The Post Amanda Thought I Was Writing Last Time

While I was excited to show you all my new bike last weekend, Amanda was excited to show you something else. Approximately 18 months after buying the first lumber, we're now sleeping in in our hand-made hard maple sleigh bed.

It's not my first piece of furniture, but it is, by far, the largest and most intricate to date. Despite some amateur imperfections (or are we calling those "artisanal qualities" these days?), I'm quite happy with how it turned out. It looks good, it sits straight, the matress fits, and it doesn't squeak!

The matress is supported by fifteen poplar slats, each 4 inches wide by 3/4 inches thick, with an inch of space between them. That is to say, there's no box spring. We bought the matress about a year ago, and we have used a futon frame (also a slatted frame), to support it since then. At "full" size, these slats seem to be fairly firm, but not hard. We like it.

The finish is a mixture of one part mineral oil to 4-5 parts beeswax, by volume. It's not a hard, take-a-beating kind of finish, and it will need to be reapplied from time to time, but we couldn't resist the beautiful natural color of the maple, the sweet honey smell, and the smooth matte texture. We don't expect it to need to withstand much more than our touch and the seasonal humidity change anyway. Rumor also has it that the finish and wood should change color with exposure to the sun as the years go by, which will add a great living element to a long-loved piece of furniture.

You may notice that there is no metal hardware visible. The headboard and footboard are mortise-and-tenon boxes around a floating plywood panel. Glue and a good fit is all that's holding them together.

Fear not, though, for I am not crazy enough to glue up a piece of furniture that cannot later be removed from a room. The side rails are attached to the headboard and footboard via bolts, but in a sneaky way. The bolts are recessed into the side rail from the inside. They protrude from the end of the side rail, and then pierce the headboard and footboard through a hole on each inner face. A square nut is captured in the tenon of the lower cross rail, to secure the end of the bolt. Wood pins also protrude from the end of the side rail, and slot into holes in the headboard and footboard, to prevent the side rail from spinning around the bolt.

Beyond connecting the headboard and footboard to each other, the side rail also holds the cleats, which support the slats for the matress. The cleats are attached with good, old-fashions glue-and-screws construction, to ensure they never pry themselves off.


The crest rails atop the headboard and footboard are defining features of the bed. The first question I'm always asked about them is, "Did you use a lathe?" While there was a point, early in the project, that I may have had access to a six-foot lathe, the answer is, no, I did not use a lathe. Instead, I used only my table saw, hand planes, and a pile of sandpaper.

After making mortises for the legs, and routing the groove for the face panel (much easier on a square surface), I simply cut the corners off to produce an octagonal prism. I then cut those corners off to produce a 16-sided prism. Using a plane, I shaved the tips of those sixteen corners, then progressed through several grits of sandpaper. Because I decided completion was better than perfection, the rails are not perfect cylinders, but they're close enough to please the eye and hand.

I would be remiss if I didn't also mention the extra hardware that consumed portions of the living room for several weeks. The face panels in the headboard and footboard are not flat, but instead have a gentle curve to match the profile of the leg. To force the panel to maintain this curve, instead of fighting against it, I built the panel from two sheets of 1/4-inch plywood, glued together and squeezed in a bending form.

I did nearly all of the work in my simple basement shop, except for the very first cuts. Most of the wood I bought for this project was surfaced on at most one side. The crest rails are actually two halves of one very thick beam. The early work of surfacing and major cutting, I did in the MIT Hobby Shop. It's a fantastic place that I never used as an undergrad, but I happily paid for a term of membership as an alumnus. Professional-grade jointer, planer, band saw, sander, etc. made the start of this project possible. It was also inspiring to see many undergrads taking advantage of what I had not, building everything from cabinetry to musical instruments.

I purchased the wood at The Woodery in Lunenberg, Mass. Despite having agreed to help a friend move, the operator of the yard stuck around an extra hour to help me sort through their stock to find exactly what I needed. With a great price to boot, I'll likely be headed back there for my next project.

What that next project may be, though, is up in the air. The next few months will likely be spent mostly on small projects that filled the queue while this bed filled the workshop. There are also holiday gifts to plan. After all of that, I'll begin to consider the next big things on Amanda's list.

Some kind of fowl

So I am out watering ( what else would I be doing?) the North Shade Garden, which isn't so shady anymore and I turn around to see this large bird walking down the center of the brick sidewalk by the front of my house ( the road side). I wish some woodsman or woodswomen were here that knows about fowl as I am darn sure this is not a song bird. It is now under my evergreens. Looking for water do you think? It heard my hose running and thought I was a babbling brook?

OK, I looked at pictures online and I think I have young female quail in my front yard. I hope it is still here tomorrow morning so Jeff can identify it before he goes to work. I am going out to look again. Perhaps it flew in seeking sanctuary...I hope the dog next door doesn't see it. 

This and That

I wish I could say that Jeff, Rachel and I have been doing something exciting this summer, but life is pretty predictable. Rachel is taking a CNA class at the campus. These last two weeks the class STARTS at 5:45am, I guess that is a change and challenge for a family who likes to sleep late. She is doing her clinical at All About Life nursing home here in FDL.

I have been doing a little sewing. My library knitting group ( we are up to 7 members now) have knit 158 toys and are still knitting away. A FDL group of doctors, nurses and dentists that will be going to Nicaragua in February, give the toys to comfort the children when they come to the free clinic. We sent knitted toys last year also and the Nicaraguan mom's asked for more toys to take home to children who didn't come to the clinic. So we are trying! I wish I knew what we could do for the mom's. Thinking. The knitting group member who put us in contact with this group is Marge Stuber's sister-in-law, Kathy. I have been in FDL for 26 years now but I am always still amazed when I know someone.    My book club is reading 1984. I didn't like it when I had to read it in high school and I don't like it any better now.

Jeff and I both are trying to deal with the drought. I feel so bad for farmers, landscapers and orchards. We took advantage of the wet spring to transplant quite a few perennials. Now we are just trying to keep them and everything else alive by hauling a 150 feet hose around watering. Actually I have 2 hoses, the long one and one 50 foot.   Trees that were planted 5 years ago are showing stress. We don't water the lawn-well, that is not really true, we don't water about 95% of the lawn.  I have one area in the shade I water a bit just to keep the dandelions and clover going as I have two baby rabbits in the yard and they like to eat the greens. The rest of the lawn is dead. The bunnies are controversial, so far they have been kind to our gardens but I have noticed one of them is taking a liking to my parsley plant!

Since Bryan shared a "helmet post" I thought I would share a couple photos of my brother. For his 70th birthday my niece and nephews got him a "ride along" at the race track. I already forgot the name of the track but I believe it was in Northern Illinois. All I know for sure is he got to go VERY FAST. 

Harold rode in this yellow car.

Harold getting his helmet adjusted.

Below, left to right -  Harold, Beth and Mark

In which Darleen's Suzuki comment turns much funnier

I spent all week questioning my review of that Kawasaki Versys I wrote about last time. I scoured the web for other riders' reviews, and mostly found things that confirmed my thoughts. But in the process, another bike was repeatedly mentioned as a point of comparison: Suzuki's DL650 V-Strom.

As I began to compare the Versys and the V-Strom (also known as the "Wee-Strom", because it has a 1000cc bigger brother by the same name), I found that many things were similar: great price, 650cc engine, shape, seating position, size. One thing finally stuck out though, a major oversight I hadn't noticed about the Versys: its carrying capacity. Despite both bikes being about the same weight, fully-fueled, the V-Strom is rated to carry over fifty pounds more of equipment. This is important, because my estimate for carrying both Amanda and I with all of our gear and a little luggage was right at the limit of the Versys. In fact, the Versys was even rated to cary less wait than the my Triumph! The V-Strom would preserve our packing headroom.

I had asked a dealer about the V-Strom before. Suzuki just remodeled it for 2012, and the word is that they're just flying off the showroom floor. The middle of summer isn't a great time to buy either (because everyone is excited about riding, not about selling), but I couldn't resist searching Craigslist, anyway. Boy, am I glad I did.

Above, you can see me on my new 2011 V-Strom. This bike was posted on Craigslist by a dealer south of the city on a Friday morning. Amanda and I ran down to view it Saturday morning. After a short test drive for me, and a short test-sit on the pillion seat for Amanda, I left a deposit as a promise to bring my Triumph back for a trade-in inspection. It was just obvious that it was the right bike for us: great power and control, comfy seating, many unexpected upgrades, and a great price with low mileage.

Here you can see one of the big benefits: hard, lockable luggage. We estimate that each of those bags is nearly the size of both of the fabric bags that hung on the Triumph. You may also be able to pick out: handle bar covers and heated grips (for warmer hands), adjustable windscreen (with velcro already in place to hold the Fastlane pass), engine protection bars, center stand, tail rack, water bottle (or small-item) storage. And, the few things you can't see: fuel injection, fuel gauge, unified ignition and steering lock, and anti-lock brakes!

And so, right away on Tuesday I rode the Triumph back and agreed on a price (the bikes did meet briefly, as you can see). I was able to go out for some parking lot practice and a quick ride on the holiday, and then I commuted on it both Thursday and Friday. It continues to impress. From the great handling to the ease of using the center stand, or from the easy-starting of fuel injection to what looks to be much-improved gas mileage, it has just been a pleasure to ride so far.

The Triumph served us well, but I think our two-wheeled mileage is about to explode.