Of all the projects I’ve done this bed frame had the fewest number of pieces but was one of the most challenging.

Bed frames, in general, are a hard project for any woodworker because of the sheer scale of the pieces. Where a normal stretcher on a cabinet might be 3” wide by 3/4” thick, the side rails on this bed frame are 12” wide and 1 1/2” thick! With the size of these pieces, you have to change the way you approach every process, you can’t use a small 6” jointer because the pieces are too long, and you can’t rip the to width on the table saw because they are too heavy. So, you have to learn how to bring the tool to the workpiece and this is where I got to add a new tool to my arsenal, a Makita Track Saw. The track saw let me break down these long boards and joint the edges, all without taking the boards off the workbench. For pretty every step of this project, I found ways to keep them firmly mounted on the workbench and slowly create the large pieces you see in the final frame.

Another first on this project was resawing to the full width of my 14” bandsaw. If you ever want an adrenalin rush, go ahead and bring that guard all the way up and you’ll definitely start feeling the buzz. My first couple of attempts went really bad and I ended up popping the break by having the wide pieces pinch the blade. What I learned from this was that when you're resawing wide pieces you can’t use the fence. You need to guide the piece in free hand, carefully following your line, and when you get to the end of the cut prepare for a bang (or a loud pop) as the pieces break apart!