Space Fighter Bed

[deemon328]

Hey all!

I'm super excited about this bed I'm making for my oldest son. I'll keep updating with progress pics.

Twin Bed
Maple and Cherry
40 1/2" wide
42" tall
pegged mortise and tenon joinery
bent laminated tophttp://photos.yoderwoodworks.com/images/A_2/4/0/5/15042/sketchbook_bed_bc2d5.Large.jpg
From the pages of the Jedi Sketchbook...



http://photos.yoderwoodworks.com/images/A_2/4/0/5/15042/DSC04557_80d1e.Large.jpg
...to reality. Main frame assembled. Need to cut rails down and cut recess for curved top.



http://photos.yoderwoodworks.com/images/A_2/4/0/5/15042/DSC04556_31476.Large.jpg
Detail view of carving. Carve region slopes deeper from left to right to provide 3D effect of ship blowing through the headboard.

[Ron]

Looks great demon,How did you keep the curve on the top board

[The "DH"]

Very nice, I look forward to seeing the finished product.

[deemon328]

I created a bending form from MDF. I cut out the MDF pattern on the CW. I had some very annoying stair-stepping on the cuts which affected my glue up accuracy. I could have compensated by buying some cork and gluing it to the form, but I was lazy and didn't feel like going to town to try and find rolls of cork.

The bent lamination itself consists of enough 1/8" thick pieces to get to your final thickness. My bandsaw blade was really dull, so I had to sand down some of my pieces pretty thin. Once you have all the pieces, put glue on them and clamp them in the form overnight.



http://photos.yoderwoodworks.com/images/A_2/4/0/5/15042/DSC04559_8d6d1.Large.jpg
The bending form and bent lamination.



http://photos.yoderwoodworks.com/images/A_2/4/0/5/15042/DSC04560_e3992.Large.jpg
Highly annoying uneven clamping pressure results. A better made form will provide more even pressure and close the gaps. Also, note the uneven thicknesses of each piece due to bandsawing errors. Doesn't change the result, it's just uneven. This edge will receive a profile, so the gaps won't be that noticable. Try to keep all your bandsawn pieces in order so that the grain direction will flow from piece to piece to hide the glue joints.

[deemon328]

Updates:

http://photos.yoderwoodworks.com/images/A_2/4/0/5/15042/DSC04580_805f6.Large.jpg

http://photos.yoderwoodworks.com/images/A_2/4/0/5/15042/DSC04582_aa9f8.Large.jpg

http://photos.yoderwoodworks.com/images/A_2/4/0/5/15042/DSC04584_04d67.Large.jpg

[DocWheeler]

Deemon.

Very nice application of the CW/CC and very well done.

[rogone]

Deemon, very nice concept and execution. I am working on designing a bed of somewhat similiar design for my granddaughter (no space ship - probably butterflies). The top piece of your headboard looks like its probably greater than 14.5" from the highest point to the lowest point. Is the space ship design an add on or did you carve it directly into the headboard? I'm asking because the CW will only take a piece of wood up to 14.5" wide and, like I said, your headboard appears wider than that and I was trying to figure out how you did it.

[deemon328]

Thanks for the comments!

The cherry headboard with the space ship is exactly 14.5" wide. Notice the curves at the top and bottom...The curve at the top curves across the total width of the piece, while the bottom curve leaves a couple inches straight on either side of the bottom. It gives the illusion of a wider piece and also has the practical effect of preventing the pillow from falling behind the bed. The top rail is inset onto the headboard only about 1/4" as well.

The ship and explosion are both carved directly on the headboard. I created the .555" curved carve region first (had to size it to my board thickness and leave 3/8" on the back for tenons), then applied a left dome surface to it so that the carve region gradually got deeper from left to right. That's what provided enough depth to carve out the ship and explosion on the right side. The effect was perfect! It really looks like the ship is flying out of the headboard!

Here's the board as it came out of the machine.
http://photos.yoderwoodworks.com/images/A_2/4/0/5/15042/DSC04551_39e39.Large.jpg

Detail of top rail inset:
http://photos.yoderwoodworks.com/images/A_2/4/0/5/15042/DSC04573_48fe0.Large.jpg

[rogone]

Thanks deemon. One more question (at least for the moment). I see that you somehow created a carve region around the whole cherry board and then placed your spaceship design on top of that. I have a similiar shaped headboard and I am trying to figure out how to do that so that the patterns I place on it will sit above the surface. I have reviewed the tutorals and see that to use the carve region feature I have to have a closed carve region. Could you tell me how you created the carve region - I don't need the domed surface feature for what I am doing. Please excuse the questions - they may be simple things to some but I am still fairly new to using this software and trying to work my way through this project.

[deemon328]

Those lines aren't carved regions or cut paths, they are arcs. I couldn't use a cut path in this case because it would interfere with my tenon cuts.Here's how to do it:


Draw the arc at the desired size
Right click and select bit...
Choose 1/8" straight bit
Select a depth, my board was like. 930", so I selected .920. Make the remainder thicker if you're cutting the whole board out so that you don't create a projectile or break a bit.
click okThis creates a centered vector cut. You can offset it to either side as well. Offset by the bit radius to get on either side of the line.

The best thing you can do is to keep thinking about the plan and revising it. I added all these features after the original concept, and I'm glad I spent so much time thinking on it. View your creation in designer from every angle and really try to envision it in real life.

[rogone]

Thanks again deemon. On projects I design I invariably spend a lot of time thinking and not as much doing. While all the thinking usually pays off I which I could spend more time doing. For some reason my wife seems to prefer seeing more than sawdust come out of my shop.