Building a bed (with 2x4 wood)
I needed an extra bed in my old house for one of my tenants. Instead of buying one I decided to build one with construction wood
Building this bed turned out to be a one-day project. I was also a bit limited by the tools I had with me since I had already moved many of the tools from my old workshop. Therefore the only electric tools that I used in the construction of this bed were a table saw, a drill, a small electric hand brush and a belt sander.
High Rise Metal Bed Frame with Headboard Brackets (Queen)
I spent less than $ 30 on materials, although I already had the screws and dowels. If I had bought everything it would still be below $ 50.
I really did not use a single 2x4. Rather, I used pine wood from what is normally used for building structures. I used three planks of 2x8, one of 2x6, one of 2x10, and two of 2x2. All 8 feet long.
The stringers of the bed each have a 2x2 (1.5 "x1.5") attached to the inner lower edge, on which rest the slats that support the mattress. The image on the left is a sectional section of the bed illustrating this.
When we use construction wood to build furniture it is necessary to carefully select the planks to be used. Fortunately, something like the structure of a bed is heavy enough so that the slightly twisted wood can be forced to straighten when assembled.
Although the lumber is brushed, it is usually not brushed to be as smooth as would be desirable for carpentry furniture projects. I had already taken my thicknesser and the table brush from my old workshop, so it was best to use an electric hand brush. The electric hand-held brush is the size of a standard brush, but rather works like a 3 "wide table brush placed upside down.The wider boards required three strokes from side to side to be brushed. planks I still had some crests between the passes that I sanded with a belt sander.
I also brushed a quarter-inch bevel on all exposed edges. The base of the brush has a V-groove with a 45-degree angle, which allowed me to maintain a constant bevel depth if I put it on the rounded edge that brought the factory wood or on a sharp edge at 90 degrees cut result along the planks. I decided that quarter-inch bevels were part of the design in the entirety of this project.
For the bevels on the head of the boards, I simply cut them by hand with a sharp knife.
The complete design consists of a headboard and feet with a similar design, with the stringers screwed into the legs of the headboard and feet. The legs of the bed are two pieces of 2x3 joined one against another, with a hole where the stringers are screwed.
Making beautiful curves in the headboard as I did in this would have been better, but I had already taken my band saw from my old workshop. So instead I had to settle for some straight cuts.
The horizontal parts of the head and feet are attached to the posts with 5/8 "dowels, the joints with the dowels are made by drilling and glueing only through one of the 2x3 pieces that form the posts. I secured the horizontal board with the pole piece together and drilled through both pieces, so I can make sure that the holes in both pieces are aligned, even if I do them by hand with the drill. I built a work bench
The diagram on the left indicates how everything is prepared together for drilling.
The widest plank I was using for the headboard was actually a little warped, but when I secured it to drill it I also forced it to be straightened while it was held by the sergeants. After drilling the holes, I simply enclosed the dowels in place with the sergeants still in place, so that the dowels now keep it straight.
After gluing and inserting the dowels with a hammer I found that I had a small gap between the horizontal boards of the headboard and the post.
I did not have any sergeants long enough to reach the full width of the bed, so I attached two pieces of wood to the horizontal board with sergeants and used them to tighten the pieces of the joint against each other.
This requires that the two sergeants below in the photo are tight enough. I recommend you do not do this with anything other than metallic screw sergeants.
If all this seems very difficult for you, another option would be to use some 4 "long wood screws instead of wood dowels, it will not be so robust but it will be enough.