Cherry Pencil Post Bed

Here are a few images and videos showing some steps to making the posts for a pencil post bed. I have already cut the post to a four sided taper on the table saw. the next step is the tricky part. Turning this into an eight sided tapering post with a square base. First, I am using a spar makers scribe to mark the last four sides to the post. Next, I need to chisel out the lamb's tongue that is the beginning of the second four facets of the post. The rest is power planed and finished with a hand plane. The last images show a completed post.

Pencil Post Bed with Milk Paint

This is my latest pencil post bed. My design has not really changed in years but this is first one that I have painted. This was suggested by the interior designer, Cindy Neal of Texas, who chose the dark brown color of milk paint. It is an original color as it had to mixed from black and chocolate brown. She specified a different mixture of the same colors for a set of Waltham chairs that went to the same house in Cape Cod.

I have to say that I really like the way that the paint shows off the shape of the bed and especially the facets of the eight sided posts. As I buff out the paint, I allow a bit of paint to be taken off of the edges which helps more to highlight the lines of the bed.

The wood is cherry so the highlights are a nice red/brown. This bed is king size and the top of the mattress will go up to the bottom edge of the headboard. All of my beds are custom in that I fit them to your mattress thickness and can place it to your desired height off of the ground.