Craftsman Bed...Tenons and Slat Question

[Chuck Powell]

I have been lurking quietly for a while here but I could use some advice.

I am building the bed below from a pic LOML found on the web.

I have dimensioned it so the lower footboard/headboard rails are 6 inches x 1.5 inches. I initially mortised the bed posts to 1/2 x 5 inch but have begun worrying about the 5 inch mortise length (moreso the 5 inch tenon width). Should I reduce the size of the mortise/tenon to 4 inches or divide the tenon? The upper rails get a 1/2 x 2.5 inch mortise so tenon width will not be a problem.

I also wonder about the slats in the headboard/footboard, as they will be 7 inch (center slat) and 4 inch all other slats. Will I be okay if I just don't glue so the slat floats within the mortise. I had NOT intended to make tenons on the end of the slats but simply make the slats the full size of the mortises.

Thanks,

Chuck

[Lars Thomas]

Chuck, I would divide the lower tenon. As for the slats, I built a similar bed (see below). I cheated and just jan a dado the full length of the rails and glued in filler strips in-between each slat.

Good luck with your bed.

[Chuck Powell]

Chuck, I would divide the lower tenon. As for the slats, I built a similar bed (see below). I cheated and just jan a dado the full length of the rails and glued in filler strips in-between each slat.

Good luck with your bed.

Lars,

Thanks for the feedback. I think I will follow your lead on the dado. That sounds much easier than trying to mortise the wide, long (translated - heavy) rails and will provide a clean edge for the inserts and "false-mortises". Did you make the inserts flush with the sides of the slats? My guess is the slats will shrink a little when I bring the bed into the house due to lower RH. I don't really care if they loosen a little bit.

Chuck

[Russ Massery]

Another way would be to make the rails in two pieces. Make a jig then route the dados half the depth. Then assemble the halfs. leaving you a though mortice. That's what I did on this headboard. If you need more details let me know.

[Chuck Powell]

Another way would be to make the rails in two pieces. Make a jig then route the dados half the depth. Then assemble the halfs. leaving you a though mortice. That's what I did on this headboard. If you need more details let me know.

That's a neat idea except I cut the rails from 8/4 stock and have already milled to 6/4. Thinking about the method, I have a router jig that would work. If I follow you, I could have milled 4/4 stock down to 3/4 then marked and routed the dados half depth on either side and glued up the rail assembly...right? That's a good approach and would have saved me a few dollars on stock. Thanks!

Chuck

[Kristian Wild]

I tried to submit this last night but there was maintenance going on. So most of your questions have already been answered. Here's the reply I typed yesterday anyway:


Hi Chuck

I can't forsee any problems with the lower rail mortise and tenon being that large. What concerns you about it exactly? As far as leaving the slats free floating, that'll work fine providing there's no slop in the fit.

The way we build a similar bed at work involves grooving (dadoing) the upper and lower rails across their entire length. Then when you mill your slats to the exact thickness to fit the groove, you also mill filler strips to the same thickness. These strips will be the same width and depth as the groove. They are then simply cut to the length needed to become spacers between the slats.

We dry fit the entire end so that everything lines up where we want it then partially take it apart and redo it gluing in the little spacer blocks. The glue can't get on the slats! Reclamp and let it dry.

After it's dry we dissasemble the entire end and sand the little filler blocks flush with the sides of the groove if there is any discrepancy. Now it looks like perfectly cut mortises all the way across!

After the real glue up, if there is any play in any of the slats we either slide in a tiny wedge and trim it flush or shoot a 23ga pin through the base and top of the slat to keep it still.

Hope this helps!

Kris