 My latest project- a boatbed
The inspiration comes from a popular (ie. expensive) kids furniture store. My wife pointed it out to me and the first thing I thought was, "I can make that- I think." So after learning how to make an elipse jig, and some exciting angle cutting with my table saw, I think I came pretty close to the original "speedboat bed."
This was also my first foray into CAD- I started playing with google's free sketchup program- it was a life saver when it came to measuring angles and lengths for the front of the boat and the drawers. I included some output pics from that as well. Almost as much fun as making the real thing.
The main carcass is pine 2x8 and 2x4 ripped down to square off the edges and then painted. The trundle and drawers are painted ply. The trim, headboard, and footboard are red oak stained with a combination of stains that I mixed up.
I created the beadboard effect with a V-groove bit and my router on oak plywood- I thought about trying to assemble panels- but this will be a platform for playing on, I'm sure jumping off of it will happen too, and I wanted the strength of the plywood.
The elipse for the front and the radius for the headboard were all cut with a spiral bit and homemade jigs. The eliptical jig was fun to figure out/make. |