Loft Beds

[Rob Price]

The wife wanted loft beds for our girls, their room is the smallest in the house and with their two toddler beds there wasn't much room for much else. She had loft beds growing up and enjoyed the extra space underneath them. I really wanted to make these out of cherry- most of my prior stuff has been walnut and african mahogany- but the Mrs insisted on white, so we went with poplar covered with tinted lacquer. I designed it myself, along with some tips from folks around here. Took 9+ months start to finish but most of the summer was spent doing yard and house work, not much shop time during summer. I thought I'd post some of the major steps along the way.

Rough Design in Sketchup. I ended up making them a bit shorter than what's in the original design. Went through a few variations on the turnings. The posts are turned in two parts, joined at the ring in the middle using a 1/2" steel pin. The openings on the headboards and the bedrails are the same to accommodate the ladder in either position. I made two complete beds, in case they ever want to separate them, but for now they are joined in an "L" shape.

[Rob Price]

Next was stock prep. I underestimated how much time I would spend at the jointer and planer, especially getting the posts square. Started with 9" wide 16/4 poplar for the posts. Had to glue up several panels for the bed rails and stretchers out of 5/4. The bedrails are 8" wide, stretchers are 12.5" (my planer limits).

Then turning... and turning... and turning. 8 posts, two sections per post, 16 sections to turn. I also had to get a lathe extension for my Powermatic- I didn't mind that part.

[Rob Price]

Quick dry fit of the mortised and tenon headboards then onto the bed rails. Ultimately went with simple rails. Started with 1x 3.4" stock, 1/2 radius curve on all sides, about 6" tall, sandwiched between two 1.5" wide rails top and bottom, and then a decorative curve at the top. I wanted these things bullet proof so each spindle was held in place with a little spacing/centering jig I came up with, nailed with a brad to keep in place and then screwed top and bottom to the rails. Then the decorative curve was glued and screwed on top of that. Then the whole assembly was glued and screwed to the bedrail.

[Rob Price]

I don't have pics of the ladders under construction, but 3/4" sides, 1" steps. Dados/screws/glue holding them together. They are interchangeable, they can be placed along the headboard or the bedrails. Doing the full assembly pre-finish was a bit of a challenge in the shop, but I wanted to be sure I hadn't forgotten anything before we starting painting.

[Rob Price]

Finish was tinted lacquer. I tried to look into some water based products but I couldn't find any local suppliers, plus my spray setup isn't really great for water based finishes (gravity fed HVLP, no pressure pot, 1.4 and 1.8mm tips). I have more experience with lacquer and a local paint place carried Lenmar pre-cat Duralaq, so I was able to pick their brains a bit. I've done clear lacquer but this was my first go at tinted.

I'm lucky enough to have a separate garage/shop- the attic space above the shop has been my finishing booth. It's lined with plastic, I added one of those zipper door kits to it. I have filters on three walls, and then a window to ventilate fumes outside with a filtered fan.

I put the headboard sections on a dolly with pins in it so I could roll the pieces in and out with minimal handling after they were painted, but the lacquer dried so fast it really wasn't an issue. Once I got the mixture of lacquer/thinner/retarder right it was great to spray and laid down really well. It amazes me how much it changes from one day (warm and humid) to another day (warm and dry) to another (cool and dry) how much I had to change the recipe.

[Rob Price]

Final assembly. I used some great knockdown hardware from Amazon for the bedrails and stretchers. They drop down into place and cinch everything up nice and tight, and then I secured them with screws. The ladders add a ton of rigidity as they join the top and bottom sections, they are screwed into both. I'm super happy with how they turned out, and of course it had to pass the 'daddy' test before I let my kids up on the beds. I climbed up and down ladders and all around the beds. If they hold my 270lb butt they'll hold my kids just fine.

Then the wife got to decorating- the sofa may have cost as much as the beds...

Thanks for reading.

[Andrew Hughes]

That's just really nice Rob. What a treat for your girls.
Tha spindle turned posts are a nice touch.
Thanks for sharing.

[Shawn Pixley]

Most excellent!

[william watts]

Worderfull work, and a great space for your girls to enjoy. These loft beds will leave some found memories.

Bill

[Rob Price]

Thanks guys.

[Al Launier]

Great design, fantastic work, must have been a very satisfying project. I'll bet your wife & daughters are most happy with the finished product.