Designing and making an Emperor size Sleigh Bed

[Cabinetman]

In case anybody is interested I did quite a bit of experimentation when I built my sloping headboard and it moves through 25° out from vertical sounds a lot but it isn’t much when you see it. Ian

 

[robertlaurenson]

@Cabinetman Yes she says the feet coming down like that looks fine, also have two on the drawing under the center rail, so should be plenty of support. Just drawing it out like this to make it easier, going to make templates then MDF blanks of the corner pieces before i do the real thing, just to make sure it looks ok in real life.
The headboard on that design is sloping 7 degrees, not a good angle to see it, but i think that will be enough.

 

[robertlaurenson]

That video show that they are using pretty cheap softwood but making high value items from it

They offer the beds in either soft wood or Oak, the oak version of the one i am basing my one on is 4500 ish, the softwood version is 1500. So a fair saving.

 

[Jameshow]

@Cabinetman and everyone, just about finished the first draft of the design, here are a couple of basic renders from Rhino, based on the revival beds one, not exactly the same, but close.
The only part i'm not sure about are the feet, should i leave the bottom of the boards to come down, or chop them flush and put feet of some sort on it?
Any opinions welcome. View attachment 125865View attachment 125864

Looks good, how are you doing the K/D fixing so that joints don't show and it doesn't work loose?

Cheers James

 

[Inspector]

My life experiences with any bed that has feet that stick out or are flush with the outside of the bed, is that I will smash my toes often. Something to consider.

Pete

 

[robertlaurenson]

Looks good, how are you doing the K/D fixing so that joints don't show and it doesn't work loose?

Cheers James

Thanks, hope it looks good when finished.
As far as the KD fittings go,I'm looking at the Festool Domino straight KD connectors for the 700 machine. Don't have one but can borrow one and buy the fittings, they look like they are about the best on the market for the job.

 

[Droogs]

Needs far more slats, mine has about a dozen

 

[robertlaurenson]

Needs far more slats, mine has about a dozen

Just a first drawing. Will put in as many as I need to when at that stage.

 

[recipio]

Just a first drawing. Will put in as many as I need to when at that stage.

The side rails probably need to be a little higher. You will want to get a hoover under the bed at some stage. ? Those Festool K/D fittings look ideal and you will only need four as they are reinforced with wooden dominoes. Those 7' dowels across the bedends look tricky unless you can find some huge router bits with the correct radius.?

 

[robertlaurenson]

The side rails probably need to be a little higher. You will want to get a hoover under the bed at some stage. ? Those Festool K/D fittings look ideal and you will only need four as they are reinforced with wooden dominoes. Those 7' dowels across the bedends look tricky unless you can find some huge router bits with the correct radius.?

Yes i was thinking to make them slightly higher, just drawing out some foot ideas just now, maybe even buy something ready to go, not sure. And as far as the dowels go, i have access to a large metal lathe, so my plan is to get square blanks and make them on that. and cutting the slot for the headboard and footboard on the table saw. Lots of ideas, hopefully they will all work, fingers crossed anyway

 

[Cabinetman]

Those dowels as you call them don’t really need to cause you much anguish at all, if you look back on page one at that sleigh bed I made those top sections which are probably 4 1/2 inches across, aren’t round and they were cut by taking slices off on the table saw them just finishing off with a hand plane, didn’t take long at all.
@recipio I certainly would want to fit more than one KD fitting on each corner, the stresses just from the size and weight of a bed like this requires it ime.

 

[Jameshow]

Those dowels as you call them don’t really need to cause you much anguish at all, if you look back on page one at that sleigh bed I made those top sections which are probably 4 1/2 inches across, aren’t round and they were cut by taking slices off on the table saw them just finishing off with a hand plane, didn’t take long at all.
@recipio I certainly would want to fit more than one KD fitting on each corner, the stresses just from the size and weight of a bed like this requires it ime.

I agree beds usually have 2x K/D bolts in each rail...

 

[robertlaurenson]

Thinking to put two of the domino connectors in each corner, have changed the bed slightly now to have legs that support the ends and the ends of the side rails. Just make feet from 40mm stock and domino them in the underside.

 

[Cabinetman]

Thinking to put two of the domino connectors in each corner, have changed the bed slightly now to have legs that support the ends and the ends of the side rails. Just make feet from 40mm stock and domino them in the underside.View attachment 125972

Yes that’s a good idea and it fits the design nicely.
To save a bit of timber the head board doesn’t need to go all the way down to the bottom, you could just have a single rail across to take the central under slat support. Might make it easier to make the bed as well. Ian

 

[recipio]

I agree beds usually have 2x K/D bolts in each rail...

.Not so sure. All the promo videos for the Xl connector show a 25 mm hole in the post and a 50 mm hole in the rail. They also show one wooden domino above the connector or even a connector in between two dominoes. I don't think a 25 mm depth is strong enough for a bed but I'm open to correction.

 

[Jameshow]

.Not so sure. All the promo videos for the Xl connector show a 25 mm hole in the post and a 50 mm hole in the rail. They also show one wooden domino above the connector or even a connector in between two dominoes. I don't think a 25 mm depth is strong enough for a bed but I'm open to correction.

I wasn't thinking of domino connectors just your ordinary furniture boots and barrel nuts...


25/50 doesn't seem very deep?

How about bolts underneath a decorative cap?

Cheers James

 

[robertlaurenson]

@Cabinetman and anyone else still watching this post, have made slight progress, got templates cnc cut for the head and foot sections, here's a photo, have ordered the Ash for it, a friend of mine with a large wood shop is planing it all down to thickness for me, the whole thing will be around 34mm Ash boards. Will be building the bed in the next 4 to 6 weeks.
Will keep you updated on progress.

 

[TheTiddles]

Good plan, if you’re investing in doing this well that’s probably money well spent

 

[robertlaurenson]

Hi all,
Hopefully some of you will see this, I'm away back offshore for two weeks but the bed is nearing completion and I'm fairly happy with the results.

Any ideas on what to use to finish this would be appreciated, torn between a few things just now, but the main contenders are either Danish oil or Osmo Polyx oil.

After all the discussion about KD fittings, as you will see from the last picture I made up a couple of Ash blocks, one overlapping the joint with two coach bolts, glued and screwed to the inside rail of the side rail and corners, seems to work alright.

Thanks
Robert

 

[robertlaurenson]

Few photos of the build and the jig I made for making floating tenons with the router.