Platform Bed Design

[stal023]

I am looking to start this project in the next couple of weeks and thought I would throw it out there to get everyone's advice. Here is the bed plan I am looking to "copy" (I have a queen bed)

http://www.workbenchmagazine.com/main/wb309-bed01.html

I'm new to all this and have only made coffee tables, end tables and such. Never a bed.

The plan calls for plywood and I wanted to avoid using plywood. My thoughts were to instead use black walnut on the 3 faces of the bed frame (the 4th won't really be visible and to save a bit of money, use the other type of wood I am planing on using). I also wanted to use black walnut for the stanchion. The rest of the construction I am wanting to use a wood that will be a contrast to the black walnut, but not a crazy contrast (not like poplar) and have looked into maple or cypress that also is a bit of a cheaper of wood. Thoughts on what wood I should use for this? Also, what would would you advise using for the rungs (since I am trying to bring more visual appeal to the bed by using two different woods and NOT panting it like these plans call for)?

Also, should I alter the plans at all for the construction? Remember, I am new to this. I don't know how you alter plans to allow for changes in the wood. The only joinery I have done is with a kreg for pocketholes and I love the ease of it. Once I build this bad boy, I will then ask everyone for advice on finishing. Thanks in advance.

 

[Gofor]

This is a good example of a plywood design needing a few changes when making it from solid wood to address wood movement issues.

The problem areas are where all the wide long boards attach to the end caps and stanchions (i.e. side rails A attaching to end caps B, Header M attaching to stanchion N, and Footer I attaching to end caps B). The long wide boards will all have the grain running horizontally, but must attach to the upright pieces having the grain running vertically (classic cross-grain situation).

To address this, you need to attach them so that the wide boards can expand/contract without binding. If I read the design correctly, these wide boards are attached by screws going from the inside of the wide board into the edge of the vertical boards. You will want the top screw to go in tight into a normal pre-drilled holes. The remaining lower screw holes will need to be elongated by drilling two or three barely overlapping holes in line top to bottom and wobbling the drill bit a little to clean up the waste between them. This will allow the lower screws to slightly move up and down as the boards wax and wane. If you augment the connection with glue, only glue the top 3" or so.

So far I have not noticed any other problems in the design.

Hope this makes sense and helps

Go

 

[Gofor]

As for the wood contrast/selection:

One way to see what the wood will really look like after applying the finish is to take some pieces, sand them as you would for the finished piece, and then wipe them with mineral spirits. That will give you a close approximation of what the colors will be using a clear finish.

The reason I mention this this early in the process is that you may want to slightly change the hue or look of the board using a tinted coating or stain (forgive me CrealBilly. I know, I know! Why would someone do to wood what they work so hard to get rid of on their clothes?, LOL). In this instance, particularly doing items like rungs or contrasting woods, it may be a lot easier to do some of the finishing process before the parts are assembled.

Other woods that may be players are ash, red oak, or white oak. Ash would probably be closer price-wise to poplar and less than maple but I'm not sure. In my experience, these are less susceptible to blotching during finishing than maple. IMHO, all blend well with walnut.

Go

 

[Jeff]

Mark has made excellent points in his analysis of the design. Solid wood is a different beast from plywood so you have to accommodate that wood movement. Pocket hole screws won't cut it in my opinion; build it quick and easy and then rebuild it after it blows apart!

Whoa, back up the bus before you get chomping at the bit to get started!

1. Do you want a queen size as described in your post link? It's labeled as a "qween" size in the diagrams. Here's your opportunity to upgrade to a king size bed if you wish. A king mattress is the same length but about 16" wider (80" l & 76" w) for sleep and play space with the doggies.

2. The platform bed frame rests entirely on the floor with no access underneath it for air circulation or potential storage of stuff. Does that bother you? It's easily modified.

3. Think finishing now-not after you've made it and ...what now guys?

 

[stal023]

Why would I upgrade my mattress to king? Yes, I want to use queen. And yes, I am okay with it sitting on the floor.

 

[Gofor]

Stal: One other comment: There are a lot of wide boards used in this design. Getting the walnut for the 7 1/2" wide caps should not be a problem, but getting the 12" wide boards for the side rails, etc will be expensive if not difficult. If you are not prepared to do a lot of edge gluing, this may be an area where you could consider veneered plywood if you can find it in the species wood you want (birch, cherry and oak are not rare, but maple may be harder to find). Using it would also eliminate the cross grain problems.
That said, i understand the desire to use all solid wood.

As for why a king-sized bed: One reason is that this bed will probably last you a long time. If you are married, as you get older, cuddling as a priority sometimes take second to comfort as the joints stiffen and the body temp starts to swing. The extra room can really be of benefit. Just sayin'. LOL

Go

 

[stal023]

That is an excellent point that I didn't think about. I've just found 10". Suggestions on a work around?

 

[stal023]

I could switch my ideas of where to use the walnut and use it as the caps on the side rail and headboard, however, the headboard cap calls for 9.5". Probably can't get that out of the 10" can I? Would it be fine to make the width less for this?

I like the idea of the darker wood being the base though....how would you go about gluing?

 

[Jeff]

That is an excellent point that I didn't think about. I've just found 10". Suggestions on a work around?

+1 to Mark's input. That's why I suggested it for consideration in your planning phase. No problem, you're learning so join the rest of us in that learning process.

Plans are guides not set in stone so adjust them to whatever you can get and what suits your taste. Once you solidify that in your mind it "is your plan" and that one is pretty much set in stone with some in the shop adjustments/corrections as needed.

10" w. Use what you can get and change the plan. A 9.5" w rip from a 10" w board will be fine.

We're here to help but we're not experts either.

 

[JimD]

veneered plywood that is edge banded or has solid wood covering the plywood edges looks a lot like solid wood. It is also cheaper than solid wood. It would be less work than solid wood.

I don't see large issues with switching the design to solid wood but you have to remember that solid wood will move significantly across the grain. It moves very little along the grain. If you glue two pieces together with the grain running at right angles to each other it will fail. You can screw wide boards together without allowing for movement as long as both have the same grain orientation, the tangential to radial expansion is about the same (same species does this but it's not the only way) and they are finished the same (so they absorb moisture at the same rate). It seems like you could do that with this design. I wouln't but you could. Hardwood is also heavier than plywood. I like what shows to be hardwood but that doesn't mean the whole piece has to be solid wood.

I also don't know if you really like this bed or if you want a platform bed. I only make platform beds but I make them in more traditional styles. I made one with a solid platform of plywood but that platform was a monster to move (it is in my son's house now). Really comfortable but needed to be improved for moving. Next I tried relatively narrow slats of 3/4 baltic birch plywood - in a full size bed. This was much easier to move and worked fine. Last one I made had slats of A/C fir plywood (3/4) that were about 1 foot wide. I think that will be what I do on the next one. It is more solid than the narrower slats but much easier to move than a rigid platform. This was on a queen sized bed for my daughter and son in law (I made them a cherry bedroom set as a wedding present). All you have to do to change a traditional bed to a platform bed is throw away (or don't buy) the boxed springs and create a slatted support for the matress. I think they are far superior to boxed springs.

Jim

 

[stal023]

+1 to Mark's input. That's why I suggested it for consideration in your planning phase. No problem, you're learning so join the rest of us in that learning process.

Plans are guides not set in stone so adjust them to whatever you can get and what suits your taste. Once you solidify that in your mind it "is your plan" and that one is pretty much set in stone with some in the shop adjustments/corrections as needed.

10" w. Use what you can get and change the plan. A 9.5" w rip from a 10" w board will be fine.

We're here to help but we're not experts either.

What about this idea... For those boards that are 11.25 that I wanted to be walnut but can't find lumber that wide I do it like this: I rip my walnut so I have two pieces each 5" and rip a piece of the white oak or whatever other wood I decide to go with at 1.25" and I put that in the middle of the walnut so it will look like a band running through. I'm not sure how I would attach the 3 pieces of wood together but it seems like it could be done. Good idea or bad idea?

 

[Jeff]

Stal,

Contrasting wood can be good or it can be overdone and a detraction to the design.

1. Don't rip a 10" w walnut board and sandwich in a piece of whatever you choose. It's gonna start looking like a zebra. You'll also have 2 glue lines to contend with instead of 1.

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2. Glue a 1.25" t strip to the top of your 10" w walnut board to get your 11.25". Only 1 glue line here and almost hidden below the end and side cap boards.

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3. Maple is cheaper than walnut so you might consider that as the base component and use the walnut as the highlight. The lighter color will make the piece appear lighter and not "dumpy" squat short.

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4. This is gonna be a beast and will be moved at some point. So a breakdown design for the joinery is a good thing to consider.

 

[stal023]

Because I am new, how did you create all these drawings? SketchUp?

What would be a "breakdown design?" Please forgive, I am new to all this.

 

[Jeff]

Because I am new, how did you create all these drawings? SketchUp?

What would be a "breakdown design?" Please forgive, I am new to all this.

1. Yes, they're done in SketchUp. Do you use the program? If so I can share the files but if not we can help along that line and share the info for you to print and work with.

2. A breakdown design allows the bed to be disassembled in pieces. So there are 4 pieces that can be moved.

a. the headboard

b. the footboard

c. 2 side rails

A fully assembled bed may not fit through a door opening no matter how you tilt/turn it. So you have to decide on the overall dimensions/design and how to join those 4 pieces together so that they can be taken apart and moved without having a door opening mismatch. Interior doors are often 32" w and exterior doors are usually 36" w. A hallway from the bedroom presents the same problem in turning it at getting it out of the house in one piece.

Pocket hole screws could work on the interior of the headboard and footboard as separate pieces that won't be disassembled. They won't allow for wood movement but there are ways to accommodate that on a 11 1/4" width. Now the detachable rails...?

I don't mean to be teaching here but you wanted some fundamentals to help you and other members will chime in with their advice.

I know that you're dead set on getting started with the build but back up and get your overall plan together before buying the wood and making sawdust.

 

[JimD]

I'd make that bed so it broke down into smaller pieces too but you can certainly move a queen sized platform in one piece. My son and I did it last weekend. We moved it off the second floor of one of my houses to his house, a ranch. We moved it down a L shaped stairway. So it can be done. But when it doesn't need to be it really shouldn't be. The perimeter frame of this bed can be bolted together with bed bolts or otherwise assembled so it breaks down and slats are better to support the mattress than a solid platform.

To be fair, what my son and I moved was slightly smaller, about 8 inches high and the size of a queen mattress with only a couple inch overhang on the sides. The top is 1/2 plywood and the perimeter and some ribs are 3/4 plywood. Very solid and pretty heavy.

 

[Skymaster]

Maple ply is easy to get, I use it alot.