I'm in the process of building a pet bed in the style of a Federal sofa, and I've learned a bit in this project. First, I've learned how much I like working with sycamore. What a beautiful wood! I went to a local purveyor of reclaimed wood, Jax Reclaimed Wood. The owner of this shop gathers up locally downed trees, cuts, and dries them. Then he sells most of them as slabs.

I found a beautiful piece of sycamore and threw it in the back of my truck, hauled it into my shop, and then I let it get acclimated. After about a week I started playing with it. I used some small pieces to make some cat-shaped inlays for a sign.

And then I decided to pursue my hare-brained scheme of building a Federal-style sofa as a pet bed. Truly, I just love making furniture, but I prefer to make small pieces. I wanted something luxurious for my adorable kitty, Oreo, who needs her own sofa.

But where does one get the plans for a Federal style sofa? Not a lot of builders in the 18th century were publishing PDFs of their couch schematics. Ugh! So, I've had to wing it. I drew a picture of what I would like this thing to look like, but it was just a starting point.

Used the CNC to cut the curves
Did some rough shaping with a file
Frame is slowly coming together

So this is as far as I've gotten. I still have a long way to go. I know nothing about upholstery so I'm not sure where I'm going from here. This process has been difficult in that I have had no access to an example of a Federal couch. I've just looked at some photos online, mostly from antique furniture web sites.

Hopefully, this will turn out decent looking. In about 2 weeks, I'll have another update.