First, my wife suggested I use “just one piece” of Port Orford cedar for a slat because it “smells so nice.” The Port Orford I had needed to be re-sawn, which created two slats of book-matched cedar. I thought it made perfect sense to use the slats at the top and bottom of the bed frame then put another cedar slat in the center of the frame. The cedar slats ended up being wider than pine slats I’d purchase at a lumber store so I decided to make all of the slats from cedar. Since the slats were so nice, I decided I should probably make the frame of thick pine I had and put it together using Japanese joinery instead of screws. My wife asked me to shape the frame so we could vacuum underneath it and since the pine was thicker, I decided I’d carve the frame ends.
I couldn't spend so much time making a great bed frame without making a headboard. I had two pieces of red cedar I salvaged from a landfill and re-sawed them to create four head boards. I thought they’d look great hand-planed even with the bolt holes in them from their previous use. My wife thought the headboard would look much better carved and gave me a picture she liked of a simple tree which I carved into the cedar boards. It was one of the easiest parts of the whole project! At long last, the “simple, fast and easy” bed frame was finished. Not quite!
We decided to pay tribute to all the mice and pack rats busily living, chewing and urinating on all the wood we have in our shed. I carved a small,shallow relief on one of the slats of a mouse, standing up, smoking a cigar, peeing, as if to say,”What?”
The head board is supported by one inch angle iron I cut, bent and re-welded to lean back at a 104 degree angle to make it comfortable for sitting in bed. The carved cedar head board pieces are attached with stainless steel carriage bolts I modified for a more handmade look, and heated to color the bolt heads and then polished.
Port Orford Cedar,
7' x 5'3" x 3'7'' Queen Size Bed
NFS
This piece is no longer available, however a similar but unique piece can be commissioned. Contact the artist.