Thread: WIP my first bed.

Looking like your off to a good start.

In the last picture you can see the frame on the right has a rail attached. This will support the slats. It is the weak point in my design. It has been glued and screwed to the frame. Probably I should have added some legs to help support the load but I'm hoping it is OK.

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Originally Posted by DaveVman

In the last picture you can see the frame on the right has a rail attached. This will support the slats. It is the weak point in my design. It has been glued and screwed to the frame. Probably I should have added some legs to help support the load but I'm hoping it is OK.

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The little blocks made assembly of a sub frame easier. I made 2 identical frames. Each has sides and ends. A central part and cross braces.

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So far this is conceptually the same as Steve Ramsey 's design. From this point on I made my own design.
This is by far my biggest woodwork project so far. The pocket screws idea was good for a beginner like me.

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I'm not sure if you can see but all the bottom rails have pocket holes pre drilled which will be used to screw the frame to a base later.
The bed is going to have 4 parts plus the slats.
Plus a headboard eventually. I originally didn't want to make a headboard but the wife talked me into making one. I agreed to do one but I haven't designed the headboard yet and I can't make it in time for the arrival of our house guest. I'll make a headboard as a separate project in a couple of months at my usual glacial pace. The rest of the bed has a deadline I'm forced to work to. Hate that aspect but I'm enjoying building some practical furniture.



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Is it my imagination or is Titebond III easier to work with as the manufacturer claims? Maybe it's just because I was not so liberal since it costs more. I have also learnt to use the masking tape trick to keep squeeze out from sensitive areas. This time I did not leave the tape in overnight which might have made all the difference because previously I had some trouble removing tape from inside corners.
Who knows perhaps its a combination of things but I glued and screwed the frame together to try and make it as strong as possible.

Being the son of a civil engineer, I have an inbuilt tendency to over engineer every woodwork project. I have been trying to ween myself off this and use finer tolerances.
On the other hand if anything needs to be strong, it is a bed. So I've used up a bit of mental energy trying to keep materials to a minimum but to be very strong as a custom bed should be.

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As I mentioned earlier, from this point it is not just a modified design but mine entirely.

I wanted drawers that sit on ball bearing and steel runners. Also I felt that the frame needed more bracing. My lack of experience made this specific design choice difficult. In the end I decided to add solid wood plates to run as sides to mount drawer runners on and to strengthen the frame in it's mid section.
Originally I thought I would make some wooden brackets to secure these parts to the lower cross braces. However when I did a dry fit I realized I could just pocket hole screw them to the lower level frame. This worked great.
The only flaw in the approach is that I made some of the holes to screw down the frame to the platform inaccessible. However, as usual, I had over engineered the number of these anyway so no problem.





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Note that the little blocks to line up the lower level cross braces were also designed to position the drawer runner braces at the correct height.
I ripped some parts to the exact width so the drawer runner braces are like a box frame and self position to the correct location. I glued and tacked these parts first and then pocket hole screwed the drawer runner braces.
Too easy once I figured out the best approach.

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I think in hindsight the end frames should of had pocket holes on the outside to screw down to the platform. You won't see these in the finished bed and by putting these on the inside I ended up with one screw sticking out. You won't see that when I finally do the headboard but in hindsight it wasn't necessarily or convenient to have those holes on the inside.
Just one of those mistakes no one else will notice except me.

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Originally Posted by DaveVman

In the last picture you can see the frame on the right has a rail attached. This will support the slats. It is the weak point in my design. It has been glued and screwed to the frame. Probably I should have added some legs to help support the load but I'm hoping it is OK.

Provided your glue is not "dead", it will be fine.

Attached is a photo of our bed during initial assembly 13 years ago.
The slats are 100 x 20 mm (approx) Tassie oak
the Rail supports are hardwood glued and screwed to a Toona Australia (Australian Red Cedar) frame. The frame is morticed and tenoned into the legs.
The head board is a coopered panel around 18 mm thick

I am enjoying the updates.

I know that you have mention that you have a time limit to get this completed and I am feeling that in your updates.

Originally Posted by ian

Provided your glue is not "dead", it will be fine.

Attached is a photo of our bed during initial assembly 13 years ago.

That is a very nice bed. Thanks for the photo.
In some respects mine is over engineered compared to yours but mine is all held together with screws vs your proper joinery.
Your bed is clearly fine furniture whereas mine isn't. However mine is still solid wood and I have a plan to make it look impressive in it's own way.


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Originally Posted by Christos

I am enjoying the updates.

I know that you have mention that you have a time limit to get this completed and I am feeling that in your updates.

Good to know. The lack of comments up to now made me wonder if it is interesting to members.

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Originally Posted by ian

Provided your glue is not "dead", it will be fine.

What does dead mean?



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