Queen Bed Finished!

[WoodWrangler]

As you may recall, for TOO LONG I've had this queen bed project hanging around my shop. It started as a friend who wanted to build it himself, with my tools of course ... but that never happened, so I built it just to get it out of my shop. I made him sand it though ... figured he could do the worse part! :rotflm:

Well, about a month ago we put a couple coats of Shellac on it ... then then it sat. Well, FINALLY, yesterday we finished it off.

For the first time I used a NCWW-member recommended product ... Target Coatings Oxford Ultima Water Based Spray Lacquer (link). I'm hooked. That stuff sprayed BEAUTIFULLY, dried quickly, and since it was water based it was MUCH better for the environment -- and myself!

Here's the final product ...

 

[TracyP]

Jeremy that is a great looking bed. I am glad you got your photo issue straightened out. I would have hated to miss that picture. Great Job.

 

[PeteM]

Looks good!

Did you get the rocking horses assembled?

pete

 

[cubicdissection]

WOW. I've been wanting to make some furniture for a while, and I *really* like the looks of that bed. Hope you don't mind if I steal the design for myself

 

[WoodWrangler]

Did you get the rocking horses assembled?

pete

Yes, and thank you for offering. While Eston was here helping, he lended me a hand with the horse legs.

 

[WoodWrangler]

WOW. I've been wanting to make some furniture for a while, and I *really* like the looks of that bed. Hope you don't mind if I steal the design for myself

Wish I could take credit for the design ... but it's from Woodsmith #160. :icon_thum

 

[Canuck]

Great looking bed there, Jeremy!!!!:icon_thum:icon_thum

Is that maple flat panels that I see in the headboard?:icon_scra

I can sure see that you have welcomed the shop real estate back. That piece must have consumed a bunch of it!

Nice work!

Wayne

 

[WoodWrangler]

Is that maple flat panels that I see in the headboard?:icon_scra

Yes, I guess I should have explained more in the original post. The bed is made of Walnut and the panels are a curly maple ply. It's finished with two coats of Shellac, followed by two coats of the USL. The joinery was done with the Multi-Router and is a loose tenon. The side rails connect with the hook-style bed rail connectors commonly sold at the woodworking stores (for easy disassembly)

 

[nelsone]

"Bout time!

That really came out nicely and I'm sure you're glad to get it out of the shop!!!

 

[Travis Porter]

Rhe bed looks great! I know well how it gors with some projects where the recipient is supposed to come over and help. You getting him over to sand is a good sign in my book.

Glad you like the USL. I have been very satisified with the results and am using it in the cabinet job I have going. I think I am going to try spraying some oil based poly before long though. I have been reading up on spraying poly in some old FWW issues and it doesn't seem like it should be too bad with the Fuji Q4 we both have.

 

[Gofor]

Bed frame looks great.!!:icon_thum:icon_thum

Kinda looks uncomfortable without a box spring and mattress, tho. So, how long you been sleepin' out in the driveway? Anything to do with too many tool purchases lately? There are friends here that can help with your problem. They will maximize your expenditures to acquisition results. Not that it will solve this sleeping in the driveway problem, but at least we can find a mattress and some linens. Some like Mike Davis have even offered their shops for a nights repose occasionally so that there is no chance of withdrawal symptoms. We can help. Really! Of course if you think that too many tool purchases ARE you problem, We can Help, Really! We will be very gracious in storing your tools in our shops, caring for them greatly, and even will allow you to visit them occasionally (prior notification and scheduling required. Sorry about that, but its the lawyers, ya know):gar-La;:gar-La;

Go

 

[Dutchman]

Great looking bed Wrangler! I've been through the same situation with someone else's project in the shop thier suppose to finish.
I was wondering how tall the headboard was? Is he using low profile bedding? Those ultra pillow tops or whatever can be upwards of 22" thick with the box spring. If it swallows up his headboard, he might could lower the slat supports to the bottom of the rails to gain a little.

 

[WoodWrangler]

I'd have to check the plans to see how tall it is. The bed is rather low, in my opinion. It's a platform bed -- which I think might mean you don't need a box spring (?). I guess that'll be his decision when he takes it home (it's still in my shed!)

 

[Travis]

Nice work.

 

[cpw]

Make sure you have proper center support!!!

Jeremy,

First of all. Great job!! Looks great!

But before you ruin a mattress set and void the warranty, you need to make some sort of center support to go under the middle of the foundation (general term for box spring or rigid foundation). Most bedding companies exclude damage due to improper support. Read over the warranty information on Sealy's Website. They are pretty typical.

I worked in bedroom furniture for almost three years and I saw a number of queen sets ruined because of this issue, and when I started researching bed designs last year, I noticed a lot of the plans for queen size beds do not include center supports. With kings it's a no-brainer because they have two foundations anyway, but a lot of folks don't think about sag when purchasing queen mattress sets.

This is normally a pretty easy fix. If you are using slats, you can just add a hardwood leg to the middle of the center slat.

However it appears that your design has ledger strips that the foundation edges rest upon. In that case, I would measure from the floor to the top of the ledgers (bottom of the foundation) and build a 4-walled cube to that dimension (open top and bottom), and place it under the bottom center rail of the foundation. Important note: Some foundations have a center rail, while others have two rails spaced about one third in from each edge. Check to see which you have so you will know whether to make one box or two!

Addendum:
I just saw your post about it being a platform bed. This probably means that he's going to use some sort of pedestal and decking. If so, GREAT! problem solved. But if he's just going to throw some plywood and a mattress onto those ledger strips you're right back to square one with the support issue. In any case, make sure your friend understands and won't hold you responsible if he ignores your advice.

 

[WoodWrangler]

Re: Make sure you have proper center support!!!

Addendum:
I just saw your post about it being a platform bed. This probably means that he's going to use some sort of pedestal and decking. If so, GREAT! problem solved. But if he's just going to throw some plywood and a mattress onto those ledger strips you're right back to square one with the support issue. In any case, make sure your friend understands and won't hold you responsible if he ignores your advice.

The plan does call for a two-piece plywood board between the head/footboards and side rails. He's yet to purchase that though. I will share with him this information. Thanks!

 

[DavidF]

Re: Make sure you have proper center support!!!

I made an 11/2" thick torsion box assy as the matress base for my bed to avoid having anything under the bed to ruin the look. Charles, are you saying that generally there IS something that has to go from the matress support to the floor on all Queen beds? I knew mine was going to need something special because it is a temperpedic and they need a very rigid base, but does an ordinary sprung matress?

 

[cpw]

Re: Make sure you have proper center support!!!

I made an 11/2" thick torsion box assy as the matress base for my bed to avoid having anything under the bed to ruin the look. Charles, are you saying that generally there IS something that has to go from the matress support to the floor on all Queen beds? I knew mine was going to need something special because it is a temperpedic and they need a very rigid base, but does an ordinary sprung matress?

David,

Generally, yes, with a queen size, you need something going down to the floor holding up the center.

Now the torsion box may be adequate - I'd give it a shot and see what happens anyway. I presume you put the mattress right on the torsion box without a foundation. Since you have a tempurpedic, it's not going to harm the mattress if it starts to sag, you'll just have to fix it before it gets to the point that you and the wife can't help but "meet in the middle."

If you also bought a foundation - if the torsion box starts to sag the foundation will sag and be ruined. In that case I wouldn't risk it - I'd make some sort of center support. I wouldn't need to be much. Most of the time when we had to "retrofit" a standard frame we just cut and screwed a 1 1/2" x 1 1/2" piece of spruce to the center slat.

 

[jeff...]

That's really nice Mr. Wrangler Really Nice

 

[DavidF]

Re: Make sure you have proper center support!!!

David,

Generally, yes, with a queen size, you need something going down to the floor holding up the center.

Now the torsion box may be adequate - I'd give it a shot and see what happens anyway. I presume you put the mattress right on the torsion box without a foundation. Since you have a tempurpedic, it's not going to harm the mattress if it starts to sag, you'll just have to fix it before it gets to the point that you and the wife can't help but "meet in the middle."

If you also bought a foundation - if the torsion box starts to sag the foundation will sag and be ruined. In that case I wouldn't risk it - I'd make some sort of center support. I wouldn't need to be much. Most of the time when we had to "retrofit" a standard frame we just cut and screwed a 1 1/2" x 1 1/2" piece of spruce to the center slat.

Thanks for the info Charles. The torsion box is VERY rigid and shows no sign of sagging at all. It is screwed to ledger strips around the perimeter and that design add immensely to the overall rigidity of the structure.

A piece down to the floor would have ruined the the whole look when you are down on you knees looking under the bed - don't ask, but it's the sort of thing people do when they look at it!