Thread: Bed build questions . . . and maybe a WIP!?

I would think that the spacing would depend on..... like RN says slat size, but also species, direction of cut (flat or 1/4) I would think 1/4 sawn with rings standing up would be stronger than if they were flat sawn.

This is would I would do if I had no specific info to go on, start with what will be the worst possible loading situation, e.g. ( two people standing in the middle of the bed) (plus maybe a couple of kids and a dog) cut a proposed slat to size and length, support off the ground (blocks of wood) as per how they will be supported in the bed, stand in middle, and determine deflection and make some judgment on is this bending too much, it probably will so add another and stand on spreading wieght on both as much as possible, make another judgment, keep adding until total deflection is something you feel happy with, as you add tho you will need another piece of timber to spread your wieght across the middle of the added slats, obviously the gap between slats also then determins total deflection, something you can make a decision on as you go, then next to consider is how much of the mattress needs to be supported, 100mm gap might support the bodies on bed but may have too much bulging mattress hanging thru close the gap up until you are happy and call it done.



Pete

Thanks for the input guys My main concern was the article I read that said an inner spring mattress should not sit on gaps greater than 25mm or the springs might work into a gap and rip through the casing!!! - after paying an arm and a leg for this mattress I would hope it is better constructed than that but I wouldn't want to bugger it up either .
I started sizing the slats through the thicknesser tonight and had to drop to 22mm to get the extra boards needed to reduce the gaps. I will now have 15, 90mm wide and 2, 70mm wide (one each end) to cover the 2050mm base - this should leave me with 40mm gaps which I think I'll be happy with
My biggest worry at the moment is that the Hammer just stopped mid-board for no apparent reason and I'm not finished yet . Hopefully it was just getting too warm or something simple even though I wouldn't have expected that amount of use to worry it. The saw still works OK so it's just the thicknesser as far as I can tell - I'm going to try firing it up again in the morning and lookout Mr Felder if it doesn't kick in

we've just bought our 3 (could be 4th?) mattress for this bed and never had any problems with springs working loose

I flip the slats every so often to put the bow up, but no problems encountered

Hope the hammer fires up ok

The Hammer is all good - nothing wrong with the machine actually Turned out to be my fault At one point I had started running boards through without turning the DC on which left a big pile of excess shavings under the hood so that when I then started taking 3mm off two boards at once it got too much for the DC and the excess lifted the hood just enough to trip the interlock switch - live and learn eh!!!

Everythings on hold again while I wait for some different brackets to attach the rails with. While the ones I bought are solid, they interfere with the way I wanted to set the battens and slats. Ordered the other type today that I was thinking about getting originally as they'll be tidier, easier to knock down and let me go with Plan A!

WRT slat spacing, you need to consider what the mattress is made to tolerate, apart from simple structural requirements. There seems to be some variation in what mattress manufacturers prescribe. We bought a latex mattress a few years back, and the note attached to it advised you have no spaces between slats. I've also seen recommendations for maximum slat spacings on spring mattresses, and at least one that said 'do not use on a slat base'. I don't know why there should be such variation, you'd think a mattress was a mattress, but maybe it wouldn't hurt to check with the manufacturer if they have any stipulations on slat spacings...?

And my 2c on any lipping around mattresses. When I made our new bed a couple of years ago, the boss had some very clear instructions - minimise or get rid of any edges! The old base had a lip about 35mm deep, which was a right pita, or more precisely, a pain in the back of your hands caused by the sharp edge when tucking in sheets, etc. I was a bit dubious about having nothing at all, so I cut out the rails for most of their length to bring them level, leaving short lengths at each corner to stand about 25mm above the slat level, The edges of the raised bits are all well rounded-over.

rails.jpg

I settled on the length of the raised sections by how they looked in proportion to the length of the rails. I could have made them quite a bit shorter & I'm sure they would still have done the job adequately. I can report that it's very much kinder to hands when tucking bedclothes in, & so far, we haven't ended up on the floor.

Cheers,

Originally Posted by IanW

WRT slat spacing, you need to consider what the mattress is made to tolerate, apart from simple structural requirements. There seems to be some variation in what mattress manufacturers prescribe. We bought a latex mattress a few years back, and the note attached to it advised you have no spaces between slats. I've also seen recommendations for maximum slat spacings on spring mattresses, and at least one that said 'do not use on a slat base'. I don't know why there should be such variation, you'd think a mattress was a mattress, but maybe it wouldn't hurt to check with the manufacturer if they have any stipulations on slat spacings...?

And my 2c on any lipping around mattresses. When I made our new bed a couple of years ago, the boss had some very clear instructions - minimise or get rid of any edges! The old base had a lip about 35mm deep, which was a right pita, or more precisely, a pain in the back of your hands caused by the sharp edge when tucking in sheets, etc. I was a bit dubious about having nothing at all, so I cut out the rails for most of their length to bring them level, leaving short lengths at each corner to stand about 25mm above the slat level, The edges of the raised bits are all well rounded-over.

I settled on the length of the raised sections by how they looked in proportion to the length of the rails. I could have made them quite a bit shorter & I'm sure they would still have done the job adequately. I can report that it's very much kinder to hands when tucking bedclothes in, & so far, we haven't ended up on the floor.

Cheers,

Thanks for the advice Ian. I'll be having a look for a label when the LOML strips the bed tomorrow to see if it has any directives on it - might have to collect another Klinki billet tomorrow .
The lip on my build is going to be just the height of the roundover on the rails (5mm) above the slats and fingers crossed the mattress stays put!

Very nice looking bed you built there too Slightly more formal style than this one

All I could find on the bed was a label with the only directive being "Suitable for use on platform or slat beds" so I'm going to run with my 40mm gaps - love it when I can stick to plan A

Can't do anything major until I have the new brackets so I sliced up some Australian Ebony today to make the details I want to finish off with. The 'details' will be cut from the black sections which are sliced to 3mm with one side planed for gluing while the face side will be getting 'shaped' later.

That stuff looks like it is very hard.



Pete

Originally Posted by pjt

That stuff looks like it is very hard.

Pete

Not really Pete! It's close grained and fairly heavy but it works nicely. It's brilliant for turning, far better than any of the foreign Ebonies I've turned and it sands easily and polishes up to such a deep, bottomless black that on its own you could mistake it for plastic. The reason I'm using these slices is that they are not fully black yet and have just enough 'wisp' of unchanged timber through them to show that it is actually timber.

The new brackets turned up today so I was itchin' to get them fitted and put the bed together for a sneak-peek - until Murphy applied his rules and on the very last hole I broke my self-centreing bit off with the last 8mm or so stuck in it . Drilled and gouged it out and filled the hole with wood-dust and CA so I can have another shot at it tomorrow.
Anybody know where I can buy a 2mm drill bit at least 64mm long?????

Originally Posted by TTIT

The new brackets turned up today so I was itchin' to get them fitted and put the bed together for a sneak-peek - until Murphy applied his rules and on the very last hole I broke my self-centreing bit off with the last 8mm or so stuck in it . Drilled and gouged it out and filled the hole with wood-dust and CA so I can have another shot at it tomorrow.
Anybody know where I can buy a 2mm drill bit at least 64mm long?????

And it looks like there's a lot of shank which the local hardware won't have even if they do have a 2mm drill bit


Pete

bvgga

I'd try someone like Coventry or Blackwoods

Vern

your next bed ... here

Originally Posted by Sawdust Maker

Vern

your next bed ... here

Great idea but I don't reckon that mattress would be too comfy . I do plan on doing a fold-up job one day but it will be an off-the-wall rig with a proper mattress like the Yanks use


Got all the brackets on last night and clipped it together so I could get the final dimensions to cut the battens, support and slats to length. I reckon it's gonna look great but didn't take any pics - couldn't get much of a shot with the Hammer in the middle of it

Cut all the bits to length tonight and rounded all the edges - that Klinki pine cuts like butter but it was still a big job with all four corners to do on so many pieces