How to make a wooden bed frame?
Sources
Answer
Here are the key steps to make a simple wooden bed frame:
Materials Needed
- Framing lumber (e.g. 2x6, 2x3, 2x4)
- Wood screws (2-3 inch length)
- Wood glue
- Wood stain or paint (optional)
- Sandpaper
- Drill with drill bits
Steps
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Cut the lumber to size using a saw. You'll need pieces for the headboard, footboard, side rails, and slats. Measure your mattress size to determine the dimensions1.3
- Sand all the pieces smooth, rounding the edges of the headboard and footboard. Start with coarse sandpaper and finish with fine12.
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Assemble the frame. Attach the side rails to the headboard and footboard using wood screws and glue. Ensure the frame is square.3
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Add supports for the mattress slats. Screw 2x3 pieces onto the inside of the side rails to create a ledge for the slats to rest on.3
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Attach the legs. Drill pilot holes and screw on metal or wood legs at each corner.3
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Install the mattress slats. Space them evenly and secure with screws at each end to prevent shifting.3
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Stain or paint the frame if desired. Apply a few coats and let fully dry.3
- Add the mattress and bedding. Enjoy your new custom bed frame!
References
1. Modified Bed Frame + How Not to Furniture Hack - Instructables2. How to Make a Bed Frame - Dunn DIY3. How to Build a Simple Bed Frame on a Budget - EASY DIY - YouTube4. How to Build a Bed || DIY Bed Frame - YouTube5. Sweet Dreams: 15 Inventive Beds You Can Make Yourself - Bob Vila
Author: Gunflint Designs
Key insights
- ️ Building a simple and quick bed frame: a practical DIY project for anyone looking to save time and money.
- ️ Perfecting the faces and edges of the materials before assembly is crucial for a professional-looking end result.
- Pre-drilling through the pocket holes and into the mating material helps keep unwanted splitting from happening in these thick legs.
- Attaching the hardware with screws and washers for a solid fit is crucial for the stability of the bed frame.
- Using a long board as the central spine adds the most support to the bed frame.
- ️ The center spine and slats provide sturdy support for the mattress.
Video Full Text
- Hey guys for today's project. We're going to build an incredibly simple just quick and easy bed frame. Let's get right into it jointing planing rough lumber becomes dimensioned lumber moving on. I only had one cherry board that started out long enough for the side rails so I had to fabricate a second one. I matched a long and short board up that would get me to the length. I needed then drilled staggered pocket holes in the ends of both boards. I worked some glue into the end. Grain then lined the edges of the boards up before clamping them to the flattest corner of my workbench to keep them flush with the boards locked down.Read More
- Like this. I could keep them from shifting while I ran in pocket hole screws. Then I removed the clamps and wiped away the glue that squeezed out. This ends up being a stronger joint than you would expect and when we add some cleats later it'll be even more so after the glue dried. I made one very shallow pass over the jointer to perfect. One. Edge then sent it through the planer again at a very shallow depth to make the faces perfect now that all my materials are long enough. I went over to the table saw and cut my legs out of some thicker stock and ripped the side rails to their final width. I pulled up my crosscut sled to get both side rails both end rails and all four legs to their final length. The shorter head and foot rails get pocket holes drilled into the ends and then they are attached to the legs again. I'm clamping everything down to my bench so nothing shifts.Read More
- During this process. I have a strip of quarter inch plywood on the bench to space the rail up from the face of the leg. Then I have a scrap block holding the rail down. So I can access my holes without running into the clamp heads. I found that pre-drilling through the pocket holes and into the mating material helps keep unwanted splitting from happening in these thick legs. It's not likely an issue but better safe than sorry small support. Cleats are added halfway between the legs along the bottom edge of the front and rear rails. These will hold up the ends of a central spine that'll span the entire length of the mattress later on. I attach them with glue and brad nails at first and then I added screws for extra strength to attach the bed rail brackets. I first pulled the screws out and then put them back together with washers in between the two halves. This creates just enough of a gap so that we can get things nice and tight when we assemble the bed later on with the head or foot rail standing on end and the side rail butted up against it.Read More
- Everything is clamped down and the hardware is set in position. I pre-drilled into the side rail using a center finding drill bit then attached the hardware by driving in the screws. Then I marked the exact location of the hardware on the leg before separating the two halves. I laid the head and foot boards down. Flat then lined the bracket back up with my marks and attached it the same as before with the washers now removed. I could slide the leg side into the hook side and tighten the screws for a solid fit. Cleats are added on the inside of the side rails flush with the bottom using glue. Then brad nails to hold them in place followed by screws to add strength if you haven't figured out by now you should be using hardware.Read More
- That's short enough to prevent it from passing all the way through your materials to span from cleat to cleat and hold the bed up in the frame. I needed a bunch of slats which I cut from a sheet of plywood. I also needed a long board to act as the central spine which spans the length of the bed from headboard to footboard. It also has two short legs that touch the ground which adds the most support of course.Read More
- I made this completely hidden component out of unnecessary walnut and extra of course. I misplaced the footage of making it but don't worry you'll see it in the finished project for a finish. I rubbed odie's oil onto all of the surfaces now. I know this isn't the ideal project for odie's oil but I had just picked up my first jar of it then in the process of battening down the hatches for a big windstorm. I knocked it off of a shelf and shattered the glass jar. I salvaged as much as I could off the dirty shop floor and I just wanted to use it up to put that bad memory behind me. Then of course. I cut my finger on a small piece of glass that was mixed into it and added some sweet blood streaks to the finish. I moved all the finished parts over to my parents.Read More
- House moved their bed out of their room and started the assembly in its place. The legs and side rails go together just like we saw before just slide the hooks over the bolts. Then when all four pieces are together tighten them down enough to pull the rails snugly against the legs next put the center spine in place between the headboard and footboard see. I told you you'd get a good enough look at it then space out all the slats perpendicularly across all three supports throw the mattress back on top.Read More
- Then it's ready for some sleeping so if any of you have a pretty discerning uh you might have noticed something a little bit funny about the legs in that project. Uh you might have even noticed that the ones at the end were not the same as the ones you saw the close-up of when I was putting the hardware together the reason for that was. I was making this thing up as I went along and the hardware ended up needing an extra eighth of an inch of material over the size of the leg that I initially cut so. I ended up gluing on a block to the inside to try to make up for that then. I made another measuring mistake later on so. I just cut all new legs so I didn't really address it in the project because it wasn't really relevant to how it went together. It's just changed the dimensions of a few things that being said I do have a set of very simple plans. It's almost more of a diagram because there's not a lot to know you just really need to know the dimensions of this thing it is correct in there. It is the dimension of the final leg the way that it went together the way that it works and looks clean so if you caught that and you wanted to yell at me uh. I knew that and here we are. I've got it covered if you want to build a simple little bed frame. I've got a set of plans available like I mentioned go ahead find. The link down in the description go to my website buy the plans build your own. I don't know what else to say. I always have a really hard time with this uh signing off sort of thing so thanks for watching uh. I'll talk at you again soon yeah yeah. I think that went well you.Read More