The Bedroom Set

This is how it all got started - we needed a bedroom set.  After looking at the cost of dressers and such I said to myself - "heck I can buy the wood and the tools and still be money ahead!"  Of course that assumed that I actually knew how to turn wood into furniture......

I have been a machinist and machine builder for 36 years - how hard can it be to work with wood anyway?  Well, it is both easier and harder than I thought but it IS doable!  

The first piece - Jan's Dresser and Mirror:

This was made from plans in - you guessed it - Woodsmith Magazine.  I changed the wood type from Cherry to Quartersawn Red Oak.  Jan and I are both pretty happy with how it came out although I wish I had made the piece 2" taller and made the bottom drawers correspondingly deeper.  

The next piece required was a dresser for me.  Now Woodsmith had a plan for a Armoire but I wanted a chest of drawers.  Out came the sketch pad.  By this time I had finished Mary's entertainment center so I knew I could work to a sketch.  I used the plan from Jan's dresser and sketched up a tall chest to match with the following results:

Clay's Tall Chest:

I used the same finish as Jan's dresser but I turned the walnut knobs instead of staining beech knobs like I used on Jan's dresser.  I like these much better and I will eventually replace the knobs on Jan's dresser with walnut.

The next step would be the bed.  Woodsmith obligingly published plans for a matching bed and I accordingly built it substituting QSRO and Walnut for cherry and dyed cherry.

The Bed:

It strained the size of my shop to assemble this!  Even the shop dog was crowded.

After finishing and installation it looked like this:

The only thing left were a pair of nightstands!  Woodsmith came through with a plan and I built a matching set using QSRO and walnut panels for the doors:

I have some ideas about a matching bookcase and a low chest for the end of the bed but for now.... on to other things!