of both qsawn red oak and white oak at my dad's house. I may have to make another lumber run pretty soon! We got the bed set up in our room last night, and I have to say that it completely transformed the room to a degree that no other piece that I've built has ever done. My wife and I are both very, very pleased. I took before and after photos that I will post after I get them uploaded to my computer.

Very nice Justin and you did your lady up proud.  That QS is awesome and it looks like you hand picked the tight piece for the right place.

Thanks Magicman - I'm eager for the 16/4 cherry you sawed for me in November to be dry. I'll give it two years, at least, though. I have big plans for that lumber - even bigger than this bed ;)

The way you made the posts is very innovative.  Chamfering the corners makes the joint disappear.  I am going to go Chinese on you and steal that idea  :D.

It really is a great way to make the posts. I can't claim that it is an original idea, I stole it from another woodworker, and added my own twist - the chamfer on the corner. The result is amazing - if I didn't already know where the glue joints were, I would have a very hard time finding them.

Thanks again to all for the kind comments. I have had a lot of help along the way in my woodworking journey. Hopefully I will have a long way yet to go

[Ianab]

That is still a valid way to saw a log, and you will recover the best of the Q-sawn boards possible. The other rift sawn wood is still usable, and that pattern is probably less work (and waste) than the second pattern. Although the 2nd pattern will produce more Q-sawn material. A pattern like that is how you would Q-saw with a swing blade mill. You don't get ALL the wood q-sawn, but you do get the best part, and it's no extra work.

BTW - I'm impressed with the bed too 

Ian

[Dodgy Loner]

Ian - you're absolutely right. It's a perfectly good way to saw a log, and much less work than the second method that I showed. Since I was paying the sawyer by the hour, it made a lot of sense to do it that way! When I'm sawing my own oak lumber, I always shoot for the most quartersawn possible. It at least doubles the amount of time to saw the log as I showed in the second method and results in less wood, so it's defintely not for everyone. But getting wood to saw has never been an issue for me. Turning down wood that is offered to me has proven much more troublesome :D. I don't really care for oak at all, unless it is quartersawn, so maximizing quartersawn makes sense for me.

[Magicman]

I can't draw a picture, but I put a slightly different twist on that method by making a complete cross.  Saw through getting the full width boards from the center, remove them and rotate 90°.  Then take the center boards from the two cants.  This leaves the four equal corners to either be rotated 45° and QS or to simple rift saw them.

[Dodgy Loner]

Yes, that is the standard way to do it on a bandsaw mill. I don't think many people take the extra step to get quartersawn out of the "quarters" that are left over. If I ever find an oak that I want you to quartersaw, that's how I'll have you do it

[Okrafarmer]

I like the second way better in theory but it is hard to do on a manual band mill. Making those half moons and third moons and quarter moons stand up on edge, you know. That is why I really want a swing mill. I also want to know why Peterson and Lucas haven't seemed to come up with a blade that will stop at 45 degrees (or other angles) to help facilitate this type of quarter sawing, as it seems that swing mills would excel at it.

Oh, and by the way, those pie shaped cut-out pieces don't need to be wasted, there could be uses for them. We just need to be creative and see what they are. Bow staves is one possible use. Oak is not a real great bow wood, but some species, such as black locust, osage orange, the ashes, and elms, make good bows.

[Ianab]

I also want to know why Peterson and Lucas haven't seemed to come up with a blade that will stop at 45 degrees (or other angles) to help facilitate this type of quarter sawing, as it seems that swing mills would excel at it.

You would need to move the head sideways with each swing to make the 45deg cuts match up again, and probably adjust the carriage height with each board.

Not as simple as it sounds. I know the little Skillmill had the ability to set the blade at various angles, but that was more to make interesting shaped posts etc.

Ian

[Dodgy Loner]

I like the second way better in theory but it is hard to do on a manual band mill.

Wasn't hard at all. I just made a couple of 45^o supports that sat on the mill's bed. Then I clamped the quarters against the support. When I sawed down near the supports, I flipped the quarter over and removed the supports, since it had a flat spot to sit on. Easy enough.

[Okrafarmer]

I also want to know why Peterson and Lucas haven't seemed to come up with a blade that will stop at 45 degrees (or other angles) to help facilitate this type of quarter sawing, as it seems that swing mills would excel at it.

You would need to move the head sideways with each swing to make the 45deg cuts match up again, and probably adjust the carriage height with each board.

Not as simple as it sounds. I know the little Skillmill had the ability to set the blade at various angles, but that was more to make interesting shaped posts etc.

Ian

It probably isn't all that simple, but it seems simpler than rotating half and quarter pieces and trying to get them to stay upright on a band mill. I'm sure if the 45 degree angle were available, one could learn to use it freehand to get the desired result. I realize that having different size logs would make a "settings table" practically impossible, but I still say, give me the capability in the tool and I could learn to make it work. It's either that or come up with a log lathe to put under a swing mill. If that could be made to work, quartersawing would be conquered.  ;)

[Ianab]

I have seen a log lathe that Lucas showed a few years back. Remember what the log sits on is irrelevant to the mill, it doesn't care how the log is supported.

Means it would be possible to mount the log on a spindle and rotate it by "x" degrees for each board. You would be able to do a true quartersawn pattern, with a waste pie shaped piece from each pass. Opening cut would be a problem though, need to take a big slice of pie on that first cut, or make the vertical cuts only and trim it up later? Or split the log in 1/2 and mount the 2 halves separably?

I think the mechanics of spinning the log would be simpler than working out the angles and different head heights for the carriage?

But would it be worth the hassle? Or is it better to just take the prime Qsawn boards with no extra fuss?

Ian

[Okrafarmer]

Those are precisely the issues that have been going through my mind, Ianab. I think you covered most of the bases there. I was thinking, make one normal entry cut-out to get started, and then go all the way around after that. I like the spindle idea, that is what I meant by a log lathe-- just something to suspend it by the ends and turn it. Or I guess it could have rollers underneath it to turn it, but that would be less precise and would require perfectly round logs. I am interested in suspending the log from its ends to rotate it, and then, if a particularly large or long log, having hydraulic jacks to come up under it after rotating the log to help support the weight in the middle while it is being milled, to reduce tension.

Some of our tree species almost have to be quartersawn for any kind of good results, including Sycamore, which often grows to huge sizes. Being able to maximize the QS capabilities for sycamore or oak would open up a huge improvement on the profitability of these species. Then we just have to figure out what to do with the tapered pieces.

[jamesamd]

DL,that is one fantastic piece of work,You have made!!!
I love it all,especially the posts and the details.

You have earned the FF members OK,to strut,like a peacock!

Very,very well done Dude 8) 8) 8) 8)