Building a Shaker bed. No pun intended.
My daughter wants a new bed. I said I’ll build you a bed. She choose the Shaker. Wow, this should be quick and easy. I’m glad she didn’t like the sleigh bed! Check out the attached pic.
She wants the bed built from pine. She likes the knots. OK but not as strong as oak. But since she wants it fast and I need to build it on the cheap, I agreed to use pine. And she is a rather petit girl so not much weight stress.
Normally I would go to the wood distributor and pick up some rough sawn. But I can’t make the trip for at least 3 weeks. It’s a 50 mile trip. I can only make the drive on a Saturday.
Additionally, since I overspent this holiday season, I’m broke. So off I go to Lowe’s. Don’t say a word. At the very worst, the bed gets too weak and I have to build a new one in a year or two.
I got some of Lowe’s premium stock for the posts. I laminated two 5/4 and one 3/4 boards for the posts. Following the plans, I cut notches in the center 3/4 piece for the mortise. I also purchased four 2 x 8 construction grade boards for the rails. I’ll plane and joint them. I searched the pile and found some very straight boards. And really cheap. With the house building collapse, construction lumber is dirt cheap. I paid less than $7 for each 2x8x8. I also purchased a wide panel made up of edge glued 1x3x8’s for the headboard. Spent a total of $72 for the wood.
The headboard will be attached to the post via mortise and tenon. The rails will be joined to the post via M & T with bed bolts added for strength.
So, what do you think. Will the mortise and tenon joints hold the headboard to the posts? Will the bed rails stay attached to the posts? Should I glue the headboard and head rail tenons to the post mortises as the plan states? Will the posts joints stress and crack and eventually fail prematurely?
Should I secure the mattress boards to the rails for more strength or will the seasonal movement be an issue with that idea?
I am not going to turn the posts since I have not yet purchased a lathe. Maybe I could add some decorative chamfers on the four corners? Any suggestions here?
What finish will give it a nice golden pine look? I’m not going to use any poly. I have been using Tried and True varnish oil on my Cherry projects. Looks nice and doesn’t blotch if you remove it fast. Like 20 minutes instead of the suggested 24 hours.
Thanks for listening.
Edited 12/30/2008 10:44 pm ET by dynamwebz
Replies
You asked too many questions, but briefly...
Your joinery is fine. Don't worry.
I wouldn't attach anything that impedes quick knockdown; i.e. the 4 bedbolts are all that is necessary for assembly/disassembly.
The all-time best finish for what you're doing is shellac. Lots.
David Ring
http://www.touchwood.co.il/?id=1&lang=e
I do ask lots of questions. I hope to get lots of responses from different people for different questions. All responses are appreciated.
I will try the shellac on some scrap. I have never used it before. Any particular brand? Color? I'll probably purchase the flakes and mix it. I remember some FW pdf's on this subject. I'll look them up. A quick Google brings up Shellac.net. Has anyone had any transactions with this web site? Oops, more questions.
I have been collecting tools and practicing this fun hobby for about 4 years now. Have built a kitchen and bathroom full of cabinets with great results. So far nobody has pointed out any of my mistakes even when asked to do so. I guess I hid them well.
dynam,
You can glue up the head and foot of the bed if you want. Low post bed heads and feet (especially if they are twin or single size) are fairly easy to get up stairs, even if there's a landing. Whether or not you choose to glue up the head and foot, I'd put double tenons on that headboard, at the top and bottom of the panel, with a haunch between. This means you will need a shallow channel in the posts between the two mortises. If you choose to glue it, I'd glue just the bottom, and let the top tenon float in its over width mortise, so it can move seasonally. You could bolt the bed together all four ways, and let the head and foot boards float in their mortises dry.
You can screw the slats to the rails for more stability if you want; this might be a good idea if you are expecting little monkeys jumping on the bed. Another, more elegant solution is to run a 1x2 strip along the bottom inside of the rails, notched out to house the ends of the slats. Yet another alternative is to support the boxsprings on bed irons instead of slats. Find them with the bedbolts, covers, and other hardware at Horton Brasses website.
Since there are no beads or other turned details, and the round sections are short, you could easily work the tapers first octagonal, then round, with drawknife and spokeshave. Alternatively a square taper with chamfered corners looks nice too.
For your finish, make some samples up from your offcuts, and play with various stains and topcoats.
Have fun,
Ray
I like the idea of the haunch between the tennons.
I read "The anatomy of a bed" pdf and it had lots of good information about bed building. I will use wood cleats and add dowels to keep the supports evenly separated.
Drawknife and spokeshave? I don't own those tools. Yet.
You can't do much better than this site for finishing. http://homesteadfinishing.com/
Jeff Jewett is a very well known finisher and author.
Work Safe, Count to 10 when your done for the day !!
Bruce S.
One technique I've used is to dovetail the ends of the slats into the supporting ledge. Strong, fast, works well.
Best Wishes, Dennis
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