After a pretty long delay, I am back working in the workshop on a regular basis. The cold weather always puts a damper on my workshop time and I never really recovered my enthusiasm after the weather warmed up again.
The few times I did get into the workshop were spent productively on Lauren's Bunk Bed. I am happy to say it is almost complete and it should be finished and installed in her room this weekend. All the major parts are upstairs in the workshop in the 'finishing' room. The bunk bed 'top' will be finished the same as her bottom bed,
Watco Natural Danish Oil. This is my favourite finishing method, wipe on with a rag, follow up with a second coat 30 minutes later, then wipe off the excess. Let it dry and it's done. Add a coat of poly if you want extra protection (not needed on this bed).
Downstairs in the workshop I need to cut the mattress boards and the safety rail. First the mattress boards. Since the mattress boards are mostly hidden under the mattress, they'll be poplar. I dug through my wood pile to find all the poplar. My quick measurement shows that I should have enough - barely.
On the right are 3 more boards of curly maple that I made her bottom bed from. I forgot I had those and they'll come in handy for the safety rails. The boards on the left are all the poplar I had left and should just be enough to cover the frame.
My favourite way to plane lots of wood is to open up the garage door and let the shavings fly. Once planing is complete, I shovel the shavings into a garbage bin and put it to the curb for the compost truck to pick up. I find that the 1hp dust collector I have frequently clogs with the planer shavings so this way is much less hassle - I'm sure the neighbours love it as well.
Here is the pile of mattress boards after planing. I chopped them to size before planing to make them easier to handle. I'll clean up the edges on the tablesaw, use the router table to put a bevel on the bottom edge and then a bit of sanding before moving them upstairs for a coat of finish.
