Oak recommendations to build a bed?

[Adsor]

Oak recommendations to build a bed?

I want to build a couple of nice mortise and tenon oak beds, can anybody advise me on a suitable oak(I like the look if English oak ?). Can I make it out of any oak, or does it have to be dried etc? and does it have to be a certain type of 'cut' or can I use any sort of post or board/planks ???
Help will be much appreciated

 

[Random Orbital Bob]

you can use European oak (English Oak species) which is currently mostly French in origin. Its expensive though. A cheaper amd more readily available alternative is American White Oak (though still expensive).

It certainly has to be dried...either air or kiln but if the moisture content isnt down to furniture levels it will warp and split like theres no tomorrow once you cut and assemble etc. Most professional wood merchants will supply the correctly dried wood.

Im sensing maybe this is your first bed build?? I warn you that oak is not a forgiving material to work with. Hard as nails, blunts your tools. What sort of workshop set up do you have?

 

[Adsor]

Thanks for the advice I will have to check some local timber merchants, if not can you recommend any I could find online that ships as I live on a small island?? Yes it's my first bed build :/ I want to build 1 for myself and another 1 for possible sale to a friend that's interested... I'm a trainee carpenter and usually work on site, so I don't have a workshop unfortunately , everything will be done by hand and in a garage. I have worked with oak and ash before but never gone through the procedure of selecting and buying it myself...
I really want to give it a go and see how it turns out... Any advice is much appreciated !

 

[Adsor]

Ps - when I say made by hand - I do have power tools such as mitre saws/table saws /drills / routers ect if I need to rip down or cut lengths .. Just not the heavy workshops machines like mortise machines and thickness planers...

 

[G S Haydon]

I would support what Bob says. I do however find European/French oak easier to work than American. IME I have found American to be harder and more brittle. Perhaps get a price on both before deciding.
English Oak can be wild and less forgiving to use, it would be perhaps harder to obtain than French or American too.

Your tools should be more than adequate to make a bed.

What kind of design do you have in mind?

 

[Baldhead]

If you are making a bed from your own design make sure you will be able to get the finished product upstairs into the bedroom. You say you want to make it using M&T joints, I assume these will be wedged so the bed frame can be dismantled, if not there are a lot of different KD fittings for beds.

BH

 

[Adsor]

G S Haydon -
thanks for the advice on the selection of timber , since this will be my first time I think ill take your advice and stick to American oak, is there anywhere you recommend I can buy from online that ships??

BH -
It's just a simple mortise and tenon frame,
X4 chunky 75 x 75mm posts.
25mmx150 mm side boards (M+T) with slats flush to top for matress finish.
head board made up from x4 horizontal 150mm wide board into side posts(20mm gap between each)
Footboard same as head board but only 2 boards wide.

I would put up a photo but don't know how to do that yet :/
I don't know many people who I can discuss this with do its great to take to you all and soak up the info
Let me know what you think and of course I'm open to suggestions .

 

[Adsor]

Oh- and yes I have taken into mind that bed must be able to dissembled , so looking into my options, I don't want a full mortise so wedging isnt really what I had in mind, I was thinking of using bed bolts through the posts/ M+T joints , and some sort of hardwood plug knocked onto the hole to cover bolt head.

 

[Random Orbital Bob]

well best of luck and keep us posted. Theres a sticky somewhere that explains how to add pics...its not difficult...you can do it direct from your hard drive to the post

 

[Adsor]

Thanks you for your help. Just need to find somewhere that sells some nice oak..
Once i have i will keep you updated on the project

 

[Random Orbital Bob]

Google it. There must be someone in Jersey that imports timber (for the building trade at least). Find them and call. They will likely know if they don't stock it themselves

 

[G S Haydon]

Hi Adsor,

Perhaps try with some of the big guns, search for Timbmet or James Latham and give them a call. International timber are part of the same group as Jewsons (Saint Gobain) so if you have a Jeswons on the island or that delivers to the island might be a way round it.
Bed bolts seem a sensible idea and i look forward to your updates.

 

[Wood Monkey]

I made a bed out of European Oak for my daughter. It was a full size single.

I found the Oak quite nice to work albeit it's just as others have said - very hard on the tools. The Oak was kiln dried from W.L. Wests near Petworth. The bed has been completed several years and none of the joints have moved nor any of the wood split. Even the oil and wax finish has stood up well.

See for yourself in the WIP I did for the build.

https://www.ukworkshop.co.uk/forums/bed-build-wip-completed-t30794.html

 

[Adsor]

Wood monkey,
That's some nice work ... Inspiring!! it's very similar to what I want to achieve. I have a 3monthd old baby girl so maybe 1 day I can do the same for her what bolts did you use to connect the side rails to the posts?? I like that idea. Also the square pegs you did on the top rail look the part... Good job .

 

[acewoodturner]

whatever you do don't buy it from James Latham. Sold me a lot of 65mm thick firewood last year and then tried to get me to pay for some more to replace it. They also knew that they had an issue with it and still knocked it out. I would never trust them again with anything.

Mike

 

[Adsor]

Wow, that's a bit naughty isn't it ! I was just looking on there website aswell...,I'm going to get on the phone tomorrow and search for hardwood timber merchants over here in jersey , or atleast get some kind of recommendation as to where to go for decent timber . It would be nice to be able to go somewhere local and hand pick some nice lengths.!

 

[Wood Monkey]

Hi Adsor

I got the bolts from the link below, but it's no longer working. They should be readily available in many places.

http://delivered2you.co.uk/Flatpack-Fixing-Fittings/Bed/Bed-Fittings

 

[gasman]

Just finished a double bed myself - last coat of oil applied yesterday. It actually is in cedar of lebanon which smells so nice even with oil finish on
My recommendation for the hardware is to use these http://www.rutlands.co.uk/cabinet-h...468/bedside-rail-brackets---set-of-4-brackets which are as cheap as chips and absolutely brilliant - about £3 to do a whole bed - the bed comes apart into the 4 pieces as easy as anything. Rutlands do them but my local hardware place did them too.
I think they are called Bedside Rail Brackets - hafele, Isaac Lord etc all do them
Regards
Mark

 

[AndyT]

I would put up a photo but don't know how to do that yet :/

There are two ways:

1 You can upload them to the site as described here https://www.ukworkshop.co.uk/forums/picture-posting-guide-t63716.html

2 You can put them on-line somewhere public (eg Photobucket, Google+, your own website etc) and then put the url for the picture inside a pair of

 

[Adsor]

Mark ,
Thanks for the advice on the brackets, looks like a good solution. Am I right in thinking that the small piece with the 3 slots is in the headboard post, and the bigger bracket is to fit into or onto the side rail??