Thread: New bed & Ozzie Jig help

Sam, I have the current Ozzie jig - with two rows of holes. I bought it a couple of years ago and it came with a DVD. If you think it would help with your 3 row jig, I will give you the DVD, just personal mail me with your postal address and you can have it. Personally, however, there is no way I would use dowels for the cross rails of a double bed. I will be interested to hear what other woodworkers will say about it, but I think dowel joints will have you regretting the choice within a year or two. I would go for M and T.

Thanks for that.

I am leaning towards the M & T.
If I am going to do this I would like to do some as a though tennon for the contrast in the wood.

Is it safe to do this on the 100mmx30mm posts with the mortice going through the width of the posts and what would be the Max thickness of the M &T.
I have a long shank 1/2 router bit that could make the mortice by going through both sides of the posts or is there a better way of doing it.
I do have a drill press but would be tricky to get everything true.

One of the crosspieces is 240mm wide. I assume it would be better to make 2 tennons rather than 1 long one. It the best way of doing this using a router to remove the waste between the tennons by cutting a slot to get the straight edge between them and finnishing the rest of the cut with a handsaw or circular saw (triton set up)
Thanks

I am not absolutely confident I understand your design, but there is no way I would be trying to make a through mortise through 100mm deep posts just for the sake of a contrast of the end grain where the tenon exits. Maybe a sketch of what you intend would help more experienced bed makers to offer you their advice.

Sam, I have sent the DVD to your PO box. I played it first and I am sure you will find it very instructive. It caused me to review my thoughts about your bed structure. If I am reading your explanation correctly, the main weight and stresses on the side rails will be taken by the brackets you have salvaged from your purchase of an old bed. The joints you are talking about are the cross rails at the top and bottom of the bed into the posts. The thickness and the width of the timbers you are using for these pieces suggests that you could get double rows each of about 5 dowels into each joint. If you are using 8mm or 10mm dowels into top and bottom crossrails that have good shoulders and are spaced a bit apart I think you would have a strong enough structure. The Ozzie Jig should allow you to do this very well and the DVD shows you how to do the set up. I am still keen to hear what more experienced folk might add.

Thanks for the DVD, I'll put it to good use. You are correct, the crosspieces do not support weight. Have tried to add pics but the attachment function does not work nor any of the toolbar icons

Whow, Australia Post really excelled in delivering that quickly! In sending pics, it might be that you are trying to Post Quick Reply. If you are, you need to click Go Advanced and then scroll down to where you might be able to click Manage Attachments. If you have done all this already, there is some more fundamental problem that might be worth referring to . Good luck.