This is a headboard from a bed carved in 1975 by Roger MacKay. I am turning it into the backrest of a garden bench.
Details of the carving/painting.
Here is a photo of the technical draft of the bench. All of the measurements of each piece are taken from this 1:4 scale drawing.
This is my workspace. The materials for the bench in the rough are in front of my workbench on the ground.
The legs are milled to rough dimensions here.
I've milled the bench parts to rough dimensions and will let them settle before doing a second finish mill.
Now the legs are finish milled.
The mill marks are removed with a scraper card to give a smooth finish.
Since there is no hollow chisel mortise machine at my shop I will be cutting the mortises by hand. The proper tools make for enjoyable work!
The slats that will support the headboard/backrest are fixed into the legs in 1" x 1" x 3" slots. Here I have drilled out most of the waste.
Using a couple different chisels I've cleaned up that slot to fit the supports.
I've made a sled for the table saw and used it to cut the tenons on the rails. Here is a dry fit of the center legs and rails.
The tenons cut to fit.
Using a shoulder plane and dial calipers I am thicknessing the tenon to fit the 3/8" (0.375") mortises I've already cut.
Here is a dry fit of the main rails and legs of the bench. The sides still have decorative vertical stiles to be installed and the bottom rails will have arcs cut into them. There is much more work to be done.
To fully secure the joints I will drive these 1/4" octagonal wooden pins into the tenons after they have been glued together. The jig on the left was used in junction with a planer to cut the square pins octagonal.
The post tenons have been cut on the tablesaw.
The bottom rails have been cut hollow and filed to a fair curve.
The bevel cutting process...
Drawing the lines.
Planing to the lines.
Half way there!
All done.
The arms have their mortises cut. The one on the right is just drilled through and still needs to be chiseled clean.
One side in place. The gaps on the front and back edges are to allow room for a wedge that will be driven into the tenon to secure it into place when the glue-up takes place.
Refinishing the backside of the headboard. Lots of sweat.
The front "frame" of the headboard is getting refinished to match the bench.
Yeah! Dry fit. The seat slat supports need to be made and installed.
The seat slat supports register with dowels.
The support in place.
The finish is on!
All of the seat slats have been installed with wooden pegs. There is only one screw in the entire piece.
The dowels will be sawn flush then the entire top surface of the seat will be refinished.
Wedges made from Brazilian Rosewood hold the headboard snug.
