Bed & Matching Nightstand

A few days ago I wrote and showed pictures about the process of sawmilling lumber from a log. The log happened to be wild cherry and I ended the piece by showing the freshly sawed stack of lumber. The lumber should air-dry in the stack for about one year. Then, the material can be worked into a finished product like the bed above. This is a cherry bed I built by following a plan in a woodworking magazine. (Woodsmith Vol. 108 December 1996) The plan is called Classic Cherry Bed and it shows dimensions for three sizes. The one above is full-size. I have built four beds using this plan. One using cherry lumber, one using red oak, and two from walnut. This style bed is stout, sturdy, and will not move when you turn over or move about in the bed. I like that steadfastness.

There is great satisfaction when one starts with a raw material, then, through hand and machine work, creates a finished and useful product. People who cook do it every day. A seamstress
understands this feeling when they take cloth and make something, artists, potters, machinist, carpenters, and hundreds of others get this satisfaction every day. It means more when you didn't acquire it at Walmart or Sears.