Ideas for stabilizing a four poster bed?

Slightly O.T. but still within the realm of a home...

We have an old four poster bed that wiggles a lot. It appears that where the side rails fit into the posts (metal hooks that hang over steel pins in the post slot) it has become sloppy over time.

I thought I saw a long time ago that there are shims or metal springs that can be wedged into the slots to help squeeze the hooks when inserted.

If anyone is aware please advise as best you can. Also, if anyone has any ideas, other than carpenter's glue, please share because I cannot be the only one with this situation?

I will be eagerly awaiting all answers. Thanks

Reply to
bobmct
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I stole this without permission from:

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"Bed shims comprise a plurality of bed shim units including flexible front and rear plates and a rigid central plate, the plates being secured together, the rear plate having a flat surface including a peel-off adhesive backing, each bed shim unit includes two circular holes extending therethrough, two parallel longitudinal perforations extending between the circular holes of each bed shim unit, the parallel longitudinal perforations defining a generally rectangular area between the circular holes, the generally rectangular area of each bed shim unit adapted to be punched out to define a generally oval shaped hole extending therethrough."

In English, I think they are suggesting nothing more than a shim that is shaped similiar to the end of the bed rail with slots cut for the hooks. You would essentially be extending the bedrails, but not the hooks, so that the hooks grab tighter and there is no gap or play.

Buy using some type of hard foam/flexible material, you would be able to compress the shims somewhat for a tight fit. In addition, a flexible material would eliminate any squeaks caused by wood-on-wood contact should the bed start rocking back and forth for any reason.

Reply to
DerbyDad03

The shim material should be as hard as the wood. There's a lot of force being applied on a small area. Think of the leverage of a bed post being resisted by a force applied to the end of a bed rail.

As the patent, and common sense, would suggest, a U-shaped shim that was slid down over the pins/hooks from above would be necessary so that the shim would stay in place. The thickness of the shim will not be that great - probably on the order of 1/16".

I would disassemble the bed and inspect each of the connections to make sure that something hasn't given way. Examine the hooks and pins for wear. Tighten anything that can be tightened. Reassemble the bed and cut some plastic U-shaped shims of different thicknesses. A single shim of the correct thickness, instead of several built up to that thickness, is more likely to provide satisfaction.

The plastic should be tough material, not brittle so you can cut it more easily, and hard enough that a fingernail pressed into it with force doesn't leave an impression.

R
Reply to
RicodJour

I put 6 cinder block bricks under the box spring. 3 on each side and 3 along the middle.

So the box spring is firmly supported and the head/foot boards are just sitting around this - not supporting anything.

The cinder blocks are spaced out and this leaves little "compartments" between the bricks under the bed. My dog loves this to go hide under there and peek her nose out an opening (to keep an eye on me to see if I am going toward the refrigerator or any source of food...)

Reply to
Bill

Upon further reflection, the U-shaped shim is not as good as a rectangular piece with a hole cut out. I was thinking of wedging the U-shaped shim into place after the bed is assembled, but the hooks will do the wedging as they slide down over the pins under load. The shim thickness is also less critical that way, plus the shims will be a lot easier to install.

R
Reply to
RicodJour

I see that you changed your thoughts on the U-shaped shim, but I am curious about something.

You said "As the patent, and common sense, would suggest, a U-shaped shim..."

Where in the patent do you see a suggestion for a U-shaped shim?

Even the picture at the site shows a rectangle.

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Again, just curious...

Reply to
DerbyDad03

I didn't click the link and I only skimmed the description you included in your first post. My bad. ;)

The Giro d'Italia is racing up the Blockhaus right now, and I do have my priorities!

R
Reply to
RicodJour

I did it again! I just clicked on that patent picture link and that's for a bed with bed bolts. With that setup you could use a U-shaped shim just as easily - more easily as you wouldn't have to disassemble the bed, but the rectangular with a slot is still better for the OP's situation.

Armstrong is doing pretty well for an old guy in the Giro, but Menchov is just too strong, and Di Luca is on a mission. In case anyone is interested...

R
Reply to
RicodJour

Metal tends not to wear over time, but wood does. You'll have to inspect the bed closely to see what your root cuase is. From your description, you have one of a few possible situations:

1) the metal hooks or the pins have become loose, creating play

Solution: replace the hardware: if it is a screw that's loose, use a longer/wider screw. If the pins are loose, try using larger diameter pins (redrilling is necessary). If neither work, remove the hooks and pins, go to your local big orange store, and buy some new hardware.

Solution 2: drill shank holes in the post, and guide holes in the rail, and attach the rail using really long screws. This is not ideal, as you will have play again in 5 or 6 years.

2) the wood where the bed post meets the rail is worn

If this is the case, it's due to a not-so great design of the bed. Completely replacing the hardware is a good idea again. You can also try to resquare the wood, and attach a piece of aluminum to replace the thickness lost due to the cut (only if you have a tablesaw or RAS saw -- I don't recomend this otherwise!).

Check out this for an idea for hardware:

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John

Reply to
julvr

re : If neither work, remove the hooks and pins, go to your local big orange store, and buy some new hardware

Does your local big orange store carry bed hardware? I don't think mine does.

I searched for bed hardware on their website and got a whole bunch of door knobs and a few pick-up truck tool boxes.

I would also avoid surface mounted bed fasteners such as the ones at the Lee Valley site.

I've built all of the beds in my house (2 sets of bunks, standard and L-shaped, and a queen size bed) I've tried various types of surface mount bed fasteners and have never been happy over the long term. They're really easy to install, but they just don't hold as tight.

I eventually replaced all of the fasteners with these and haven't had a problem since:

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Yes, I had to rout out the recesses, but now that they're installed, it takes a rubber mallet to assemble/dis-assemble the bed. Once I made the jigs for the rails and end-boards, the routing took a matter of minutes.

Reply to
DerbyDad03

I have an old four-poster that has slats across from frame to frame to hold the spring and mattress. Seems to me that if you have the same set-up, cutting some new boards that fit tightly would solve the problem.

Reply to
norminn

- Hide quoted text -

How would the bed slats under the mattress stop the bed from rocking back and forth?

You could screw a sheet of plywood to the rails with a thousand screws but if the connection between the rails and head/foot boards is loose, the bed is going to wiggle.

Reply to
DerbyDad03

"bobmct" wrote

Lots of answers (and some fun). My take is it is loose so there's wiggle room 'side to side' where the hook goes into the post slot. I'm assuming that there is no other problem from your post.

Grin, get a box of toothpicks and fill the excess on the inner side so it doesnt show, until they are tight.

Yeah I know, the guys want you to replace the hardware and that's probably more 'elegant' but if your bed is like my old queensized one with that problem, I fixed it with 50cents worth of toothpicks.

Reply to
cshenk

Hide quoted text -

He's implying that this would put enough sideways stress on the hooks to take up the slop. We're all just guessing here, without pictures. OP described it clearly enough, but the words may mean different things to him than they do to us. Unless bed is an heirloom/valuable antique, this falls in the blacksmithing category. Take the mattress and box spring off, stare at it awhile, and see what isn't fitting tightly, and find some way to fine-tune reality. Depending on if the wood side rails showed or not, I'd be inclined to graft the headboard and footboard onto a modern bedframe. If the side rails were part of the design, I'd find some way to graft some big L brackets in there to make tight solid corners. If it is like the hook-into-slot(with pin) bed frames I have dealt with, adding a metal or wood shim to the contact points would likely fix it, at least for awhile.

-- aem sends...

Reply to
aemeijers

em.- Hide quoted text -

This is what the OP has:

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Assuming the wood isn't split and the pins are still tight in their holes, shimming the end of the rails is by far the easiest thing to do.

I apologize for not being more specific in my earlier responses, but it was a very interesting day at the Giro d'Italia.

R
Reply to
RicodJour

On Wed 27 May 2009 03:26:12p, cshenk told us...

Glad you didn't suggest toothpaste. That should be reserved for filling nail holes in drywall. :-)

Reply to
Wayne Boatwright

"Wayne Boatwright" wrote

Hehehe just had to have a little fun with all the guys here and in fact, that solution *did* work for us on a side to side 'shimmy' that made noise when hubby and I were doing 'adult stuff' and the noise was making the 'kidlit' want to investigate...

Really, it worked.

Reply to
cshenk

replying to bobmct, Jennalee1 wrote: I have the same problem. Looking for answers too.

Reply to
Jennalee1

I like this method = simple and cheap. All the shims and screws didn't exist in 1850, when my bed was built, so this method preserves the frame as-is for all time.

Reply to
Dave in NOLA

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