I could use some advise on building a bed

[quakerboy]

I am wanting to build myself a bed platform. Going for king sized

Any good sources of info for this? Ive never really done DIY before, other than some plexiglass and PVC pipe desks I built a while back.

[Wash. state Desk Jet]

1. You can

Go to a super store that sells all types of beds and bed frames to gather a idea of what you want to create. Look over the bed frame carefully and figure out, what will it take to do it.

If I were to tell you just how to do it, you will never reach the creative hight you are attempting to reach. Creativity is within.

If you don't use it, all you do is duplicate.Anybody can do that right?

[quakerboy]

2. I am thinking more in terms of

creative fastenings and that sort of thing, practical advise. I am lost in a hardware store. Home depot is particularly intimidating.

An example of what i am curious about is I heard that you can make a very sturdy yet easily disassembled frame using door hinges rather than just bolts. That is something that I would never in a million years think of.

[Wash. state Desk Jet]

3. Ok, than

you must describe what kind of design or configuration for a bed frame you have of mind. A bed frame is basicly a box with boards across to hold box springs and mattress. A head board and end board. Could have legs,may just rest on the floor. Could be a captains bed ,with drawers or may be basic bed frame. What are your design ideas?

Have you thought about how to books,? About $10.00.
Basicly there is no limit to where one can go in creative design ideas. You use hinges you still remove screws to disassemble. Where would you use hinges?

Have you looked at any cool bed frame designs? Or is it as of yet a idea in the rough?

I am a builder,I'm curious.

[quakerboy]

4. Welp

It is still an idea very much in the rough. Everything I have checked in stores is both very much over budget and does not seem to be terribly sturdy or even all that good looking.

At this time, the ideal is
1) Sturdy. Very sturdy. No, even more sturdy than that.
2) easy to move. Preferably able to be easily taken apart and put together for move in a car or at least minivan.
3) Storage is going to be important at some point, I am sure.

The idea behind the hinge thing is that instead of unscrewing it, you can just pull the hinge pins to take it apart into easily mobile pieces.

[Wash. state Desk Jet]

5. Ok, now your talking

as the saying goes. Bring in some ideas about dimensions. Do you have a mattress and box springs or is it a futon design you are thinking about?

If it's mattress and box springs ,you may want to buy those first and than build around that,just a thought. Next comes the type of material you will want.

Than the best and most inexpensive way about that.

How wide do you think you want the side and base boards? That's a start.

So you want to find a place that sells ,oh say close out mattress's and box springs. Unless of course it's going to be the futon thing because it rolls up and is easier to transport that way.

Your turn~! Do you have a good drill by the way?

[quakerboy]

6. The eventual goal

is to be able to afford a king sized tempurpedic mattress. Build it and they will come, sort of. Ideally, the cost of building this will be less than the 400 they want for a "foundation, and make the buying of said foundation unnecessary.

[Wash. state Desk Jet]

8. For that kind of money you can build

something very very cool. less than that really.

You want to built a frame that can be enlarged or reduced very easy.

[Wash. state Desk Jet]

9. So,,

What kind of wood ,if that is the material you have in mind are you thinking about? And have you thought about a design? By the way there are lots of ways to make a bed frame come apart and break down to a compact able size. More parts that's all. The hardware.

[quakerboy]

11. I am thinking wood

Engineering is the least of my worries. I inherited an ability to use AutoCad, etc, from my father the engineer.

So far, I am thinking of three upright rail frames, perhaps bolted together to make them rock solid, with a top frame that they would attach to, perhaps using the hinge method, or something in that line.

At this point, in my mind, from the side it will look like 3 Excel boxes side by side(can you tell what else I am doing right now?). A top and bottom rail(perhaps 2x4's?) with 4 uprights bolted or otherwise firmly fastened between them. Then take 3 of those, one on either side and one in the middle. Then 3-4 rails running across those, attaching them in some easily disassembled form. The upper rails to be attached to a plywood sheet which the bed itself would sit upon.

On the plywood, we are trying to think of anything other than yet more rails on top to keep the bed from sliding side to side/and away from the wall. That is a particular problem for me, mattresses seem to migrate . But I am fearful of shin barking on a wood rail edge in dark sleepy conditions. I just cant think of anything else likely to work.

I am debating whether we need a bottom frame as well, to add more to the sturdy quotient. And trying to thing of relatively simple and not uber-ugly things that could be useful and/or sturdy-making.

Past that, we are debating on how under bed storage would be structured. My wife likes the idea of making drawers to fit. I on the other hand, would just as happily make doors to cover the openings. Particularly since trying to make drawers scares me a lot. I am not at all sure how to cover the ends, since a solid end would kinda defeat the point of the dissassemblable frame.

I have no idea what particular type of wood to use, or how to finish the wood.

[quakerboy]

10. What do you mean

Enlarged/reduced? If I am following you, that is something I had not even considered, and have no idea how to achieve.

One thing that worries me the most: how do you make things square? I did some very rough woodwork as a kid, and my unintentional specialty was odd angles. And the few things my father has built during my lifetime tend to come out looking a little "special" as well. I am afraid I may have inherited this ability. Good design, poor implementation.

[Wash. state Desk Jet]

12. There is a lot there

Now it's a roll. Square is easy. That's the first rule . Framing is simple, that's the second rule.The key is the hardware in this project. A drawer is a box, simply.

Finish ply 15/16 or less,comes in thickness. Stains up nice. You can cat it up in design and have the ply cut on location to your specifications ,maybe .25 cents to .50 cents per cut. So maybe ten bucks max for all the cuts. Just a thought. You know, you are in custom design, in square you will do away with roving mattress's. After all, isn't that one of your areas of concern? Simply, if the mattress has nowhere to move, it won't! That's called a tight fit, simply.You can buy pre made unfinished drawers complete with hardware, than you stain to match.And opening doors is also a good idea for storing larger items. Now there the two ideas are combined.

Do you have a good saw and a drill?
And remember this, it 's not about what your dad did do or could do. It's about what you yourself can do. So this project for you is a discovery project. You are going to look within yourself and bring out the creative abilities you have ,and at the same time allow the creative process within you to happen.

Now, the thing about it, you will have questions. Those questions will be along creative lines ,and you will find people most willing to help the creative process along. And home depot really doesn't stock everything we need anyway! But let me tell you this, the creative journey will send you to some very cool places and in those places are cool people, there to assist.

You can move up in material, there is oak or other premium wood.

At any rate let's make a change right now.
From here on, it is good design/creative implementation. It starts now.

Of course you will post the design ?

[quakerboy]

13. When I move it from

napkin stage to something a little more structured, I will try and post it here. I made the first big step, communicating the basic plan to my wife in a fashion she could understand.

Now I need to figure out dimensions and apply them to the basic idea.

I am a bit concerned about the plywood. It will have some bracing underneath it, but as per the current idea its only subdivided into 9 squares on a king sized bed. I have no idea what kind of thickness will I need to endure. What do they use for flooring?

Can you expand on the following a little more? "You know, you are in custom design, in square you will do away with roving mattress's."

I tend toward home depot. Ive been to a smaller local hardware store, but they were very much NOT helpful with either of the projects I took in. I got the feeling that anyone who hadn't known the owner at least 20 years was persona non grata. My desks ended up more or less square, but I learned the very hard way that sheet acrylic is somewhat difficult to shape precisely with only a dremel and a utility knife.

,

[Wash. state Desk Jet]

14. I am off to work.

If you have a Lowe's nearby, they seem to be very good about cutting on the big saw in the store. You will find Lowe's is more of a consumer friendly store ,whereas home depot is run more like a warehouse.-,sloppy .home depot also has a very high employee turn over rate which accounts for sloppy attendance on the part of the employees .basically they don't care because they know they are not going to work there very long ,or just until a better job opportunity happens to cross their path.

You should look at a roto zip multi function tool. It is a spiral saw that functions as a router and various other functions. A heat gun helps to shape sheet acrylic or counter top laminate,such as rounded edges.The router is used for the square joints ,the top meets the end cap for example.

The phase you are in at current is a good one confusing as it may seem to you. You can look at various materials in search for what you want . Believe it or not not knowing what you want can be a good place to be. As the concept or idea forms ,it does not always form in sequence. 1.2.3. so on. 12 may come to you before 4 as example.

[Warpy]

7. Google is your friend

http://www.wikihow.com/Build-a-Wooden-Bed-Frame (uses corner hinges)

http://www.osbornewood.com/projects/bedproject/

http://www.ehow.com/how_2080136_build-platform-bed.html

http://www.curbly.com/VintageSwank/posts/79-Build-A-Modern-Bed

That's 4 out of over 500,000 hits...

[quakerboy]

15. as requested

We are using aged Fir for the 2x6, and birch plywood. it is going to be compartmentalised construction, 3 upright "rails" under the bed between the floor and the platform, then the platform itself made of 2 segments, the head end and the foot end. We have some door hinges that we will be using to hold each piece to the others

This is what the frame and platform will look like from the side. aproximately 82 inches long and 17 inches tall


From the top, the platform. about 76 by 82 inches.


and the view from the end


The facing will likely end up being 2 seperate pieces that are slightly shorter than shown, so able to be raised to access the space under the bed.

The rails will be bolted from top and bottom at the corner braces with 4 inch bolts, and the center braces will be screwed in with 3 1/2 inch wood screws, since their main purpose is to prevent any sagging over the legnth. The platform will be held together with 1 1/2 inch wood screws from the top of the plywood into the 2x6's.

The main thing right now is to get the 3 rails made, square and of equal height. then will come the platform. And after that, we will worry about the facing and any finishing to the wood.

There was some momentary concern about the total weight of the thing and the fact we live on the second floor. I did some learning about some construction tolerances, and I'm no longer too worried about that.

I dunno. After purchasing wood, hardware, etc, this bed looks like it will come out less than 1/3 the price of anything I saw in the furniture stores. And by far more sturdy and much easier to pop apart and move if we ever desire. It seems too easy, like there must be some reason people buy 2 year furniture from Ikea instead of making something made to last. Or why some guy isn't craigslisting homemade furniture for a fraction of the price that the stores charge. What am I missing?

[Wash. state Desk Jet]

16. I will look it over again tomorrow

The weight concerns me, but that's me. I know what you mean it seems too easy. The basic construction is easy,but you want more than basic. You are not mass producing so naturally you can do better. And yours will be one of a kind.

I would suggest that you go back to the store or a store and find the concept you wrote about, doors ,drawers ,head board base board the works. You know what I am talking about the five thousand dollar bed.Take with you a twelve foot tape measure. Look into the thickness's of the wood and types of wood. Look at drawers and doors, motifs, inlay beveling ,various design work. (Woodworking craft stores,by the way, sell all the cool stuff to fancy it up.) Your design is good.

In answer to your bottom line question , you figured out what you were missing all along ,you find it hard to believe you missed that all this time!What you buy is mass produced. Entire factory's are set up for it. Or shops. And of course the more you want the more it cost.You cannot build as fast as a fabrication shop can turn the product out.Much of building materials these days are what we call pre. fab.

I think you may be over building it in your design.
Thats why I am suggesting you return to a store and go for the gusto, look at the best they got and take your wife with you. Than go back to the drawing board and readdress materials and dimensions.

Water beds will have extra heavy duty materials ,2x's 6 or 2x's 8 ". Ok, so back to the store look at some Eathen Allen or what ever top of the line is in the bed you want to create. Doors,drawers and the works.

[quakerboy]

17. Yeah

I was concerned about the weight also. I spent a few hours last night learning about floor design and load bearing walls and residential codes. I did some rough calculations, and even with a very high estimate on the weights of the supplies used and the other furniture in the area, we should stay at about half the safe live load. Then I called my dad, the civil engineer and he ran numbers and confirmed my understandings, and that we should be ok, floor safety wise.

It is overbuilt on purpose. I am a very large man, and I am very good at breaking things. My wife and I talked about it, and what I designed, she asked me to reinforce. One of my key desires is to have a bed that will be as rock sturdy in 20 years as it will be in 3 weeks when we finish it.

I guess what I don't understand is why something mass produced, made of press board and punched out bits of spring steel in china, would cost so significantly more than the wood to build a thing like this. Even after I count my time and paying a cousin to help out with the actual construction, its ridiculous. Building this will save me a minimum of $200 as compared to the absolute cheapest alternative, and more like $2000 as compared to anything even remotely comparable.

[Wash. state Desk Jet]

18. I was not concerned

With the weight across the floor ! However you got your point across well! And remember your time counts too!You save money by building it yourself . You build it better because it is hand made ,not assembled on a assembly line threw mass production!

As the saying goes tally hoe!
I can see you are a person who appreciates solid construction.

Let me know how progress goes and good luck.

Everybody hate's press board. !

It is interesting that you took into account load bearing weights and measures. That is not something the average do it your selfer person would even remotely think about.

Just for kicks add a water bed mattress to it and bring back the numbers. I mean who would want to know how much water weighs! And remember, everything that you do ,is experience you can draw from later. That's a little homework assignment! The more you know the better.

[cpamomfromtexas]

19. Use heavy plastic "wire ties" to make it easy to take apart

also christopher lowell had a cool bed made from pvc on his web site.

[TygrBright]

20. We made a king-size platform for about eighty bucks...

...when we moved into our first house.

I sketched the overall design, which was (essentially) an open box. Four sides, no top, no bottom. With an "X" filling it. Two pieces of plywood atop that, with a "lip" of 2x4s around the edge.

The box was, IIRC, about 20 in. tall (I like a high bed.) Made of plywood, decent grade. At each corner was a piece of 4x4 that had been sliced at an angle to make it a 3-sided brace. We sunk whachamacallums into the braces to run bolts into. (This was ugly from the outside where the bolt heads were visible but we knew that between the overhang of the upper platform and a skirt around it no one would ever see.)

The "X" in the middle was just two more pieces of plywood 20" high, each one with a slot cut in the middle, halfway through. Set one running from the lower left to upper right corner against the flat side of the corner brace, with the slot facing up. Set the other into the slot, with the ends against the flat sides of the braces at the upper left and lower right corners. Base: Done.

IIRC, the base was about ten inches smaller on each side than the platform. Platform was easy-peasy. Two sheets of plywood. To each, we glued and bolted a "lip" of 2x4 at the short ends and one long side. Laid each half on top of the platform and bolted them together with those flat metal brace thingies, then used angle bolts to secure the platform to the base.

We tacked a skirt around the 2X4 lip. Here's what the end result looked like:


Once I figured out the dimensions, I worked out how much plywood and 2x4 and 4x4 I needed, then went and bought the pieces from the local lumber yard and had them cut it to measure, including the slots for the middle pieces.

It was sturdy as all get out. Disassemble by undoing the bolts. About thirty of them, though. Still, you could stack all the pieces on one of the platform halves, lay the other half over it (with the "lips" facing inward, as it were,) and bungee and/or stretch wrap them all together for transport.

helpfully,
Bright

[Lars39]

21. That does sound really sturdy.

Did you use box springs? :hi:

[TygrBright]

22. Nope, just a regular king mattress with a memory foam topper. n/t

[Lars39]

23. Thanks for the wonderful instructions, TygrBright.

We're probably going to make this in a few months. The cat will just have to find another place to sleep at night.:)

[TygrBright]

24. The cat LOVED this bed...

He could sneak in between the skirt and the base of the bed and ambush my feet while I was making the bed. Between the base and the wall at the head of the bed was his favorite "I'm hiding and I don't wanna come out" place.

Eventually I got a king headboard for thirty-five bucks at a second hand shop and just attached it to the lip at the top end of the bed platform with a couple of cheap U-shaped thingamajigs.

helpfully,
Bright

[Lars39]

25. Didn't think about that space...mine will love it too.

Right now she's curled up under the Christmas tree. :)