# Making a beam bed



## Wudbeginner (Aug 24, 2014)

Hello guys,

Id love to make my own bed, but since I am not a pro yet ;-), I have some questions that I couldnt seem to find answers too. Hope you can help me with it.

My tools so far: Router, handsaw, chisel, smoothing plane, drilling machine

I have added a picture of my Solidworks construction.

1) Will I have to work on the end faces of the beams after I handsawed them? Maybe with a plane or a some kind of sanding?

2) How do I best attach beams 2 onto beams 1? Is it best to just screw them?
(beams 2 are 2x2 inches, beams 1 are 5.5 x 5.5 inches)

3) I also dont have a clou how to attach the 4 feet.

4) How do I keep the beams from drifting into the green directions.

Hope I explained it all understandable and that I am not being too greedy and asking too much . Help is greatly appreciated.

Have a nice one,
Daniel


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## Alchymist (Jan 2, 2011)

1) Bevel or round over the ends slightly, sand smooth.

2) Glue & screw.

3) Glue an a couple dowels from the bottom.

4) Use a couple 1X3s side to side about 2 feet from each end. Only bring them about 2/3 the distance across the side beam, glue and screw. If you want them to show less, cut tapered dados for the ends of the 1X3s and bend the 1x3s up into the recess.


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## woodnthings (Jan 24, 2009)

*platform bed OR traditional with slats and box spring*

The construction you show will not support either a memory foam mattress, very heavy OR a traditional box spring and mattress combo.

There needs to be more cross pieces or slats for the traditional OR a full size solid plywood support for the memory foam.

The size also matters. A queen size is 60 X 80, a full is 54 X 80 I believe, so the bigger it is the more support you will need. It looks like you want a "floating" look with the blocks at the corners which is fine with the 5 1/2" timbers/beams.


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## Wudbeginner (Aug 24, 2014)

Thanks for the input guys!

@woodnthings: I will think about a good way for better supporting. Probably add 2 or more slats. A solid plywood would be very bad for ventilation and flow of sweats I guess.


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## woodnthings (Jan 24, 2009)

what size bed is it?

what type of bed is it?

To get the best and most appropriate answers you have to ask the question in the most detailed manner.


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## Wudbeginner (Aug 24, 2014)

Its supposed to carry 2 matrasses. Both about 78x31 inches.

What exactly do you mean by "type of bed"?

Greetings
Daniel


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## Wudbeginner (Aug 24, 2014)

Hi,

to be more specific I added another pic of the 2 supporting beams in the middle of the bed.

Do you think 2 additional slats and maybe a fifth foot in the very middle of the bed might be enough to carry the weight?


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## woodnthings (Jan 24, 2009)

*types of beds*

!. Perimeter frame with slats which supports a box spring
2. Platform of plywood, no box spring needed.

http://www.wisegeek.org/what-are-the-different-kinds-of-bed-frames.htm


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## Wudbeginner (Aug 24, 2014)

Thanks dude!

Can someone also tell me how dry the wood should be?


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## GISer3546 (Jan 30, 2013)

The biggest thing to remember here is that end grain will not hold glue, which is why mortise and tenon joints are the way they are. They allow a large surface area that will hold a glue joint well. The rest of your questions will depend greatly on the type of tools you have. By drilling machine do you mean a drill press or just a hand drill? Is your smoothing plane a low angle block plane or a regular #3 smoother? Is your hand saw a traditional cross cut hand saw or is it meant for ripping?

1.	Assuming your smoother plane is a regular #3 smoother I would not suggest using it on your end grain. Usually low angle planes are used on end grain and even then they are prone to tear out and chipping. I would suggest getting a miter saw. My Skil miter saw was a little over $100 new and I use it constantly. I good smooth and perfectly perpendicular end is a 100% must with nearly all wood projects. 

2.	Since here you are attaching long grain surface to another long grain surface glue will hold these pieces well, but probably not well enough to support a mattress and two people so you could reinforce it with screws or even wooden pegs.

3.	Since the feet are also long grain to long grain the same principals apply, but since there wont be any force on those except for pushing them together you could probably get away with just glue as long as both surfaces are very smooth and flat.

4.	The joints you have here are great joints to be reinforced with pegs. You can easily find large ½” to ¾” dowels at any hardware store along with a drill bit of a matching size. Just drill a hole down through the middle of the joint, put some glue on your dowel, tap it into place, and cut off the excess once its dry. If you would like a temporary joint since most beds need to be disassembled to be moved you could use carriage bolts or even bed bolts. 

I would suggest looking at the free build videos for the wood whisperer platform bed. His design and materials are different but the concept is the same.

I am actually working on a very similar project right now and will be using a sheet of plywood to support the mattress. I pride myself on not using the stuff so it wasn't an easy decision but it is needed. hope it all works out for you, and good luck.


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## Wudbeginner (Aug 24, 2014)

GISer3546 said:


> By drilling machine do you mean a drill press or just a *hand drill*? Is your smoothing plane a low angle block plane or a *regular #3 smoother*? Is your hand saw a *traditional cross cut hand saw* or is it meant for ripping?
> ....


First of all: thanks for your comment! 

1. Unfortunately I do not have the space for a miter saw. But since i am going for a more tweedy look I hope a handsaw and some sanding will be fine. Maybe maybe maybe I will use a low angle plane. Somewhere I read this trick: clamp another board on the side of the end grain, then plane the endgrain as well as the lined up board. This way your main piece stays fine, as the additional board gets sacrifized.

2+3. Today I thought that it might be super practical to not use glue and to be able to an apportionable bed, to make transports way more easier, if they would come up. So thats what I will be going for.

4. I will think about the screws but right now I am not sure if they will fit into my "tweedy design".

Thanks fpr the tips and of course good luck to you too :thumbsup:


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## GISer3546 (Jan 30, 2013)

Screws of appropriate length should not be visible on the outside of the bed, and in turn not effect the design. Also the sacraficial block should solve the tear out issue. Since you don't have the room for a miter saw I would suggest making a miter block, just to standardize the cut angle and make it look cleaner. Without glue I would suggest using the bed bolts. I'm unfamiliar with "tweedy", could you elaborate on that?


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## Wudbeginner (Aug 24, 2014)

Im sorry, probably tweedy isnt the right application here. What I meant was rustic.


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