A Timber Frame Bed (Kind Of)

[El Barto]

A project I've been meaning to start for a while is a first bed for my daughter. I happen to have a small double mattress that didn't end up working for a camper van conversion I was doing so I figured why not use that?

After a bit of thinking of the kind of thing I wanted to build, I found this on Instagram:

This is what I'm going for. It's like a mini timber frame, simple and not boring. I'm faced with two challenges at the moment:

- I will need to be able to break it down and reassemble for inevitable house moves and such.
- I don't want to use any hardware, just joinery and wedges.

The first hurdle is the rails that will support the mattress. I thought of using a "half through" mortice and tenon (I don't know the proper name of that joint) that will be held in place with wedges that I can knock out for disassembly - see my bad sketch here:

Another thought was either to use a M&T such as the image below, secured using bed bolts, or a shouldered M&T also secured using bed bolts. But like I said, I don't really want to use hardware.

It's pretty interesting figuring out solutions to these problems. I'm hoping to start the build within the next few days.

Next up I'll be thinking of ways to connect the "beam" to the "rafters".

 

[AndyT]

What a fun project! There must be plenty of us who would like to do a bit of framing but don't have space to build a barn in the back yard.

One thought is that you could simplify construction if you treat it like most beds and have the head and foot as glued together sub-assemblies, with demountable joints on the ends of the long sides. (But in this case, your top and bottom would be very heavy, though they would fit through a door, onto a roofrack etc._

If I was making this, I'd probably use it as an excuse to have a go at a proper tusk tenon or four. This used to be a joint any ordinary house carpenter could do. It was used for connecting trimming joists by fireplaces or stair openings but isn't needed these days when metal hangers are cheap and quick. It removes the minimum of material for the mortise, avoiding the most stressed part of the joist. It's secured by a removable wedge. Some people use the same term for a simpler joint, but this is a sound one.

The diagram is from the margins of an old book on building construction.

 

[thetyreman]

what about tusk tenons with wedges? that would be what I'd use for the majority of the frame, then for the top rafter joints, you could attempt this : https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YkDQ5eFW_rQ it would a big challenge but would look amazing.

 

[dzj]

I made something similar a few months ago.
kids-house-bed-t112429.html

It can be disassembled, but I did use bed bolts and some fasteners.

 

[El Barto]

@Andy - yes!! Great idea. I saw this joint just last night while reading Tedd Benson's The Timber Frame House but didn't even register that it could work. This looks like a great example of it: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NSsfW3b9-Gg

@Tyreman I'm with you. See the video above, looks really cool when the wedges are driven in and all is in place. Those three way mitres are crazy... my initial plan is to use a tongue and fork that incorporates the beam too, I'm not sure though as it's not something I've really seen while researching.

@djz - That's really cool. I can only hope mine will look as clean as that although I don't think it'll be slick enough to include drawers!

 

[AndyT]

Yes, that's a great video. Doesn't it make a refreshing change from finicky little dovetails!

 

[El Barto]

Bit of progress here insofar as I knocked together a full scale model to make sure the head and foot would be able to get up the stairs. And they won't. So it looks like the whole thing will have to be assembled once upstairs unfortunately. Back to the drawing board!

 

[El Barto]

Finally picking this one back up now that I have a clear workshop and some time.

Living in a house with a very narrow stairwell I couldn’t find a neat solution to join the frame together without using bed bolts and such, so that’s what I’m going to do.

@dzj what size stock did you use? Your beds look like a nice mix of strong but not too heavy timber.

 

[El Barto]

I've been cracking on with this build in between other jobs, it's quite fun so far.

The mortices and tenons have all been cut, now it's just a case of finding a way to join the "ridge" to the "rafters" that looks nice, is strong and can be taken apart. Probably some sort of birdsmouth and peg and wedge malarky. My staircase is far too small and narrow so almost the entire bed will need to be able to break down. I've decided to use plain old bed bolts to attach the base to the frame for that reason, and to keep things quick and easy in the building/rebuilding process.

 

[dzj]

@dzj what size stock did you use? Your beds look like a nice mix of strong but not too heavy timber.

It was 43mm sq for the roof and vertical elements and 18mm for the bottom part.
(Sorry for the tardy reply. I must've missed your post.)

 

[custard]

What a smashing project. I missed this when you first posted it, great job!

 

[El Barto]

Thanks Custard!

Couple more photos.

I ganged the posts together to cut the housings for the short rails. This gave me the perfect opportunity to use my beautiful new HNT Gordon shoulder plane that I picked up off this very forum. You can see where my old router plane has tarnished the faces it was referencing from, annoying but not the end of the world.

I then turned my attention to the housings for the long rails, cross cutting the waste to then easily knock out with a chisel and pare to the required depth.

 

[El Barto]

This build is not far off completion now. The joinery has been cut and everything just needs to be cleaned up a bit.

One problem I have yet to solve is how to join the ridge to the rafters in a way that is strong and can also be undone. The photo below shows how it's supposed to come together but so far I haven't landed on anything that I think will work. I thought perhaps using a wedge on each side (similar to how a splayed scarf joint is wedged) to bring the whole thing together but there isn't a lot of meat to bore out of each piece to accept the wedges. Will have to keep thinking...

 

[HOJ]

Possible joint arrangement for the ridge, i suggest it would be better for it to be on top:

 

[El Barto]

Hm yes that does look good. How would you connect the joint together though (without screwing/glueing it)?

 

[El Barto]

Not the most inspiring photo but finally got around to finishing this in between other things. All that's left is to tidy up a bit and add duvet etc. Happy days.