Ash Headboard With Floating Shelves
I've been wanting to make a headboard for a while now. After making my workbench and organizing my old storage room into something resembling a shop, I thought it was time to tackle this. Picked up some kiln-dried ash from a local supplier and went to it. My goal? To recreate (and improve upon) a $3000 headboard. Yup - those zeros are all accurate.
Got the sconces I wanted (finally). These are far better than the ones before.
This is the headboard I'm more or less trying to duplicate. I personally want mine to be higher and go closer to the floor. This one is made out of reclaimed wagon-board (white oak) that has been planed down. The store wanted 3000 for it and it's not finished at that price.
I saw an ad for some kiln-dried ash. Most planks required very little in the way of jointing / planing and this stuff was a pleasure to work with. All boards were 4/4 except for a single 8/4 which will be used to make the shelves.
Unfortunately I didn't take any pictures of the pieces prior to glue-up. The bed this is going on is a Queen, and I'm aiming for an overall length of 8'4".
Final glue-up.
Added a second layer on the back to give the illusion of thickness, as well as allowing for space for my french cleats and electrical for the sconces, while adding strength to the glued-up slab.
Shelves being cut / planed to size.
Sanding, sanding and more sanding.
After about a week of experimenting with finishes, I ended up settling on Old Masters Spanish Oak.
Mounting the sconce and shelf hardware.
I really, REALLY don't like these sconces, but they were a compromise. The only ones I could find similar to the ones on the $3000 headboard were $284 CDN each (Bruck Lighting) which I simply couldn't justify for 2 pieces of bent aluminum with some wiring. If anyone has ideas on where to procure some at a WAY cheaper price I'd love to hear about it. These ones don't provide much in the way of light, and I think they look cheap.