Making a bed - sensible project?

[tinnews]

We need a new double bed for a spare room and having looked at what one can buy I'm wondering if making it myself would be sensible and/or practical.

We want a 'pine' bed frame anyway so I don't need to use any strange materials. From what I have seen of an existing pine double bed frame we already have (and which is fairly close to what we want) construction is pretty simple. I have a router (two actually) and other basic woodworking tools and am not too bad at basic joinery.

So, are there any pitfalls? I guess if I 'over engineer' it a bit compared with the bought one then it should be strong enough. The only difficult bit as far as I can see is if I want round/turned posts at the corners, is it possible to buy such things ready made?

Any other comments/ideas?

[geraldthehamster]

On Aug 12, 11:48=A0am, [e-mail] wrote: . =A0The

A friend turned a wooden bed frame into a four poster, simply by attaching newel posts to the tops of the legs.

Regards Richard

[Bob Minchin]

The biggest pitfall I can see is buying crap timber from the sheds. Using quality redwood from a real timber merchant will be much better. There are a number of sources of really strong assembly fixing for the corners. You should find a selection of free plans online. Ease (round over) all edges with your router except near to any joints. You may be able to adapt staircase parts for your corner posts or cut octagons from square timber which still gives you flat surfaces for joints and will look more interesting than plain square timber. Alternatively there are lots of wood turner hobbyists around who might turn the posts for you for beer money.

Bob

[TheOldFellow]

I was about to embark on this when I visited Ikea. I don't think I could get the wood for the price of their beds. It's also a good place to go to look at simple designs, structure sizes etc.. Take ear defenders - they strangle cats in front of a mic instead of using Musak.

R.

[Andrew Gabriel]

IKEA say 10% of Europeans are now conceived on an Ikea bed. I haven't found out which store has got this bed though.

Ah, perhaps you found the right store?

[Dave Plowman (News)]

Unless you already have the materials it will likely cost you more just for them than buying a like for like ready made one. The same applies to kitchen unit carcasses etc.

[John Rumm]

It must be getting soggy by now...

[John]

I made one in 1975 - it is still in use and had been upgraded from double to Queen size.

The base is contiboard on its edge - 9" high (x 6 foot long). The sides and ends are halved / slotted into each other to create a plinth that is smaller than the mattress size. Dropped into this is a wooden frame to which the slats are screwed. The frame lifts so that the base can be used for storage (thinking of fitting a gas strut)

[pete]

I'd suggest you find a mattress you like first. Buy that, then build the bed around it. Easier than making the frame to an arbitrary size, then trying to find one that'll fit. (plus, visitors can sleep on the mattress while the bedframe is being built. if you're anything like me, that could take a while)

[PJ]

You could ask the visitors if they would mind making their own bed. IGMC

[John]

Meant to say - the slats overhang the plinth by about 10 inches. The plinth is hardly seen.

[tinnews]

That's an idea, thanks.

[tinnews]

I probablyu have some materials. However I certainly didn't find that when I did some kitchen refurbishing a few years ago, it amazed me how much one was charged for what was essentially a few sheets of veneered chipboard and some connecting hardware.

[tinnews]

Oh definitely, make a frame to fit a standard mattress.

[Tim S]

TheOldFellow wibbled:

Ikea can so easily go either way...

I've got a TV stand which is made of inch thick balsa wood. no, that's not fair. Balsa is stronger. It's solid enough when glued together, but the "wood" is component wise extremely weak - I broke a bit assembling it and had to do a repair.

OTOH, I have a fantastic pair of rectangular dining tabled that are solid edge glued strip wood tops (pine or similar) with a very solid frame and legs. Those are end to end in my "lab" and make excellent benches for 90 quid each.

Some think Ikea is fancy because it's Scandinavian and scandinavians are civilised folk with good engineering skills and nice birds.

But if you ask a swede what they think of Ikea, it's considered their version of MFI.

Cheers

Tim

[Cash]

If you're interested, have a read of the 'potted' history of IKEA here:

[Dave Plowman (News)]

Dunno where you looked, but Wicks basic stuff matches my argument - against materials bought from them. Plus the fact that it's quite a bit of work to make them as well. Unless you want a custom size.

[Tony Bryer]

IKEA sell slatted mattress supports in various qualities - buying one and building your frame around it might be a good compromise.

Except for my desk all the furniture in my new home here in Melbourne is from IKEA - am very happy with it. Pity though about their poor stock control (waited weeks for my bed and dining chairs to come in) and although it's only five miles from here the drive can take 30 minutes.

[Dave Starling]

Ironically, I was in Lakeside Ikea for about 3 hours this afternoon trying to buy a double bed frame which had been discontinued and reduced to =A325, but their computer screen showed 14 in stock. Long story short, I was fobbed off by 3 workers saying that it was impossible/computer error and that it was all sold out. It was only talking to someone else who gave a damn that they actually got a forklift, found item and got it down off the higher shelves. Laziness or conspiracy to keep the bargains for themselves? Moral is if you don't get the answer you want, keep talking to someone until you do or seek out a supervisor! Oh and Ikea is a much saner place if you go during the week :-)

Anyway, back on topic, the OP might like to know they have the birch laminated(solid wood) latts for a bed reduced down to =A32 from =A319 each. 80cm wide so for kingsize bed or 3ft6, but you can trim them with a chop saw if its a BYO bed.

Dave

[David WE Roberts]

Adding to the other recommendations for Ikea - I built a single bed into a small bedroom with one end fixed to the wall and the other to the slope over the stairs (which intruded into the bedroom).

The basic structure was straightforward (just a couple of big bits of wood) which required a base and matress.

I found that Ikea do very nice sprung bases (a bit like the old leaf springs on cars, but across the bed all the way down) and matresses to fit.

I went to the local Ikea, tried out various combinations of base and matress (all nicely laid out on display, with sections also fixed to the wall so you could see what you were buying) and chose a base and matress.

I then built the bed to fit the base and matress.

This gives you a bed with the comfort level you like, and takes away most of the fiddly stuff and leaves you just with the big wood bits to do.

Cheers

Dave R