Double bed slats

[Fat ferret]

Hello all,

Made a double bed frame and now onto slats. I thought they would just be one piece, not joined in the middle, but now I look online with the idea of buying some I see they mostly need a third rail going up the middle to support them and carry the join. I can't add one of those very easily.

Anyone know if it's ok to use one piece slats that span the whole 4' 6"? Ebay have some. I'm thinking it will be ok but they will just need to be thicker. Or maybe its cheaper just to buy some timber, 1" x 4" or there abouts and use that.

Cheers, Richard.

 

[riclepp]

Hi Richard

You can have full width slats, but you will still need a central rail in the middle to help support the weight of two sleeping people on the bed.

 

[cusimar9]

I think you'll need some support in the middle otherwise that's where the bed will sag and it's not very comfortable to sleep on.

You can counteract this by making the base very hard (thicker slats) but then you'll want a thicker mattress to keep it comfortable.

 

[Steve Maskery]

You can get away without the centre slat, I've done it myself on several beds, including a king-size one. I'm not saying a central rail is not a good idea, I'm just saying it is not essential.

What sort of feel do you want? If you use the curved laminated beech ones from Woodfit, they are designed to be used without a central rail and will give a very sprung feel to the bed. If you use plain flat boards, you may need to buy slightly thicker timber, say ex-inch-and-a-quarter. Also consider turning the slats over when you turn the mattress over, too. Flat boards will give a deader feel to the bead, which personally I prefer.

The other thing you an do is to make each slate with a web underneath, so it is T-sectioned. That would stiffen it up a lot.

 

[Fat ferret]

I just want the feel of not sleeping on the floor to be honest . I haven't really made provision for a center rail but now I see it would have been the way to go. On the other hand my parents king size, on which i was conceived, has full width slats made of 1" x 6" floor board!

I will go with full width slats and see how I get on. Just wanted to see if others had done it. Thanks for all advice and yes next time I will use center rail.

 

[Sgian Dubh]

Centre rails can be installed as a KD item using this Häfele hardware, probably available from other suppliers too. Slainte.

http://www.hafele.co.uk/shop/p/bed-fitt ... /4239/5001

 

[lanemaux]

If you are using a box spring there should be no problem as that will span the gap and add cosiderable strength. The loading on the box spring rests so close to the exterior frame as to make span loading negligable.

 

[Eric The Viking]

I was a tourist at Laycock Abbey yesterday, where the Great Hall was being dressed for filming a costume drama today. It's "playing" Henry VIII's bedchamber, apparently.

The bed in question was a prop, brought in by the set designer. It had no matress when we were looking round, and featured a prominent centre rail, of 2 1/2" sq. or 3x2" deal (I think - wasn't looking closely at it).

Of course, one has to assume, (a) the actor playing Henry VIII is appropriately big and heavy, and (b) there is likely to be, er, "bouncing about" (the script is fairly racy, apparently).

So if you're planning any sort of "Tudor reenactment," a rail might be sensible...

E.

 

[bugbear]

Centre rails can be installed as a KD item using this Häfele hardware, probably available from other suppliers too. Slainte.

http://www.hafele.co.uk/shop/p/bed-fitt ... /4239/5001

And thus do two threads converge

help-with-a-fitting-t81515.html

BugBear

 

[Phil Pascoe]

Yes... deja vu...

 

[Chrisp]

If your using whole width slats, the easiest way to make a centre support is a length of timber from headboard to tail, placed under the slats with 2 or 3 legs screwed in place along the length, no special fittings needed and works well if there isn't any material in the headboard and tail to attach one to.

 

[Sgian Dubh]

And thus do two threads converge BugBear

I wasn't aware of the other thread. I guess I generally just don't pay enough attention to this forum (and others) to know of every darned thread that's on the go! Slainte.