Twin Twin Beds

[Denette]

A friend of mine has two sons. One is about 7 and the other might be 3.  These two are about to be sharing a room, and my friend commissioned me to build a couple of beds for their room.  She sent me this picture as a guide for the style:

The original plan was to have the two beds in a corner with under-bed storage, along with a shelf in the corner between the beds.  I quickly realized that this design was not ideal for furniture that would definitely be split up in a few years when the boys moved back into separate rooms.  I decided to swap out the cabinet-storage-cube-thing that serves as a headboard in the sample photo with a table that would mount to the headboards of the beds.  That way the client would get more adaptability and a nice table, too.

I made two designs in Sketchup based on the idea of having two beds with a linking table.  Here's the design I really wanted to build:

And here's the second design, the one more similar to the original photo:

 

The first design is one that I honestly find much more aesthetically pleasing.  It isn't painted, after all.  But as is the case, the client is right (and I can't complain, because this build is funding my next personal project!), so I worked with the client on bed designs.  We went through many iterations of both possible designs, playing with varieties of wood, paint colors, drawers, bed orientations, headboard height, you name it.  Here's how the file looked in Sketchup after about an hour of consulting with my friend over the design:

Ultimately we decided to go with something close to my second design, but with open cubbies rather than drawers (for price reasons).  Funny enough, we almost agreed to build a project that wouldn't fit in the kids' room!  It's a good thing I thought to get them to measure it out, because if I had built the beds with the table, that table would have been going somewhere else - the 90° bed orientation wouldn't fit in the kids' room without blocking the door!  I got a tape measure and did a speedy sketchup model of the room just to make sure, and then we ended up deciding on this layout:

 

So now I'm looking into the specifics of how to build this thing.  I've figured out that I can make both beds from a total of 6 sheets of plywood and less than 40 board feet of 4/4 poplar for the trim.  My boards are laid out like this:

 

And here is the final goal:

 

It doesn't look like much, but the goal is functional, rugged, and simple.  Here's my construction plan.

 

1. Cut all plywood to size, dado all the dadoes.

2. Add support strips beneath the bottom sheet of plywood, and nestle its ends into the dadoes at the head and foot of the bed.  Glue it up baby.

3-4: Add in the plywood that will form the cubbies.  Glue like there's no tomorrow.

5. Put a hat on it.

6. Make the poplar face frames.  Use a biscuit joiner and glue to join the stiles and rails, because I ain't made of money.  I'll write "domino" on the biscuits in pencil, that'll make it stronger. (That board that runs parallel to the interior of the face frame goes under the plywood base layer so that any pressure on that edge is transferred to the floor by something other than the face frame, which I don't want to pop off.)

7. Put some clothes on that frame, it's nekkid.

8. Coffee break.  You've got a bed base. 

9. Quit drinking coffee on the job, you lazy... What am I paying you for?  To drink coffee?  Go make a headboard!  Start with the plywood that will face the front, and two poplar legs that will be bolted to the frame (somehow??!?)[I'll figure that out later]{Why are there three kinds of brackets?}

10. Frame it up for maximum classiness.  The side frames will actually nestle right up to the face frame so that it looks like it is part of the trim.

11. Add spacers to the bottom of the legs so that the bolts have some meat to press against when the headboard is attached to the base unit.

 

12. More framing.  Frame it so hard that it writes a reggae song about it.  YOU DID TOO SHOOT THE DEPUTY, YOU HEADBOARD.

In all seriousness, not sure how I'll be attaching some of this poplar trim around the headboard.  I don't have a pin nailer.  Something to think about.

13. Bask in all its headboardy glory.

14. Weep as you paint it.

15. Weep again as you paint the second coat

16. Think about how you're getting paid to build this and get to make a sweet project for yourself next

17. Dry your tears and check for spots in the paint that need to be touched up due to tear damage

18. Repeat, because you're making two beds!  {([Or, more likely, batch out everything as you're working so that you don't have to recalibrate the table saw and other tools twice as many times.])}

 

 

...Well that got more ridiculous than I'd planned on getting.

 

Here's what the finished product should hopefully look like with a standard twin mattress on it, and the baskets my client/friend is buying in the cubbies underneath.  (I'm kind of a Sketchup wizard, because she sent me a picture from Target's website, and I was able to use the picture and dimensions from the website to make a photorealistic scale model of the basket.  What what?)  Top view:

Bottom View (Or, what you see if it's thrown from an airplane.  You should run if you see this.  Delta is getting sloppy these days, jeez)

 

 

So yeah!  This post was fun.  I haven't started actually working on it, but probably will either this weekend or next weekend.  I'll update once I've actually made some sawdust.  Hope you enjoyed it!  I'd love any suggestions on design modifications or anything.  Way easier to fix a stupid mistake now, before it exists in material reality.

[wtnhighlander]

Looks like a plan, to me!

Awesome Sketchup chops, by the way.

I recommend taking part of the down payment (you DID get a down payment, right?) and buying an inexpensive pin nailer. This will go together sooooo much faster with one.

[JosephThomas]

Lol, fun start to a journal.

Sent from my Nexus 5 using Tapatalk

[Denette]

Looks like a plan, to me!

Awesome Sketchup chops, by the way.

I recommend taking part of the down payment (you DID get a down payment, right?) and buying an inexpensive pin nailer. This will go together sooooo much faster with one.

Yes, I did get a down payment! It more than covers materials.

And thanks! I've been playing with Sketchup for almost ten years now.

Got any suggestions on a modestly priced pin nailer? I must confess I've never really looked into one, even after watching all the Norm I can find.

[JosephThomas]

6 minutes ago, Denette said:

Got any suggestions on a modestly priced pin nailer?

NuMax:

https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0032JTDQI/ref=wl_it_dp_o_pd_nS_ttl?_encoding=UTF8&colid=37QB3XQT7SLJN&coliid=I2DJNEXD8MG9CL

[wtnhighlander]

That Numax looks like a good deal, although I'm not familiar with them. I have a Bostitch brad nailer, and a Rigid stapler, both work well and weren't too costly. I even hear that the brad nailers / pinners from Harbor Freight are pretty decent. List price is comparable to the Numax, but you can get a 25% off coupon from their web site right now.

[Denette]

Thanks for the suggestions! So as someone who has an obnoxiously noisy pancake air compressor, electric pin nailers sure seem appealing. Are there any huge drawbacks to electric pin nailers vs pneumatic ones?

I've never really wanted a nail gun. I feel like my woodworking skill set has developed kind of backwards, because I can do mortise-and-tenon joints all day long. I've made adirondack chairs and benches, coffee tables, a birdhouse, and other stuff without any metal fasteners. And yet here I am thinking "geez, I don't know if I'm ready for a finish nailer..."

[treeslayer]

just go down the rabbit hole Denette, those things can come in handy, i have the Numax 23ga and a Porter Cable 18ga and they  do speed things up in the right application, the little pancake compressors run them just fine.

[shaneymack]

Nice looking project, Denette. After that post, you dont even need to do a journal, It feels like youve already completed the project lol. 

As for pin nailer, most of the time the cheaper pin nailers only shoot up to 1" or even less. Is the trim you want to install 3/4"? You will need a pin nailer that can fire atleast 1 1/4" pins for that. Just double check pin capacity before buying one and being disappointed. 

[MattSC]

I second what treeslayer said and if your still unsure see if you can use a friends nailer and I bet after you shoot that first nail youll go buy your own .  Atleast thats how it went with me.

[JosephThomas]

Nice looking project, Denette. After that post, you dont even need to do a journal, It feels like youve already completed the project lol. 

As for pin nailer, most of the time the cheaper pin nailers only shoot up to 1" or even less. Is the trim you want to install 3/4"? You will need a pin nailer that can fire atleast 1 1/4" pins for that. Just double check pin capacity before buying one and being disappointed. 

The numax takes between 1/2" and 1" nails. I don't think I would use 23g nails on material thicker than 1/2" anyway, but that's me...

Sent from my Nexus 5 using Tapatalk

[shaneymack]

33 minutes ago, JosephThomas said:

I don't think I would use 23g nails on material thicker than 1/2" anyway, but that's me..

If it is 3\4" material and he is using glue then the pins would just act as a temp clamp untill the glue dries which would work. 

[Elroy Skimms]

That has to be the most thorough journal plan I have read on this site. And one of the most entertaining to read as well.

I'm in agreement with the rest of the gang here as well, regarding the pin nailer. Get one. As shaneymack said, if you are using glue, the pin nailer will act as a clamp to hold it all together while the glue dries. Once the glue dries, it will do all the holding you need.

How are you planning on applying the paint on this? Do you have a sprayer (airless, HVLP, cup gun, etc.)? Are you looking for an absolutely smooth finish or do you want the grain to telegraph through the surface a little bit?

-E

[Chet]

Looks like a great project.  Just my 2 cents worth,  I really like the Senco nail guns.  They have operated flawlessly for me for years.  Little more $ but they do have a nice feature in that if it needs to be repaired, they are designed to be worked on by the owner.  You just purchase their rebuild kits. Although I have yet had to do this.

[Denette]

OK, so I went ahead and bought an 18-gauge NuMax pin nailer with up to 2" capacity.  Should be here early next week, so I guess that's when the rubber meets the road on this project!

 

I got this one: https://smile.amazon.com/gp/product/B00820LWNO/ref=oh_aui_detailpage_o00_s00?ie=UTF8&psc=1

Should be a good one for this project.

[Denette]

11 hours ago, Elroy Skimms said:

How are you planning on applying the paint on this? Do you have a sprayer (airless, HVLP, cup gun, etc.)? Are you looking for an absolutely smooth finish or do you want the grain to telegraph through the surface a little bit?

I have an HVLP sprayer (a Flexio 590) and am aiming for as smooth a finish as possible.  

[Elroy Skimms]

10 hours ago, Denette said:

I have an HVLP sprayer (a Flexio 590) and am aiming for as smooth a finish as possible.  

When I want a really smooth painted finish, I'll spray Lenmar's Duralaq product. It's a great filler and primer for smoothing out woodgrain and the edges of MDF. I believe you can find it at Benjamin Moore stores, or at least the ones that sell their pro products for cabinet shops.

http://www.lenmar-coatings.com/product-detail/pro/lenmar/duralaq-wb-waterborne-white-acrylic-undercoater

As a top coat, I've had good luck with both Sherwin Williams Kem Aqua and Fuhr Industrials (I believe it is the 9200). I switched to Kem Aqua recently because it costs a lot less than the 9200.

-E

[Denette]

I've got supplies!  Six sheets of plywood and about 45 board feet of 4/4 poplar. It's sitting on top of the wood for my split-top Roubo, which this bed building project is paying for!  Here it is:

 I bought some pretty good looking plywood from my local Lowe's.  10 ply, smooth finish, one side already primed.

 

My planning has gotten out of control.  I've created 3d models of each board I got from the lumber dealer and then disassembled my 3d model of the beds and overlaid each piece onto the models of the boards to lay out my cuts.  I then printed it out oversize and have it all ready to go.

 

Production in earnest should start this weekend.  Woo!

Oh, yeah - and as you can see in the pictures, I got my brad nailer from Amazon!  Works like a charm.  Should get a lot of mileage out of this thing in shop projects.

[Elroy Skimms]

14 hours ago, Denette said:

 I bought some pretty good looking plywood from my local Lowe's.  10 ply, smooth finish, one side already primed.

The cores look great on that ply, but that veneer looks very thin.

-E

[wdwerker]

Ply is always an odd number of layers, it's balanced construction. Thin face layers are normal these days. That sheet is 13 plys.

[JosephThomas]

I only see 12 (including the faces). Is there some kind of visual 'trick' going on? As steve says, I have never seen an even number...

[gee-dub]

He's off and running.  Looking forward to tagging along.

[Denette]

8 hours ago, Elroy Skimms said:

The cores look great on that ply, but that veneer looks very thin.

-E

 

8 hours ago, wdwerker said:

Ply is always an odd number of layers, it's balanced construction. Thin face layers are normal these days. That sheet is 13 plys.

I worked with it a little more just now, it's definitely 11 solid layers in the center with 2 very thin veneer layers.  The veneer on the primed side doesn't really show up in the photo I posted earlier, but it's definitely there.  So 13 altogether.  I looked into it a little more.  The brand is "Top Choice" which is Lowes's in-house top-of-the-line store brand.  It's been pretty pleasant to work with thus far!  

There's been some bad tear out on the corner at the end of a cut with my circular saw, but that's likely due to the fact that I don't really have an outfeed table, so the makeshift outfeed surface I use is a few inches lower than the tablesaw, which supports the other half of the board.  

No new pictures today because there's not an awful lot to see.  I've got all but one of the plywood boards broken down just a bit.  I'll tackle that last one next time I get some shop time.  I played with my air nailer - very nice!  18 gauge nails look like a good fir for the project.  Only complaint about it is that it is a combo stapler/nailer, so if I want to bury the nail heads beneath the surface and cover over with filler it is going to make a staple-wide hole rather than just a pinhole for the nail.  Live and learn.  I guess if I'm going to be filling it anyway it's no big deal.

 

[wdwerker]

Go back and use a regular nail set. Problem solved.

[Denette]

Go back and use a regular nail set. Problem solved.

Yeah, I guess so. Just one of the little learning things that happen with any new tool.