Thread: WIP Recycled Aust Oak King Single Bed

looking good so far Johnredl, sounds like hard yakka though! I'm no expert but why not leave the holes there, they speak about the history of the timber.

Just my 2 bob, keep up the good work.

Originally Posted by 3 toed sloth

looking good so far Johnredl, sounds like hard yakka though! I'm no expert but why not leave the holes there, they speak about the history of the timber.

Just my 2 bob, keep up the good work.

Thanks. Hard yakka, yes...must be my saddist side .

I had thought about filling them with something clear, leaving the look but not the holes. I'm not sure if the 'varnish-like stuff' that I finish it with will stick to epoxy or a similar substance. If it doesn't then I guess the holes are destined to stay. But I'm not sure yet, I'm open to suggestions.

Maybe we should start a pole on to stay or go!

Try casting resin it flows well into holes and finishes clear.

Coming along nicely, Johnredl.

Holes: Possible methods of dealing with the holes include:

* Do nothing, as 3toes suggests,
* Drill them out to remove blackening and then glue in plugs,
* Route over the holes and glue in dutchmen (squarish plugs),
* Thicken epoxy with Aus oak sawdust and fill hole - thick porridge consistency needed.

Finish: I like the appearance and durability of imitation french polish - basically danish oil over epoxy. Procedure is as follows:

* Fill all holes and voids in woodwork and sand very smooth. I go to 400 grit sandpaper, then 0 and 000 steel wool.
* Wipe surfaces clean with MEK or acetone. (Read safety instructions!)
* Brush on one coat of epoxy, wait 10 minutes, then wipe off with clean lint-free rags - eg old sheet. This effectively fills the grain in the wood.
* Brush on a second and a third coat of unthickened epoxy. This acts almost like a varnish.
* Let epoxy cure for 7-10 days then brush on a coat of Danish oil and rub in with fine 000 steel wool.
* Let dry 24 hours and then repeat Danish oil and steel woolling.
* Let dry 24 hours and brush on third coat of Danish oil and let dry.

Final finish should look like French polish but is much more durable - basically impervious to alcohol or moderate heat and very resistive to scratching.

Remember epoxy forms a chemical bond in first 24 hours and a mechanical bond after 48 hours so it is important that each coat of epoxy is within 12-24 hours of previous coat. And Danish oil inexplicitly sometimes takes longer to dry than others - you just have to wait until all tackiness goes away.

Fair Winds

Graeme

1 headboard, glued & drawbored...check!

Next job is to cut off the drawbored pins and give it a sand over and tidy up. The vertical black marks on the top board are from the in-feed roller on the thicknesser. They should sand out nicely.

Thanks Graeme. I bought some 'runny'/brushable epoxy today, so all going to plan I can start the 3 coats later today.

I've decided to leave the holes unfilled. I'm just going to let the epoxy fill what it does & leave the rest.

Originally Posted by johnredl

1 headboard, glued & drawbored...check!

Next job is to cut off the drawbored pins and give it a sand over and tidy up. The vertical black marks on the top board are from the in-feed roller on the thicknesser. They should sand out nicely.

Hi John
a small tip
It's much easier to sand (or plane) out the machine marks before you assemble a piece.
At Tech we were taught to get rid of the machine marks before cutting to final size or doing any joinery.

Originally Posted by ian

Hi John
a small tip
It's much easier to sand (or plane) out the machine marks before you assemble a piece.
At Tech we were taught to get rid of the machine marks before cutting to final size or doing any joinery.

Rodger that, thanks. Interesting how learning curves change with modern technology. I'm learning most of these new skills (eg. Drawboring, imitation French polish, etc) via this forum, YouTube & the Internet in general. Compared to how hobbyists learnt skills previously.

What'd be nice? A college of fine woodworking...can someone open one here in Adelaide pls?!!

I think it coming along nicely.

The learning curve.

The start is the same for everyone at the bottom, how steep is the variable.

Since my last posting I've successfully applied 3 coats of clear epoxy resin to the foot end of the bed. I figured that it is smaller so it'd be an easier piece to practice on before I tackle the bed head.

Here are a couple of pics if the foot end lying on the headboard for contrast.




Tonight I've done a little work on the headboard. The way that I mounted the upright slats to the top & bottom boards was to route a chanel in both top & bottom boards, then slide the uprights in with small spacers between each upright.



But my measurements were about 2 or 3mm out, resulting in the spacers sitting that much proud of the surface. So tonight my job was to take my sharp 'corner hardware store' chisel (when are my nice new Harold & Saxons' going to get here??) and take the 2 or 3mm off making them level with the boards.



Next job is to finish the headboard for epoxying & plane off about 3mm off the side stretchers making them ready also.

After much debate, I've decided on these bed brackets -



Which fit 8ga screws. For longitivity, would I be better off re-drilling them to 10ga? Or should I just leave them as is? I was going to use bed bolts, but from what I was reading, brackets are pretty much of a muchness.

keep them at 8g for now and if they flog out you can always drill them for 10g.... I had someone very talented teach me when fitting hinges if you can use a screw the next gauge down from what it needs then in final fit up use the correct guage that way if you strip out a hole you can still fit the correct size screw when it matters

Oh my good lord...this fake French Polish stuff is a great deal of work! I'm still going! Granted I'm not working full time, just some time here & there...but...!

So far the foot end has gone well. Is finished now. I was waiting to start the rest of the bed until the foot end was done. That way I could learn before tackling a larger piece.

With regards to the side stretchers & the lip that I need to glue & screw to the inside to mount the slats. Is 18mm thick enough? I was planning on make it extend about 25mm lateral (from the inside of the stretcher towards the centre of the bed), & mount the slats by gluing in short dowels so that the slats don't move around.

This is kinda what I had in mind



Thanks

John

perhaps something like this

Originally Posted by johnredl

Oh my good lord...this fake French Polish stuff is a great deal of work!

True enough, John. But it is a lot less work than real French polish, and much more durable.

Fair Winds

Graeme