I drove to my dads house to get the wood. He has had rough cut 1X12's sitting in the back yard for several years. They are warped, dirty, cracked..... I think my husband thought I was crazy for wanting to do this. 6 months after getting the wood I finally started. I first took the boards and sanded the caked on red dirt off. Then my 8 year old helped me rip them on the table saw into an 8 inch piece and a 4 inch piece. Then sanded again. The boards turned from red or grey to a yellow color. My husband told me to do it right I needed to use a jointer and he showed me how and I needed to use biscuts to join the planks together, we borrowed one and he showed me how to use the tool. It is so cool, I want to buy one. Then I called my neighbor over to help me, he brought a power planner over and showed me how to use it. It made all the boards the same heighth and REALLY sanded them good (remember these are rough cut boards). Then we used a belt sander to make them really smooth. Then we used a router with a Vgrove bit down the planks where the 1x8's meet. He had two fluted, tapered columns in his garage he has been trying to get rid of so we cut them down and used them as the posts for the headboard and footboard. I cut the arch with a jig saw. Looks pretty darn great! I surprised people with the wood I used! Thank goodness for biscuts, jointers, planners and belt sanders! Best part......cost me a whole $15 to get to this point. I had to buy wood glue, biscuts, and sand paper.
I want to use a laquer finish and try to use a glaze in the grooves. I will try to attach a finished picture when it is done.
