Mortising Overdrive

This time I have a good reason for not posting- I've been busy working. The last four days, I spent at least 7 hours working on this bed. Of course, I'm still not done. On Sunday, I re-built the bottom of the headboard with a design that would be a bit sturdier, and installed all the structural panels.

On Monday, I assembled all the parts and glued it together. Afterward, the piece felt sturdy, like a full piece of furniture for the first time!





Yesterday, I went and got some Douglas Fir 3x3s from Martin, as the one I had left from the futon was full of sap. A sappy piece of wood usually needs 6 months to a year to dry out and be usable. Unfortunately I only figured this out after I got sap all stuck in my tape measure.

This piece allowed me to finish up the framing yesterday afternoon and early this morning. Mortises drilled and glue drying, I needed to figure a way to hold up the mattress.


After perusing a few ideas, I settled on a simple one. Twenty-five one-by-twos spanning the two side rails. And to attach them, I could drill a series of mortises along the rails! Noticing a pattern?


I enjoy the mortising machine. I admit it. And I'm looking for more ways to use it. So today, I drilled 50 mortises, one after the other. I'm not ashamed. Ok, I may have a problem.


Then it was just a matter of hammering the one-by-twos into the mortises. And if I hadn't run out of them I'd be sleeping on it tonight!

Tomorrow I'll be getting the rest of them, and buying the stuff I will need for upholstering which should be an adventure in itself. I will let you all know how that goes.