Modern bed

[Aaron Liebling]

Finished the new bed for my wife. This replaced a ~25 year old cherry sleigh bed that I'd had for years. My wife wanted something more modern and lower to the ground. It turned out really nicely and she loves it. If the dimensions seem odd it's because it's a king sized bed turned sideways. Neither of us is very tall, so we appreciate the extra width for the cats to sleep with us and don't need the extra length at all. It really opened up the room compared to old bed. That said, it does still dominate the room, which makes it hard to get nice photos (that and me being a terrible photographer).

The wood is sapele, which I generally enjoyed working with. It was prone to some nasty splintering before sanding. Most of the work was done with handtools (everything but cutting the big stock to size) and the headboard braces are steel than I welded and painted. My wife wanted as natural a finish as possible so I went with General Finishes Flat Out Flat. It's not as protective as other finishes, but it doesn't darken the wood and I'm not too worried about wear and tear. It was the first time I sprayed and I'm generally very happy with the result.

Next up, some new bedside tables to compliment it.

Also, a bonus photo of our cat, Runchy, in his favorite hiding place under the dovetails of a cabinet I made for my office.

[Rob Luter]

The cat shot is awesome.

[Ken Fitzgerald]

That finish works well with sapele. Nicely done Sir!

[David Utterback]

Love the figure in the headboard and the finish looks great. Thanks for sharing!

[Mel Fulks]

The cat shot is awesome.

Yes, you don’t see many cats presiding in their own Great Halls !

[John TenEyck]

Nice job on the bed. Great choice to turn the mattress sideways if you don't need the length. I'm sure the cats are really happy about that. And Runchy is a star!

Another finish that looks like almost no finish is Rubio Monocoat. It's stupid simple to apply, too, with no odor or off gassing either, and very durable. Something to consider with future projects.

John

[Aaron Liebling]

Thanks, John. I'll try the Rubio monocoat next time!

[Jim W. White]

Love the design and the execution looks flawless. I'm sure your wife was over-the-moon with those results.

[Aaron Liebling]

Speaking to issues of execution (which I'd appreciate feedback on):

1. One of the long sides warped slightly despite being well acclimated and stickered while it wasn't being worked on. I didn't notice until final construction. I don't think there was anything I could have done short of replacing it entirely. It led to the bed not being perfectly square. This can be seen where the sides meet the headboard (a slightly uneven gap). It doesn't seem to effect the strength or functionality and is really only noticeable if one looks at the leg from above. Any thoughts on what might have been done in this situation?

2. I'm using the rocker heavy duty bed hardware which is mortised and screwed in to the end grain of the sides ( 3" screws). I predrilled the screw holes (with the recommended bit size) but still had a screw that pulled out. I filled the hole with epoxy and re-screwed. It seemed fine, although worrisome. The hardware is designed for exactly this use, but I know that screwing in to end grain is suboptimal. Is there anything I could have done differently/better?

Other than that, I really enjoyed making the rabbets for the lip which the mattress platform sits on with my new plough plane. It worked beautifully for this.

[Jesse McGowan]

Beautiful work, Aaron!

I hope to build a bed some day. I love that you customized the design to your personal needs by rotating the mattress.

I hope the epoxy fix will give you many years of service. If it gives you trouble in the future, I wonder if you could borrow from concept of newel post mounting hardware.
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In your case, you'd swap the dual ended machine/lag bolt for a standard flat-head machine screw to work the the bed hardware plate.

I used this type of hardware for the newel posts in my house. I left the wooded plugs off, planning to install them a year or two later, because I was worried they would loosen in time. It is 15 yrs later, and they are still tight despite teenagers using the posts to swing around the corner on their way by. It is probably too late to put a plug in and get the tone of the wood to match so I decided to install some little battery-powered, motion-activated lights over the holes a couple years ago.

[Malcolm McLeod]

Finished the new bed for my wife. ...

Nicely Done. I'm in planning stages for same.

... Is there anything I could have done differently/better?

... I wonder if you could borrow from concept of newel post mounting hardware.....

Similar to Mr. McGowan's suggestion, but could you have swapped the end-grain wood screws for machine threads into a barrel nut (in the side board)?

Edit: Maybe make your own, modeled after this (link)? You could cross drill and tap a piece of steel bar with 3 holes to match the hole spacing in the 'hook' plate of the bed hardware, then drill from the bottom of the bed's side board and insert this 'triple nut'?