King Platform Bed w/ drawers, built-in floating nightstands, mason jar lights & blanket chest

[jfynyson]

Sorry for the long post. This should’ve been a blog and posted in many parts but I never seem to have time for those kinds of things along the way so now that I’ve got a few minutes I’m typing this out and posting. I hope the pics show up correctly…

This was by far my most ambitious & intimidating project yet. The design includes the king size platform bed with huge drawers, hidden doors, hidden storage, built-in floating nightstands, mason jar & pipe LEDs (candelabra size), and a matching blanket chest. The inspiration for this build came from my wife seeing a $3500 reclaimed lumber platform bed with drawers underneath and not willing to shell out that kind of cash. I said, like most of us have done, “I can build that and even make it better for cheaper”. This was a huge challenge building in my 14x24 workshop w/ 8.5' ceilings. I couldn't really handle a full sheet of 4x8 plywood, just one of the platform carcasses with drawers took up most of my shop floor and when finishing and assembling the headboard/nightstands that took up nearly 126" on a diagonal. I had to layout parts for finishing in phases as well due to lack of space. I know my shop is not large but it's by no means small compared to some but I learned that it's tough to build big furniture items in small spaces and do a good job.

The original design called for covering the platform carcasses with reclaimed lumber but after exhaustive searching and insane quotes from suppliers (and long distances for me to pick up) I realized right quick why that other bed was so expensive. I decided to use rough western red cedar (rough on 1 face but surfaced on 3 sides already) and birch ply (both 1/2" & 3/4" depending on the part) all from Wall Lumber in Mayodan. I purchased the Kreg 5 pocket hole jig set up for this build, was the first time I've ever installed drawer glides, and I made several size (3', 5', & 8') track saw jigs for my circular saw to break down the sheet goods from my trailer. I have since built a dedicated sheet goods break down table using pressure treated lumber to stay outside of my shop which will make my next build (queen size) much easier. I also learned how to make a “Dutchman” or bowtie or butterfly inlays to mitigate further splitting of a few of the boards while adding a nice visual touch. To make that process go faster I bought the inlay kit and jig from Klingspor’s in WS so I could use my Bosch Colt palm router w/ plunge.

The Design
I used SketchUp for the first time, which I had to learn via YouTube. This design required 147 parts to be cut and I'm a visual learner so having a 3D model was crucial for me to tackle this build. It was also instrumental in creating my cutlist so I could price everything out and know what parts need to be cut from what wood source to minimize waste. I must say I was amazed that once I learned on the blanket chest that I needed to realign my table saw fence & cross cut sled (was way off now ~0.0015" accurate) all of the build went together virtually 100% perfect per the plan (that never happens for me). I must say SketchUp is a powerful tool for me now (I've still got a lot to learn on that program though took me forever to design this). The only instances where something didn't line up 100% perfect was were some minor bowing was in the boards and I didn't mill them down to 3/4" so they were slightly thicker. Also I didn't account for using felt pads to keep from scratching my floors. I didn't mill down the boards as they were already surfaced on 3 sides and I took the time to pick out the flattest straightest boards I could find. I then acclimated them in the shop for a few months.

Here's a couple SketchUp design shots and I started by using our bedroom dimensions:

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[U]The Build Timeline[/U]
I built this in 4 phases due to available time. Phase I (Mar 2016) platform carcass so we could get our new foam mattress to help our backs. Phase II (Aug 2016) blanket chest, Phase III (Nov 2016) platform bed cedar covering, and Phase IV (Dec 2016 - Jan 2017) headboard with nightstands & lights. We decided to hold off on building the book shelves to wrap around the window. Also during the build I had stopped woodworking for a while to design a 6” spiral pipe duct dust collection system, retro fit my machines to 6” best I could, install the new Grizzly G0441 3hp cyclone, and redo my electrical in the shop to go from 30amps & no 220V to 100amps with 220V for the dust collector and any future tools. Also having a full time job, young kids with school, daycare, events, in a car 2.5hrs a day etc… made it take a really long time but well worth the journey and the tons of lessons learned I now have.

Here's a couple shots of the purchased lumber & breaking down the sheets on my trailer (I apologize for the poor cell phone quality pics in this thread & the fact that Photobucket keeps wanting to rotate my pics):
[IMG][URL="http://s1309.photobucket.com/user/jfynyson/media/Wood%20Projects/King%20size%20Platform%20Bed%20Build/IMG_2574_zps9o6cy8nv.jpg.html"][IMG]http://i1309.photobucket.com/albums/s626/jfynyson/Wood%20Projects/King%20size%20Platform%20Bed%20Build/IMG_2574_zps9o6cy8nv.jpg[/URL]

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Here some of the assembling of the platform carcasses & the final chest

[IMG][URL="http://s1309.photobucket.com/user/jfynyson/media/Wood%20Projects/King%20size%20Platform%20Bed%20Build/IMG_2639_zpsu5loon8v.jpg.html"][IMG]http://i1309.photobucket.com/albums/s626/jfynyson/Wood%20Projects/King%20size%20Platform%20Bed%20Build/IMG_2639_zpsu5loon8v.jpg[/URL]

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Here’s the cedar covering
[IMG][URL="http://s1309.photobucket.com/user/jfynyson/media/Wood%20Projects/King%20size%20Platform%20Bed%20Build/IMG_3378_zpsgiesdyqi.jpg.html"][IMG]http://i1309.photobucket.com/albums/s626/jfynyson/Wood%20Projects/King%20size%20Platform%20Bed%20Build/IMG_3378_zpsgiesdyqi.jpg[/URL]

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Hidden storage area (I didn't show here the hidden storage in the headboard/nightstand area or the smaller doors under the headboard area of the platform)
[IMG][URL="http://s1309.photobucket.com/user/jfynyson/media/Wood%20Projects/King%20size%20Platform%20Bed%20Build/2017-01-15%2021.24.50_zpsvnhqib0b.jpg.html"][IMG]http://i1309.photobucket.com/albums/s626/jfynyson/Wood%20Projects/King%20size%20Platform%20Bed%20Build/2017-01-15%2021.24.50_zpsvnhqib0b.jpg[/URL]

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Here’s the headboard build (sorry but cannot seem to find headboard build pics from within the shop)

[IMG][URL="http://s1309.photobucket.com/user/jfynyson/media/Wood%20Projects/King%20size%20Platform%20Bed%20Build/2017-01-152020.53.35_zpsxjffpg04.jpg.html"][IMG]http://i1309.photobucket.com/albums/s626/jfynyson/Wood%20Projects/King%20size%20Platform%20Bed%20Build/2017-01-152020.53.35_zpsxjffpg04.jpg[/URL]

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I rubbed the metal piping (aka gas pipe, iron pipe, black pipe) using steel wool, then wiped with paper towel followed by spray lacquer then rubbed again w/ steel wool to take off the shine
[IMG][URL="http://s1309.photobucket.com/user/jfynyson/media/Wood%20Projects/King%20size%20Platform%20Bed%20Build/2017-01-152020.55.25_zps8rhhoapk.jpg.html"][IMG]http://i1309.photobucket.com/albums/s626/jfynyson/Wood%20Projects/King%20size%20Platform%20Bed%20Build/2017-01-152020.55.25_zps8rhhoapk.jpg[/URL]

Toggle switch install into the headboard
[IMG][URL="http://s1309.photobucket.com/user/jfynyson/media/Wood%20Projects/King%20size%20Platform%20Bed%20Build/2017-01-142020.06.33_zpszfiqacpq.jpg.html"][IMG]http://i1309.photobucket.com/albums/s626/jfynyson/Wood%20Projects/King%20size%20Platform%20Bed%20Build/2017-01-142020.06.33_zpszfiqacpq.jpg[/URL]

I antiqued the on/off toggle swtiches just using a little flat black spray paint at a distance
[IMG][URL="http://s1309.photobucket.com/user/jfynyson/media/Wood%20Projects/King%20size%20Platform%20Bed%20Build/2017-01-152020.54.33_zpshpseqry9.jpg.html"][IMG]http://i1309.photobucket.com/albums/s626/jfynyson/Wood%20Projects/King%20size%20Platform%20Bed%20Build/2017-01-152020.54.33_zpshpseqry9.jpg[/URL]

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Example of how well things lined up (headboard & nightstand meeting the platform build months earlier)...this items were very heavy to move and to see them side right into place perfectly was a great feeling
[IMG][URL="http://s1309.photobucket.com/user/jfynyson/media/Wood%20Projects/King%20size%20Platform%20Bed%20Build/2017-01-152020.54.12_zpsiaszo44n.jpg.html"][IMG]http://i1309.photobucket.com/albums/s626/jfynyson/Wood%20Projects/King%20size%20Platform%20Bed%20Build/2017-01-152020.54.12_zpsiaszo44n.jpg[/URL]


The final product pics (sorry for bad pics again):
[IMG][URL="http://s1309.photobucket.com/user/jfynyson/media/Wood%20Projects/King%20size%20Platform%20Bed%20Build/2017-01-15%2020.51.50_zpsnqmgrtwl.jpg.html"][IMG]http://i1309.photobucket.com/albums/s626/jfynyson/Wood%20Projects/King%20size%20Platform%20Bed%20Build/2017-01-15%2020.51.50_zpsnqmgrtwl.jpg[/URL]

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[U]The finishing process[/U]
This was a huge lesson learned for me as well. My wife and I have a log home and love rustic look & feel so we wanted to feel the texture of the wood, keep the rough look, yet have it smooth enough such that upon dusting the cloth wouldn’t “catch” or “pick” and not have it shiny.

I’ve not really seen anyone do this kind of finished look really so I very lightly sanded all parts with 220 grit using a random orbital sander, used a micro chamfer to knock down the edges and add some board depth where they join together & some elegance (I loved this idea). Any tight or narrow difficult areas I used 220 grit by hand using one of those yellow hand or finger sanding pads from ShopSmith (get at Lowe’s or Amazon). I saw a video where a guy made a cedar chest and used a spar varnish to finish it and it looked great so I used Heisman’s Spar Urethane (semi-gloss) for the finish. The cedar chest was my guinea pig and first to get the finish and I made the mistake of not diluting it out and my second coat was too much. This made it look like plastic and was too shiny so I tried to buff it out with steel wool & waste wax. Mistake here was not letting the varnish cure long enough before trying to buff it out and letting the wax sit too long before removing it; looks bad up close in my opinion. But not willing to scrap the chest and start over I had to finish the rest of the bed to look the same at least in color.
For the rest of the project I started with 2 coats of a 2:1 mix of mineral spirits to semi-gloss spar and sanded after the second coat followed by wiping off the dust. Then finished with a 1:1 mix of the solvent to a satin spar rather than semi-gloss and this was right at the point where the film built up to the texture of the rough look yet after a quick buff with the white 3M pad left it feeling and looking perfect for us. It’s well protected, has that texture, not shiny, feels like “real” wood rather than plastic, and yet is smooth enough.

After the fact I did a lot more research on finishing and now in hind sight I wish I would’ve used a good quality water based finished and maybe sealed it with a natural or blond shellac first would’ve really sped up the process and mitigate the spar odor that lingers for a couple months. However, I’m unsure if the water based material would’ve built too thick for me based on the textured look & feel I was going for. Also I do not like the yellowing effect of oil based varnishes. That’s where me having to learn the hard way that testing the finish on pieces of the same material is critical. In the past most of my projects being rustic I just stained them using a MinWax and rarely if at all put any finish on them. If I did it was polyurethane and I would do nothing else (no 2 or 3 coats, no buffing out etc…). I was always intimidated by finishing processes because they took too long and looked too complicated and I feared messing up the project. I’ve now learned what I should do and also that finishing is an expense that I really need to factor in as that stuff gets expensive for good quality materials.
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What’s Next ?[/U]
I’ve already got a queen size version lined up for my brother-in-law. Fortunately I was able to keep the same exact platform carcass design and simply shorten the width to the needed dimensions by removing the center slat. He’ll not have the hidden storage in the middle but that’s ok. Also he does not need the nightstands or lights in the headboard. I’ll be using a frame & panel look with the color to match some cherry nightstands he already has. I was able to match the color using birch and GF’s gel stain. I’m sure that’ll be yet another lesson learned but I’m for sure much more confident to tackle this next build after having gone through this journey !

 

[SubGuy]

Really good work. I like it!

 

[Bill_In_Asheville]

fantastic piece! I did one kind of similar a few years back, but not quite as large... it was for a kid's room

 

[Jeff]

Nicely done and kudos to you for designing and tackling a big project a bit at a time with admirable patience.

 

[beloitdavisja]

that's really nice. I've been thinking about something along the same lines for our bed. Would you mind sharing the sketchup file?

 

[LeftyTom]

Golly!

 

[nn4jw]

I really like that bed. Great job.

A few months ago I made a floor lamp / guitar stand that featured the same type of pipes and light, but rather than a Mason jar I used a weather tight industrial ceiling fixture from Home Depot.



With the electrical box removed it was easy to mate it to a pipe flange.



Just an idea if later you decide you might like to upgrade the lights a little. In my case I went with the fixture because I wanted room to enclose an Edison type bulb for a retro look.

 

[drw]

Wow! Very nicely designed and built! Thank you for sharing the details of the build.

Donn

 

[LocoWoodWork]

Great work. Like the pics documenting the process.

 

[Mike Wilkins]

Looking good my man.

 

[jfynyson]

Thank you all for the kind words !

James Davis - send me a PM and I'll see if I'm able to attach the SketchUp files. I have 2 separate versions, one just the design and one for the cutlist with the platform separated from the chest & headboard so each has it's own cutlist making it easier for me to read for building. I'm sure there are better easier ways to do this now.

 

[Jeff]

James Davis - send me a PM and I'll see if I'm able to attach the SketchUp files.

There is a "downloads" header at the top of the page and within that there's a "project plans" section. That's probably the place to put your SketchUp files for others to retrieve. Thanks.

 

[jfynyson]

There is a "downloads" header at the top of the page and within that there's a "project plans" section. That's probably the place to put your SketchUp files for others to retrieve. Thanks.

Jeff - thanks for letting me know about this !

As suggested, I’ve added the SketchUp files under the downloads library within this forum in the project plans section. I entitled them King platform bed parts I & II – 2016 – SketchUp. They were just posted so not sure how long before they’ll show up as being available for viewing. Enjoy !

 

[Jeff]

As suggested, I’ve added the SketchUp files under the downloads library within this forum in the project plans section. I entitled them King platform bed parts I & II – 2016 – SketchUp. They were just posted so not sure how long before they’ll show up as being available for viewing. Enjoy !

They're not there and I suspect that you didn't finish the process-it can be a bit tricky.

1. Downloads, Add new File. File Name: King platform bed I (King platform bed II is a second upload). Author: jfynyson.

2. Category: Project Plans.

3. Upload a file: Choose file.

4. Add file (at the bottom of the page) to complete. You should get a confirmation that your upload is complete.

5. Go back to square 1 Project Plans and check to see that your file is there.

 

[jfynyson]

They're not there and I suspect that you didn't finish the process-it can be a bit tricky.

1. Downloads, Add new File. File Name: King platform bed I (King platform bed II is a second upload). Author: jfynyson.

2. Category: Project Plans.

3. Upload a file: Choose file.

4. Add file (at the bottom of the page) to complete. You should get a confirmation that your upload is complete.

5. Go back to square 1 Project Plans and check to see that your file is there.

Jeff - I just looked under "Downloads - Manage Library" and I see the files but they are in "unapproved" status and it says, "This file is in the moderation queue"...for both files. However, I then clicked edit and noticed my files were no longer uploaded (for whatever reason) so I added them back and made sure I added my user name as a new uploader and now after it said edit successful it says, "This file is in the moderation queue" but for both plan uploads. That's odd....So, we'll see.

 

[Jeff]

I'm not a computer guru. Start over and try again. The "Manage Library" is usually off-limits for us regular users and limited to the Administrators that have access to that part.

 

[jfynyson]

Just to follow up....I tried this again and they are all (4 files now) now still showing "unapproved" & pending. I do not have time to keep trying this....I'm gearing up to build the queen version of this design but w/o floating nightstands or rough cedar

 

[ehpoole]

Regarding the Download Library, one need only request that an admin approve their uploads to get them approved. Such requests are best handled either through the Help Desk forum or by direct PM to an admin. The Download Library is not a heavily used feature and it does not notify admins when their are new items awaiting moderation, so it is not something that gets checked very often without someone letting us know that they have added something. As a feature like the Download Library can be abused (by those so inclined) only our most senior and active members (Senior Users and above) are exempted from the moderation queue and automatically approved -- these are also the groups that tends to produce most of the our uploads so that generally works out well, but we make the feature available to all user classes (except for brand new users, whom can only download from the library).

At present you seem to have duplicates of parts I and II uploaded with almost no description associated with the more recent duplicate set other than some text suggesting the second set includes the addition of a cultist. If that is the case there really should be a complete description associated with the newer files so that the older duplicates may be deleted as it is a bit confusing to have multiples with the exact same title listed. If you can elaborate on whether or not this is indeed the case then we can clean this up for you.

Anytime anyone has a question, concern, or requires some assistance with anything, please do not hesitate to post a request to our Help Desk forum as we are here to help.

 

[jfynyson]

Regarding the Download Library, one need only request that an admin approve their uploads to get them approved. Such requests are best handled either through the Help Desk forum or by direct PM to an admin. The Download Library is not a heavily used feature and it does not notify admins when their are new items awaiting moderation, so it is not something that gets checked very often without someone letting us know that they have added something. As a feature like the Download Library can be abused (by those so inclined) only our most senior and active members (Senior Users and above) are exempted from the moderation queue and automatically approved -- these are also the groups that tends to produce most of the our uploads so that generally works out well, but we make the feature available to all user classes (except for brand new users, whom can only download from the library).

At present you seem to have duplicates of parts I and II uploaded with almost no description associated with the more recent duplicate set other than some text suggesting the second set includes the addition of a cultist. If that is the case there really should be a complete description associated with the newer files so that the older duplicates may be deleted as it is a bit confusing to have multiples with the exact same title listed. If you can elaborate on whether or not this is indeed the case then we can clean this up for you.

Anytime anyone has a question, concern, or requires some assistance with anything, please do not hesitate to post a request to our Help Desk forum as we are here to help.

Ethan - many thanks for the heads up on future plan uploads to inform the Help Desk or PM an admin. The two files I submitted on 2-6-17 can be deleted. I reread the descriptions for the 1-31-17 file uploads and Part I & II make better sense than the ones I tried again today.

Thanks again!