2. Workshop

Headboard

A king sized minimalistic headboard for a floor mounted mattress.
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A 2x4 from the store has an edge that wouldn't be conducive to the dovetailing I wanted, so I planed down both side of the 2x4 with a hand plane.
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A 2x4 from the store has an edge that wouldn't be conducive to the dovetailing I wanted, so I planed down both side of the 2x4 with a hand plane.

  • This was a simpler project for me and started off with an idea and an afternoon that I had some energy left in me. I whacked off a 2x4 and two 4x4 chunks fit to the proper dimensions of the mattress to start, using a chop saw I just picked up off craigslist and fixed up a few weeks prior.
  • A 2x4 from the store has an edge that wouldn't be conducive to the dovetailing I wanted, so I planed down both side of the 2x4 with a hand plane.
  • Coming up with a decent simple dovetail pattern took me a few minutes, and then I drew it out on the end of the 2x4s and cut those first.
  • The parts of the cuts that I couldn't reach with a sawblade I used a chisel to knock out.
  • Since I won't be living here forever, but will probably take the bed with me when I leave, I routed out the frame to fit around the trim in the bedroom.
  • After a bunch of trial and error fitting the pieces together they finally fit, at which point I glued it, left it overnight, and sanded it all flush using a belt sander in the next session. The edges I then sanded by hand into a nice bevel, having found that hand sanding did a better job than the router.
  • Once the boards were sanded, all that was left was to stain it, let it sit a day, and then do a couple coats of polyurethane to finish things off. I borrowed a friend's shop for that part since my shop is in the kitchen and Tracy hates chemical smells in the house.
  • With the headboard finished, the final touches were attaching a couple power strips on the underside, and mounting it solidly to the wall and the floor with L brackets.
  • The end result: an elegantly simple headboard with both looks and function, keeping our daughter Luna out of the wires and offering us a beautiful place to clutter up with all our bedside junk!
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