[JohnnyG73]

A short while back my fiancée and I moved in together. We were broke and needed a bed because prior to moving we had single beds and now we were sharing an air mattress on the floor. I had never built furniture before but after a visit to a local furniture store and seeing how expensive beds were I figured I would try to build a simple one. We picked up an inexpensive mattress and box spring at Big Lots for $200. I wanted to build the bed out of some kind of hardwood but the boards were more than I could afford at the time so I settled for aspen. At the time I made this I was not into woodworking and it was built out of necessity so try not to laugh.

I started out with a frame made from 2x4's that would not be seen and used 4x4 for the legs. I tapered the legs into octagons at the bottom so it wouldn't look total *******.

I counter bored for the carriage bolt so I could glue the aspen boards directly to the sides of the 2x4's.

I glued up 1x2 boards to 1x6 boards. I figured this would be a good place to rest my foot to tie my shoes. I put a 1/4 round on the 1x2's before I glued them. After gluing the 1x2s to the 1x6s I used a flush trim bit to smooth the back side. I used a simple miter cut on the corners because at the time, I simply didn't know how to do any joining more advanced than that nor did I have the equipment to do so. I glued the sides directly to the 2x4's.

I put a couple brackets in the corners in hope that it would help strengthen them.

 

[JohnnyG73]

Very careful measuring and gluing ended up looking ok at the corners with a minimal of sanding to do.

I sanded everything and experimented with 7 different minwax finishes on the cut off scraps before settling on fruitwood 241. I gave everything that was going to be visible two coats and a light sanding. I finished it up with three coats of clear semi-gloss polyurethane.

I did originally make a fifth leg for the middle but it seems ok without it because of the box spring support. I needed to re-tighten the nuts on the carriage bolts after a couple months due to settling I figure.

If I were to go back and do things differently I would round over the corners. I like having the small ledge to rest my foot on while sitting on the bed but it's a real leg cutter at the corners with that 1x2 sticking out. I would also research more about making actual furniture and build it without the 2x4 sub frame. I hope to learn more about doing joinery. I would also not build it in my living room. Like I said in the previous post, we were broke and needed a bed fast. I am also hoping to learn more about finishing.

In the near future I would like to build a head board with night stands. I told my fiancée that this is practice and eventually it will go in the guest bedroom and I can build a nice bed when my skills are up to par.:smile:

 

[Travico]

There is nothing wrong with that bed. Now you have he rest of your life to woodwork and make more beds!

 

[27207]

That turned out great! Especially considering what you had. I'm still using the metal bed frame, not even a headboard. I guess I better get on it. The wife has been hounding me about it for a few years.

If jigs and tools were chairs and stools, we'd always have a place to sit.
~Stumpy Nubs