Custom Furniture Project | Archtop Bed Frame

It is January, 2024 and I just completed the first major custom furniture project in the workshop I began building eight months ago after relocating to Florida.

Inspiration hit when I started sawing the large stack of logs that were on my property when I purchased it in 2021. I also noted a neighbor’s live oak tree with some nice curved broken branches (I call them ‘sweeps’). I drove my tractor over there and cut up two nice 12+ inch diameter sweeps and brought them home. I built a special jig, which is an aid for specific projects, and sawed the sweeps into the longest lengths that would fit in my Woodland Mills WM126, 26″ wide cutting depth sawmill. After cutting them I clamped them flat in preparation for taking them to a kiln for drying.

This custom furniture art project, the arch-top bed frame, took around 85 hours to build. See posts for details of joinery.

Woodworking | Furniture Art

Image of bed frame from isometric perspective — Isometric perspective view of bed frame showing natural grain on arches and bottom rails.
Isometric perspective view of bed frame showing natural grain on arches and bottom rails. Shows side rails with cleat to support slats.

Picture of nearly complete custom bed footboard created by Florida woodworking artisan Steve Crook. — Nearly complete custom bed footboard created by Florida woodworking artisan Steve Crook.
Nearly complete custom bed footboard created by Florida woodworking artisan Steve Crook.

Image of custom bed headboard showing rails and slats — Custom bed headboard showing rails and slats
The nearly complete custom bed headboard created by woodworking artisan Steve Crook showing the bed rails and slats in place.

Detail image of a portion of the custom arched bed headboard showing the oak wood grain figure. — A portion of the custom arched bed headboard showing the oak wood grain figure.
A detail portion of Steve Crook's custom arched bed headboard showing the wood grain figure.

This view gives a good idea of the character in the laurel and live oak pieces. While laurel oak is not considered a premium wood, the beautiful wood grain figure can be seen in the posts and bottom rails.