volfied Posted July 8, 2015 Report Share Posted July 8, 2015 Hi Wood Talk, I'm fairly new to woodworking. This will be the first project where I designed everything and I have some tool restrictions, but I need your opinion on whether it will work. I'm trying to build a floating bed frame, with a bottom base, a top base and shelves sticking out of the top base. I've attached a picture and the Sketchup file. I have couple concerns: 1) I only will have a miter saw and a kreg jig to make this, so I will likely spend a lot of time picking out the lumber pieces making sure they're straight. Are 2x8s a good choice for this? 2) I want to make sure the shelves are strong enough to support sitting on, do I need to build anything under them as support? 3) I designed the bottom frame to be 70" long, but given the top is 88, can I get away with something shorter? 4) How would you attach the bottom and top frame to each other? I'd like it to be reversible, so I was thinking one of those metal plates with holes for screws in it to attach the back pieces together. 5) I can probably nudge the budget up a bit to get something nicer for the top shelf boards which will be visible, what would you recommend? Thank you all for your feedback. Floating Bed Frame.skp Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Brendon_t Posted July 8, 2015 Report Share Posted July 8, 2015 What species 2x8? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
volfied Posted July 8, 2015 Author Report Share Posted July 8, 2015 Douglas Fir most likely, from one of the big stores or a local lumber supplier. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
wtnhighlander Posted July 9, 2015 Report Share Posted July 9, 2015 Finding wood that is actually dry may be the challenge at the big box stores. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ncfowler Posted July 9, 2015 Report Share Posted July 9, 2015 one thing I see if you don't have a box spring you may need to put plywood under the matress to prevent the 2by's from tellagraphing up, either that or lots of slats, just my 2 cents Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Stampy Posted July 15, 2015 Report Share Posted July 15, 2015 Slats for sure as opposed to ply so the mattress can breathe. Especially if the mattress is foam. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Stobes21 Posted July 15, 2015 Report Share Posted July 15, 2015 Agreed with others that you'll need slats for the mattress to rest on. No need for the huge grid of 2x8s. A king size mattress just needs a single middle support running head to foot to keep the slats from sagging too much. How are you going to reinforce those shelves around the side? They are going to need to hold several hundred pounds as the users will definitely sit on them as a bench to get in and out of bed, get dressed, etc. And I would be (actually I was, I built a fairly similar design out of walnut not long ago) concerned that the shelves would split along the grain where it cantilevers off. Perhaps build up the shelf from a layer of 3/4" ply, then a 1x8, and nose the front with a 1x2. How, if at all, does the top frame break down? Made out of all 2x8s that's going to be a heavy beast, and for a king size mattress moving it into a room is going to be a real challenge if it doesn't break down. I suppose if you're using pocket screws you can unscrew it and then reassemble later, but that's a lot of joints if you aren't notching the boards to interlock them, so you may be better off using a set of no mortise bed rail connections or even some simple bed bolts. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
soonerdg Posted July 15, 2015 Report Share Posted July 15, 2015 Here's my $.02, for what it's worth. 1) I only will have a miter saw and a kreg jig to make this, so I will likely spend a lot of time picking out the lumber pieces making sure they're straight. Are 2x8s a good choice for this? I'd add a sander to the tool list if you can. You should be able to accomplish the design you have with just a few basic tools. 2) I want to make sure the shelves are strong enough to support sitting on, do I need to build anything under them as support? I would add some small triangular blocks under each shelf. Maybe just 3 per side. Or maybe some decorative iron shelf brackets. That should make it plenty sturdy to sit on. 3) I designed the bottom frame to be 70" long, but given the top is 88, can I get away with something shorter? I wouldn't go any smaller on the base for fear the top would be "tippy" when you sit on the edges. 4) How would you attach the bottom and top frame to each other? I'd like it to be reversible, so I was thinking one of those metal plates with holes for screws in it to attach the back pieces together. There's really no need to attach the top frame to the base frame unless it slides around. Then just a couple of screws to hold it in place should be fine. 5) I can probably nudge the budget up a bit to get something nicer for the top shelf boards which will be visible, what would you recommend? You could go with something like cherry if you can get it. But if you're getting your lumber from the big box stores you'll be pretty much limited to whatever their particular speicies of dimensional lumber is and maybe some oak (which is cost prohibitive to get fromt these places) and maybe poplar. I'd stick with whatever you use for the rest. With a little work you can actually stain and finish the lumber to look quite nice. As stated above you'll want slats under the mattress or it will sag over time. And make shure the frame can be broken down to be moved. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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