Arched Bed #1: Design Sketchup

Hello jocks and jockettes… it has been awhile since my last project, still I’ve been keeping busy. This is the first entry in a new series on the Arched Bed. If you’ve seen the copper patina gates you know where I got the idea, or as my brother said, “you’re turning your gate into a bed.”

The backstory is I had built a bed a couple years ago but since that time we got a Sleep Number bed. Well the new mattresses are each 10” tall so the old bed is like sleeping on stilts. What a great excuse to build a new bed, huh? Well I wanted to make a kind of a platform bed with curved corners on the footboard to minimize the chance and severity of collisions with my shins. I also wanted to try to match my nightsands, experiement further with bending wood, and incorporate the copper patina panel. I also wanted to learn more about Sketchup. The bed is made out of maple with a jatoba toprail. At least it will have a jatoba toprail when I can find a piece. The side rails and footboard are 1” x 8”. The corners of the footrail are bent around a 2 1/2” radius. So how do you bend 1” thick maple around a 2 1/2” radius? See hint below.

If anyone wants a copy of the sketchup file please let me know. Next entry I’ll go into some of the geometry and caculations of the chord, rise, radius, and arch length using a spreadsheet I downloaded from a fellow woodworker and the Sketchup program.

A note of thanks to the hosts of this site, all the folks who take the time to submit blog entries and provide comments and helpful advice, and to all the people who stop by for a look. I get so much out of your contributions this is my way of paying you back and keeping the good vibes going.

-- tim hill www.newcalshop.com