With our main panels made, we can now move on to the cross rails that tie the two sides together. For this, we require five rails, with dovetails combined with mortise and tenon joints to unite them with one another.
From the frame joinery, we create the unusual tambour styling in mixed woods, and fit and join the tambour edges ready for fitting and installation.
Paul always tries to ensure that such secrets continue into the lives of new woodworkers, and they are packed throughout this episode on preparation, layout, forming joinery, ploughing grooves, and more.
We have about 100 pieces in the two bedside cabinets, so strategising is important. In this video, Paul takes you step by step through truing all of the carcass stock ready for layout, grooving, etc.
It’s always hard to visualise a dozen boards of wood and then see it come out as a bed when you begin, but this episode bridges the gap.
We are on the verge of finally assembling the bed, so we cut and fit the side rails to both the headboard and footboard. The hardware must have certain exactnesses so that the two parts seat well and come together tight, otherwise the head or footboard will rattle.
Having made the headboard and footboard frames, we must layout and prepare for attaching the slats in place. It’s an exciting point to see these two important sections of the work come together.
With the head and footboard joinery completed, there are additional shaping procedures to take. All four of the shaped posts must provide for the ends of the side rail to sit squarely to them.
With almost no straight lines to the head and footboard posts, we use many techniques to get perfect results.
Chopping mortises that do not run parallel to the long axis of the wood requires additional techniques to ensure the walls are cut by severing the fibres as you chop to gain depth. Additionally, because the posts are curved, we cannot use the usual mortise guide to guarantee parallelity.
