# Bed build WIP (Completed.)



## Wood Monkey (15 Mar 2009)

I’m building a bed for my daughter. Here’s the story so far and I’ll add more as I go.

The design is fairly simple as this 2D sketch shows (I need to get up to speed with Sketch-up….!).







I’ve chosen Oak. This was the first opportunity for me to use my new thicknesser in anger.






… a quick scan for blade chipping aliens and a brush down to remove surface grit is always wise….!






I bought the timber from WL West in Petworth and was able to rummage through the extensive piles of saw timber in their sheds and pull out suitable pieces and check them as I went to ensure they were reasonably true. This saves me a lot of workshop time as I was simply able to square off the timber on the table saw before running through the thicknesser. The end results were very pleasing.






The DX4000 is the perfect partner for a thicknesser. This was empy before I started.






I chose to make the heart panels first because I couldn’t visualise the finished size and I couldn’t start to mark up the top and bottom rails for the head and foot boards. I hand drew half a heart on a piece of MDF and rough cut it before sanding with various size drums mounted in bench top drill press. You can see it at the bottom of this picture before I glued 2 guides on to make a cradle. The rough cut parts can also be seen in this picture.






I trued up the edges on my small benchtop planer (oops, no guard) before re-sawing them to give a book matched finish. I then machined them down to the final dimension .









I marked each heart half out and then removed the bulk of the waste by making a series of cuts on the band saw.






Then I routed out the final shape on the router table using a top bearing pattern bit. In this picture you can see the 2 guides I glued to the heart template and this allowed me to hold the piece on the template without any mechanical fixing. I clamped a 100mm hose to the edge of the table to catch the worst of the dust and with both motors running on the DX this proved very effective.






The panels are 11mm thick and I was concerned that this may be too thin for biscuits, but a test piece seemed to hold up well.





Insufficient clamps of a suitable size meant the glue up was done in 2 parts. I was very pleased with the end result.






Once these were dry I cut the tennons using my small shop made sled with a stop block clamped to it to ensure accuracy on the shoulders. I've found this sled to be very accurate as it runs in both mitre slots without any sideways movement and makes up for the woefully poor fit of the standard Scheppach mitre gauge. I made multiple passes to rough cut the cheeks and then removed the perspex guard, raised the bladed and made the final shoulder cuts with the same stop block in place.











I cleaned up the cheeks a little, but will fine tune them later once the mortices were cut. You can see the book matching in this photo. I’m pleased I took the extra time to do this.






With the panels all cut I could mark out for the mortices on the top rails.






The first few mortices were cut by making a series of small chops and then slowly cutting out the waste, but this was painful, so I resorted to a set-up on the drill press. I have a morticer, but it is currently not mounted anywhere and my smallest chisel is too big. I reused this method to cut the mortices on the bottom rails, but not before more marking out.














Once both sets of top and bottom rails were cut I started work on the legs. The tennons on the bottom rails were cut on the sled as before and the mortices in the leg (actually just 1 leg as I ran out of time) were cut using a similar set-up as before on the drill press.






I couldn’t resist a quick dry fit before packing up for the weekend. I bet you’re all wondering what the joint method is on the top of the leg… Me too. More about this next time.

Jon


----------



## brianhabby (15 Mar 2009)

Looking really good so far, I'm sure your daughter will be very pleased with your efforts.

The book matching looks good, well worth the work involved.

regards

Brian


----------



## Shultzy (15 Mar 2009)

Nice work. I especially like the tenoning jig. Just a small point, you could have laid the 4 "heart" pieces next to each other to glue them up and used a caul to keep them flat.


----------



## CroppyBoy1798 (15 Mar 2009)

Some nice work going on there and a very clean and bright looking shop too! Well done!


----------



## Chems (15 Mar 2009)

Lovely work, I also liked the shop, I think I've read your build thread on here. Looks like a lovely area to work in.


----------



## joiner_sim (15 Mar 2009)

Looking good, it's good for me to be able to look at somebody else's work on a similar jod to the one I'm on at the moment. I wish I was working with oak though! :roll: The stain should do for me me though. :lol: Looking at your pictures..... I'm wondering if the "capping" I'm intended on putting across the top of my head board, should be M+T. My problem would be that I could only M+T on the ends though.... also the capping is only 15mm. I was originally thinking of just glue and pinning it on. Any ideas? As looking at your work has inspired me to think it should be a traditional joint.


----------



## Wood Monkey (16 Mar 2009)

So now I've calmed down a bit I can own up to the mistake and answer Joiner-Sim's question in a single hit...

The joint on the top of the led is supposed to be wedged through tennon. But in my haste I cut the rail mortice before allowing the the extra length for the tennon.... D'oh. I see I have 3 options.

1. Another leg. This may actually work out OK as the foot board legs are shorter but my 4 blanks are the same length so I may be able to reuse this one for the foot board and then start again. Only issue is that there is some splitting on the the other legs and I was intending cutting this out so maybe they are not long enough.

2. Screw and plug the leg. I actually quite like this idea as it gives mechanical resistance to the top pulling away from the leg, but would need something to resist twisting. (Joiner-Sim, I'd suggest this to you in favour of glue and pins, but 15mm may not be deep enough. If you're adventurous then go for wedged through tennons in my opinion)

3. Stick with the tennon idea, but make it a loose tapered through tennon that is inserted from the top. Maybe even make it heart shaped, but my daughter will have probably left home before that's done.

Suggestions welcome.

Jon


----------



## Imperial (16 Mar 2009)

Screw and plug with 2 screws, then cover them with a fake through tenon or maybe a heart shaped blank?


----------



## OPJ (16 Mar 2009)

Nice design, John, I'm sure your daughter will love it as well! 

Dust extraction is good on the router table but, where's the guarding??? :shock: [-X :wink: I love the book-matching. If it was me, I probably would've edge-jointed the boards before shaping the hearts. Otherwise, the pieces could slide in the cramps...

Then again, you cannot buy a cutter narrow enough to get right in to those corners and, it's more likely you'd end up putting a biscuit in the wrong place!  

I look forward to seeing more progress.


----------



## big soft moose (16 Mar 2009)

OPJ":2ehf9qgf said:


> Then again, you cannot buy a cutter narrow enough to get right in to those corners



personally i'd probably have used a scroll saw to cut the hearts out. (tho that said my skills arent up to this kind of thing yet anyway so who am i to criticise)


----------



## richburrow (16 Mar 2009)

That is a really nice looking biscuiter :shock: :shock:


----------



## joiner_sim (16 Mar 2009)

I may decide to get the capping out again a bit thicker.... and plug it.


----------



## TrimTheKing (21 Mar 2009)

jyates":3e9lca0o said:


> 3. Stick with the tennon idea, but make it a loose tapered through tennon that is inserted from the top. Maybe even make it heart shaped, but my daughter will have probably left home before that's done.


I did precisely this same thing with a crib I made for my baby (square though, not heart shaped ), work perfectly so I would go with the loose tenon if it was me. It is ultimately the same result and will be just as strong as if the tenon was attached.

Cheers

Mark


----------



## Wood Monkey (17 May 2009)

It’s taken a while to get the bed completed. Partly due to lack of time, partly because I’m slow and partly because I had to build this in time for a birthday.






After leaving the leg too short for a through tennon I decided to go with the screw and plug solution and opted for 2 chunky screws (6mm x 100mm) with T-Star heads so I could pull them down nice and tight. Later on I decide I don’t like the round plugs and get the chisels out.






Before the head and foot boards were glued up I needed to fit the long rails using the dowel bolts and half moon thingamajigs. I decided to secure some 15mm beech dowels into the ends of the long rails to carry the load whilst the bolts would pull up the joint. Getting the alignment spot on was essential so I made a jig to guide the drilling of the holes in the ends of the rails and the legs.






The jig was double sided for the leg…






…and the rail. The jig also catered for the bolt holes.






I was pleased with the end result.











Following a complete dry fit I sanded all the parts before getting ready for glue up. Is it just me that finds glue ups stressful? 






Whilst in the clamps I put some dowels through the tennons that join the legs and head/foot board rails for a bit of extra security. The plugged ends would be hidden by the mattress once assembled.






I mentioned earlier that I didn’t like the plugs that covered the screws so I chopped them out and re-plugged with square end grain plugs (fake tennons..).






The supports for the slats were clamped together and recesses cut out for the slats to sit in. The supports are 18mm ply and the slats are 12mm ply. The supports were then glued and screwed to the long rails.






After a few coats of oil and some wax the bed was assembled.






I decided to screw the slats down which is probably a little OTT, but can’t do any harm.






The bed is very solid and I’m pleased I switched to the fake tennons instead of the round plugs.






All I need now is for the mattress to turn up.






Jon


----------



## Mattty (17 May 2009)

Jon that is lovely. I have a little girl who would love that bed. Very nice work indeed. I paticularly like the square pegs, they look intentional were as round plugs always look like a cover up (if that makes sense!).

Thanks for sharing.


----------



## OPJ (18 May 2009)

Excellent work, Jon. Really like those square end-grain plugs and the use of your drilling jig. Look forward to seeing your next project.


----------



## thomvic (18 May 2009)

What a cracker of a job! Brilliant.

Richard


----------



## Rob_H (18 May 2009)

Lovely piece of work!!


----------



## Dave S (18 May 2009)

Very nice - brings back memories of when I made my own daughter's bed. No doubt your daughter is over the moon 

Dave


----------



## neilc (26 Jul 2009)

Jon, 
That's a really nice bed. I missed it first time around. I've been using the forum search to try and get inspiration for a couple of beds I'm about to start for my two daughters. Hope you don't mind but I think I've just found that inspiration. Any chance you could post some dimensions or any other advice with the design?
Regards,
Neil.


----------



## Chems (27 Jul 2009)

Thats a beautiful bed and a brilliant build log to read. Thanks.


----------



## Night Train (27 Jul 2009)

That's a really nice bed there.

Only thing would be that I wouldn't use ply for the slats as half the grain in the ply runs the wrong way for strength. I would have prefered to use hard wood throughout or, if cost is an issue, use carefully selected soft wood with straight, knot free grain.


----------



## outcycling (27 Jul 2009)

Great looking bed, very inspiring. Hope my work is half as good once I get the workshop done!


----------



## mailee (27 Jul 2009)

Very nice bed Jon. Enjoyed the build, maybe as much as your daughter wil enjoy the bed.


----------



## Schummie (28 Jul 2009)

Very beautifully bed Jon and so beautifully made.
You can see that you put a lot off love in this bed.
This bed must be sleeping great.

Thanks for showing.

Schummie.


----------



## Imperial (28 Jul 2009)

Glad you went with my fake tenon idea, makes it look more bespoke, excellent work :wink:


----------



## Ironballs (28 Jul 2009)

Excellent build, very well made and some good crisp joints. Well done squire


----------



## Wood Monkey (31 Jul 2009)

Blimey, I didn't expect to see this thread pop up again.

Neil, regarding measurements. I have some drawings somewhere with measurements. I'll post them if I can find them and if not I'll try and find the time to mark up some new ones.

Thanks for all the nice comments guys. Not been able to get in the workshop much recently, but I am planning some matching bedroom furniture soon and will post these once in progress.

Jon


----------



## neilc (31 Jul 2009)

Thanks Jon that would be great.
Neil


----------



## BTR (1 Aug 2009)

EXCELLENT FINISH AND VERY NICE FINISH


----------



## jetbusters (7 Mar 2014)

was just Google searching for oak wooden beds and came across this...... beautiful bed!

Would you consider selling it, or are you going to keep it in the family?

if not, what kind of money would you charge to make another one?

cheers


----------



## Wood Monkey (12 Mar 2014)

Hi

Thanks for the nice comments.

I'm afraid it's not for sale as it's my daughters bed. Making another isn't really a viable option as I have a long list of things to do already and a day job (I'm not a full-time wood worker). But feel free to rip off the design if you can get a local woody to make you one or maybe one of the guys on here will step forward.

If you like the bed you'd love the matching bedroom furniture I've made ;-)

WM


----------

