The two beds are nearing completion of the joinery. The last report was making loose tenon using the Domino DF500 to create the mortices.
The rails are 125mm x 26mm. The mortice is 115mm x 10mm ...
These are the bed ends. It is relevant to note, as the tenons extend just 28mm into the end rails, they are not in danger of coming apart from the posts. The stresses (racking) will be on the side rails. In any event, the tenons will also be pinned.
The challenge now is to hide the bed bolts which will connect the side rails. Generally, the bolts run through the post and terminate in the side rail. My aim was to retain the clean, uncluttered line of the tapered posts. There are mechanical fasteners available, but I have used these in the past and the lighter, single beds are vulnerable to racking in my experience.
The end result needed to look like this ...
I began by adding double 40mm x 10mm wide x 12mm deep mortices in the posts ...
These were initially made with the Domino, and then the ends squared with a chisel. Why squared? Because I find it easier to fit tenons exactly when they are squared than when they are rounded.
The tenons were planned to be 10mm x 10 mm. These were made with a router and a simple fence ...
The fence is positioned by a depth stop (top left).
... flipped, set up, and routed again ...
Saw and chisel to a matching fit ...
The ground work is set for the bed bolt. Insert a dowel centre between the tenons ...
Insert the tenon end into the mortice end, and this will mark to position where the bolt will go ...
Drill and insert a steel thread (wet the wood to make tapping easier) ...
I am using a M8 stainless steel bolt (cut the head off) ..
A short pilot hole is drilled, using a Stanley #59 dowel guide ..
This is extended with a long 6mm drill bit, taking care to aim for a slight angle towards to inside face. The reason for the slight angle is to reduce the depth for the bolt. The bolt hole is widened to 9mm.
The bed bolt extends to the centre of these two forstner-made holes.