My first bed project - need advice

[futureboy]

For a while now I've been fiddling around with SketchUp, making various simple projects come to life, but now I must tackle The Bed.

bed.skp

As an amateur woodworker (lots of screws, and I don't even have a router yet) this project is something I balked at from the very beginning.

I don't have very much experience with complicated joinery, and in the past I've had a tendency to build bulky because of nervousness about strength.

I would like to get rid of all those fears and make a really good big bed for my fiancee as a wedding gift.

I've attached the .skp for your viewing pleasure.

I plan to make it out of solid wood - using the spruce and/or fir I get from the woods around my country home, maybe glued pieces for the head/foot.

I need advice, pointers, tips, practical/structural design modifications, that any more experienced people may have.

Thanks!

[dlamulle]

For a while now I've been fiddling around with SketchUp, making various simple projects come to life, but now I must tackle The Bed.

bed.skp

As an amateur woodworker (lots of screws, and I don't even have a router yet) this project is something I balked at from the very beginning.

I don't have very much experience with complicated joinery, and in the past I've had a tendency to build bulky because of nervousness about strength.

I would like to get rid of all those fears and make a really good big bed for my fiancee as a wedding gift.

I've attached the .skp for your viewing pleasure.

I plan to make it out of solid wood - using the spruce and/or fir I get from the woods around my country home, maybe glued pieces for the head/foot.

I need advice, pointers, tips, practical/structural design modifications, that any more experienced people may have.

Thanks!

Welcome,

My first thought to pass on to you is the fact that most beds are very easy to build. You can get the exact dimensions online for the size you'd like to construct but I would measure the mattress you plan on using since they do vary depending on make and style. Believe me an inch makes a big difference. Spruce or Fir would be nice for a bed but remember if you cut the wood from your own land you will have to let it dry for about a year per inch of thickness before it will be suitable to use as furniture. I don't have sketchup yet so I can't open your file. All you really need to build a bed is the hardware to attach the side boards to the headboard posts and the design for a headboard and footboard. I'm sure you will be fine.

Dave

[futureboy]

Thanks for the quick reply, Dave!

I've sketched the bed for the mattress I have now, and I plan on buying a new one the same size. I figure I can just lay the new one on top of the old one for extra comfort. The lady would like a fairly high bed, and the height of the two mattresses is accounted for in the plan.

About the wood: Since the land has belonged to my family for more than 3 generations, there's quite a lot of wood laying around. Big pieces, too. One pile consists solely of about 50 or so 20cmX20cm 5-metre-long square logs that have been there for as long as I can remember. When I was younger I remember them being used to rebuild the floor, roof structure, and basement ceiling support structures in the big old barn.

This is in the basement. You can see the new construction with the cables hanging on it. Behind the foreground post you can just spot the grill I made last summer. On the left you can see some of the older logs.

The older pieces look really dusty and dark gray, but I've used some in previous projects and they clean up beautifully. The only problem is splitting. Looking at the ends of some of the bigger pieces shows a lot of splits that could probably cause problems. I don't know much about the maturing of spruce or fir, so it'll be tough to choose which material I'll use.

As for the hardware: I really have no idea about this as of yet. I remember an old bed my grandfather built before he passed. It simply had long bed bolts extending from the sideboards into the posts, which I assume is a standard method. However, that bed is a single for one person. I'd like to find out the pro's/con's of various methods as my bed is much bigger. So far I've checked out bed bolts and fasteners only.

Anyway, thanks again, Dave. I'm not really in any rush, so I'm glad I'll have the time to make sure everything's thought out.

You should really check out SketchUp, btw. It's totally free, and very intuitive in the way things are done.

[Bombarde16]

Lovely design and certainly buildable with minimum tooling.

• For a twin mattress, the slats can run side to side as you have drawn. For a wider mattress, I'd like to see a spine that runs down the middle to divide it into two shorter spans.
  
• Bed bolts are certainly the way to go and I highly recommend the hardware from Horton Brasses. (No, no relation.) The difference between proper bed bolts (and the little dangling covers) and general purpose fasteners is remarkable.
  
• The head and foot are an excellent place to cut your first mortise & tenon joints. If that seems too ambitious, try your hand at through dowels: Butt the pieces together with screws and glue, then remove the screws. While the end grain glue is holding things in place, drill larger holes and drive in a set of long dowels.
  

Good hunting.

[futureboy]

Lovely design and certainly buildable with minimum tooling.

• For a twin mattress, the slats can run side to side as you have drawn. For a wider mattress, I'd like to see a spine that runs down the middle to divide it into two shorter spans.
  
• Bed bolts are certainly the way to go and I highly recommend the hardware from Horton Brasses. (No, no relation.) The difference between proper bed bolts (and the little dangling covers) and general purpose fasteners is remarkable.
  
• The head and foot are an excellent place to cut your first mortise & tenon joints. If that seems too ambitious, try your hand at through dowels: Butt the pieces together with screws and glue, then remove the screws. While the end grain glue is holding things in place, drill larger holes and drive in a set of long dowels.
  

Good hunting.

Thanks for the advice, Rob! The spine down the middle..should it be vertical like the sides?

In any case, it looks like I'm going with the bed bolts.

Also, I think I might try my hand at the mortise & tenon as you suggested. I don't have much in terms of tools other than a good table saw, drill press, jig and circular saws. I've already checked out videos of dudes making decent square mortises ([-siz] or [-seez]?) using a drill press and chisels, and it looks like fun - provided it works. One question, though: If I were to make double m&t joints as shown here:

and if my head&foot boards are glue-ups of multiple pieces, how would the double tenon affect the hold of the glued-up boards? Should I just go with one long tenon?

Thanks again!