Project complete - Bunk Bed

[Lincoln Myers]

Here are some completed project pics of the bunk beds that I made for my 5 and 3 year old sons.

The first is fitting back together the foot board on one of the beds, the second is my boys helping me with some final installation steps in their room.

I'll post a few more finished pics once I get my camera emptied out.

-Linc

[Mark Hulette]

Nice looking bed, Lincoln! Looks like it will take "boy treatment" well! Is it maple or oak?

I see you've got the ladder clamped --I guess you're going to attach it with screws? I did that with a loft bed I made my daughter and all the movement worked the screws loose. I'm retrofitting it for my son (going from pink to blue) and have gotten some ladder hooks from Rockler that will secure it w/out drilling holes in the rails.

Nice looking family you have- thanks for sharing your pictures with us!

[Lee Schierer]

Very nice. Looks like it is going to get a work out. How is the mattress being supported?

[Lincoln Myers]

Thanks Mark, Lee.


Nice looking bed, Lincoln! Looks like it will take "boy treatment" well! Is it maple or oak?!
It is White Oak. 2 coats Zinsser Amber Shellac and one coat Johnson's Paste Wax.



I see you've got the ladder clamped --I guess you're going to attach it with screws? !
Actually, it's not screwed to the bed. I had it clamped in position so I could attach the hooks to the ladder so it would hang at the right height.


How is the mattress being supported?
It's being supported by 6 oak 1x3 slats. I am considering putting some masonite (smooth both sides) or 1/4" ply down. Not sure yet.

[tod evans]

way to go lincoln! the happy smiles say it all.....tod

[Wes Bischel]

Lincoln,
Pic number 2 is what it's all about!

Wes

[Jim Becker]

Nice job, Lincoln!!!

[Rick Gibson]

Looks great. I hope you have something solid under the upper mattress. I can't remember what was on the ones I had as a kid but I used to drive my brother mad when I would kick the bottom of the mattress from my spot on the lower bunk.

[Jerry Strojny]

It looks great Lincoln. Finish looks great too.

[Dan Oliphant]

Well done, that one pic shows a couple of very happy customers. Now that is worth more than any amount of financial compensation.

[Karl Laustrup]

Great looking bed Lincoln.

I'm not sure which one of the three "boys" is happier. ;) :D

Karl

[Mike Hill]

Lincoln: Really a nice job and if that is Oak, you sure did a good job on the finish. Very smooth. Having raised 4 kids, I once made some bunk beds out of Pine. They lasted through the younger kids, but had a lot of chips and dents after a few years. That White Oak should withstand a lot of punishment. Great looking family!

Mike

[scott spencer]

Great project Lincoln. Hard to go wrong with all that help! :)

[Vaughn McMillan]

Looks great, Linc. Looks like a couple of happy campers to go with it. :)

[Sam Chambers]

Nice looking project, Linc....And the bunk beds look nice too!

[Corey Hallagan]

Excellent work Lincoln. The kids are going to love them!

Corey

[Peter Stahl]

Linc,

Great looking bunk beds. The boys will never forget this project.

[Lincoln Myers]

Thanks for all the comments guys. I had a lot of fun making these beds. Though the project did drag out for quite some time, especially in the finishing stage.

Here are a few more pics and some details about construction.

I followed the plans I bought from PlansNow.
http://www.plansnow.com/bunkbeds.html

Bought the White Oak at Kirkland Sawmill - Kirkland, IL - (815) 522-6150 (No affiliation statement - just nice people to do business with)

All the wood in the beds planed out to just a smidge over 1" except the ladder rungs and the spacer blocks for ladder and guard rails which are planed to 3/4".

The ladder hooks were made using 6 inch mending straps that I rounded off all 4 corners per the plan and a 3/4" piece of White Oak rounded over on all 4 sides.

http://www.lincmyers.com/images/LadderRungs.jpg

I signed each bed on the inside of the rear bed rail using a countersunk 2006 penny and a Sharpie. I used a 3/4" Forstner bit and 5-minute epoxy to attach the penny. I got this idea here on The Creek but I can't find the post again to give proper credit to the original poster.

http://www.lincmyers.com/images/Penny.jpg

One final pic.

http://www.lincmyers.com/images/BunkBedDone.jpg

-Linc

[Larry Fox]

Very nice work. Having built a bed (a single and didn't turn out as well as yours by a long shot) I can appreciate the amount of work that is in them. You did a great job on the finish - looks really smooth and suits the wood.

You need to be prepared for the boys to really give them the run-through. I had barely finished assembling the one I build for my son and he climbed up on it bounced around a bit and decided that he would bite the headboard (he was 3 at the time I think). Mark is still there - front and center. :)

[glenn bradley]

Great job. Definitly looks like a boy's bed.

[Christopher Pine]

I have made bunkbeds also for my kids. Mine were never this nice though. I made my first bunkbed from dimensional lumber from home depot then used a blue water base stain. They function great and are perfect for the rough houseing boys I have :) Your bed looks excellent. Beautiful job and great looking kids.

Chris

[Richard Bazemore]

Lincoln - Looks really Great! How were the rails attached to the posts? I'm working on a loft bed with 3" posts and wondering if I should use M/T joints for the post/rails for support strength and bed bolts to hold it tight/rigid and make it knock-down.

Richard

[Lincoln Myers]

Lincoln - Looks really Great! How were the rails attached to the posts? I'm working on a loft bed with 3" posts and wondering if I should use M/T joints for the post/rails for support strength and bed bolts to hold it tight/rigid and make it knock-down.

Richard

Thanks Richard.

The rails are attached to the posts using threaded inserts that are inserted on the inside edge of the upright posts. There is one threaded insert and one dowel on each of these joints. It is then bolted from the inside of the rails. It seems to me like a pretty sturdy setup. Unfortunately, I didn't get a great picture of this step. You can sorta see it in these pics:

http://www.lincmyers.com/images/Post-RailJoint.jpg

http://www.lincmyers.com/images/Post-RailJoint2.jpg

Hope this helps.

-Linc