transitions

I decided to start carving at this corner and the transition between the creek banks and the border. The transition line between the field and the border needs to be a sharp crisp line almost like the border is a separate applied board. In some ways it might have been easier to just glue a board on the edge after all the carving is done, but this would have had its own problems.

A board will expand and contract with seasonal changes in humidity. The rate of movement varies according to the grain and the species of wood, but the curious thing is that this movement will only happen in the width and thickness of the board and not along its length. I expect the width of the headboard to change by approximately 3/16" between summer and winter. If I glued a board on the edge to form the border the boards on the ends would not change in length and the joints in the corners where those boards joined the boards on the sides would open up and form a noticeable and unsightly gap.

When making a cabinet door a similar problem is solved by designing the large panel so it can float in the frame and the amount of distance it can float must equal or exceed the amount of expected movement. I could have designed the headboard with a similar frame and floating panel but it would require a gap around the perimeter which would show as a dark shadow line and I wanted something much more subtle. I felt a shadow line would have become too strong of a focal point and drawn too much attention from the field.

I wasn't sure what I was going to say about this picture, in some ways it is just a picture of the process of making. In another way it is a documentation of the work yet to be done.

Robin