Murphy Bed

This project started in February 2016 and was finished at the end of June 2016. Kind of slow when I have to wait for help due to a stupid auto accident with a 17-year old who was not texting. She was changing her music. The cabinet and drop-down section are ¾” birch while the trims are all clear pine. The hardware is from Create-A-Beds through Rockler Woodworking and Hardware. The finish is five coats of MinWax PolyShade Classic Oak to match the rest of the room. Very smooth, deep finish. Only dropped one cut piece with damage enough I had to replace it. Material for something else like night stands now.

All my opinions - The instructions from Create-A-Bad need a bit of work, however, if you read through them you will figure it out. The phone tech support is super. The cut sheet plots need a lot of work. If you think it out, it will work okay.

In the middle of the project I received a gift from Colonel Mark D. Harrell, United States Army, Retired, who is the owner / president of the Bad Axe Tool Works. His miter saw and bench hooks were used for the trim corners. There are 64 pieces of trim in the project and every one has two 45 degree ends, each hand cut and fitted. The matching is fantastic on the vast majority and a bit off on a couple where my skill and ability failed me. Wood filler fixed for gaps less than a toothpick in width. However, all are at least very nice.

The Bad Axe Tool Works, named after a region in Wisconsin, saw and bench hooks are fantastic. So beautiful that you almost hate to use them. I have several miter boxes and saws that are "almost" accurate. The Bad Axe Tool Works set is right on. The handle fits my hand like a well-made glove and the cut is SMOOTH. Many non-woodworkers do not realize that to make a square or rectangle with 45-degree corner cuts requires exact precision of eight angles and four pieces of wood. A bit off on any one element and it is all off. Even hand cutting the lengths on every one gave me phenomenal results. I could only cut about four corners before I had to rest and recover so trim was time consuming. A couple of pieces are firewood or paint sticks now. I used a paint stick - soft wood to protect the Bad Axe Tool Works set. Simply beautiful.

While sheets and blankets can stay on the Murphy Bed when it is stowed, pillows have to come off – stored on top. The result is very pleasing. I have my reading room back and we have an almost instant guest room.

Fun project that my Wife thinks is cool. Growing up in Chicago in the 50s, Murphy Beds were relatively common. Now I own one. A neighbor is looking into making one.

Thanks,

Rex