How to put together a wooden bed frame and headboard?
Sources
How to Put a Bed Frame Together: 14 Steps (with Pictures) - wikiHow
www.wikihow.com
·
1
How to Put Together a Bed Frame and Headboard - Puffy Mattress
puffy.com
·
2
How to assemble a wood bed frame - YouTube
www.youtube.com
·
3
You Can Do This - Attach a wooden headboard to a metal bedframe
www.youtube.com
·
4
Answer
To put together a wooden bed frame and headboard:
- Place the headboard against a wall for easier assembly. If the headboard cannot stand on its own, have another person hold it in place1.
- Attach the side rails to the headboard. Look for small holes or grooves near the base of the headboard and attach one side rail to each side, making sure the finished side of each rail points out. Some side rails will fall into place, while others may need to be secured with included screws and nuts1.
- If your side rails do not have any markings, count how many support guides you have and attach them to the bed frame at equal distances1.
- If your bed frame comes with both center support beams and panels, secure the beams first, then lay the panels on top1.
- Before placing a mattress on top, use a level on the side rails and center supports to ensure the bed frame is not slanted. If you purchased an adjustable frame, use a tape measure to ensure it is the correct size for your mattress1.
- Always follow the existing manufacturer's instructions to avoid mistakes and ensure you have all the necessary tools for the job1.
References
1. How to Put a Bed Frame Together: 14 Steps (with Pictures) - wikiHow2. How to Put Together a Bed Frame and Headboard - Puffy Mattress3. How to assemble a wood bed frame - YouTube4. You Can Do This - Attach a wooden headboard to a metal bedframe5. How To: Assemble a Bed Frame - YouTube
Author: Shara Woodshop Diaries
Key insights
- ️ Adding a curved headboard to a bed frame can be time-consuming and require a lot of sanding, but it adds a unique touch to the design.
- ️ Cutting and shaping the pieces to form a "u shape" is a crucial step in building the bed frame with an arched headboard.
- ️ Gluing the curved pieces together with the rabbet in the middle creates a smooth and flush edge for the bed frame.
- Creative clamping and using a 2x4 to ensure parallel headboard legs during assembly can result in a sturdy and well-aligned bed frame.
- The headboard panel was three-quarter inch inset from the back edge and one and a half inch inset from the front edge, allowing for customization and flexibility in design.
- The use of threaded inserts to screw the feet into the footboard adds stability and durability to the bed frame.
- The dimensions and details for building a bed in different sizes are available in the linked plans below.
Video Full Text
- Hey guys it's shara from which hop diaries and today I'm kicking off a new matching furniture building series. So I'm building an entirely new bedroom set for our guest bedroom and I'm kicking things off with part one of the series building the bed. I've got the plans for this design in a twin full queen and king size in the link in the description below. But if you're ready to see how it all came together. Let's go you can build a bed a million ways and in a million styles but most of the time the main structure is pretty much the same you basically just need a head and foot board two side rails and some slats or supports for the mattress to rest on so in this video. I'm breaking this down in these sections to help keep things simple. Let's start with the headboard. I'm usually a pretty straight clean line kind of person. But in this case I decided to add a curve here at the top. While this wasn't necessarily difficult. It was quite time consuming and did require a lot of sanding to get things evened out but we'll get there in a minute. I built this bed from basic two by material and plywood and to be honest. I would have preferred to use some nicer material for the frame. But prices are crazy and selection in my area is pretty limited and I just didn't have time to order anything so it is what it is. This worked fine but obviously you can use any type of wood that you prefer for this for the headboard curve. I used 2x8 material. I planed them first just to barely remove some material from each side to give me a smooth surface.Read More
- Then I trimmed them down into more manageable links and squared off the rounded edges. On the table saw I've detailed the links of these pieces in the plans and they'll vary based on the size bed that you're building but I basically just cut pieces to form a quote unquote u shape. I spaced them out the length that I wanted my curve to be then made marks to help me keep them lined up as I glued them together. I glued up two of these identical to each other. Now. I drew a template for this curve in sketchup took a screenshot of it put it in a word document blew. It up to life size printed it out on a few sheets of paper taped them together and then cut it out with scissors. It was pretty rough and it ended up not being really nice smooth lines. Now you could freehand your curve. You could use round objects to draw it out whatever but in the plans. I've noted the radius of each curve and if I had to do this again I would put a screw in a scrap board clamp. This glued up panel to the workbench and position the screw on the scrap board at the pivot points that I've noted in the plans based on the size bed that you're building. Then I would just use a pencil on a string or this tape measure method to trace out my radius about that screw this will give you nice smooth curved lines versus using the paper template method and it allows you to customize your curve size. If you prefer something a little different either way. Once the curve shape was drawn I used a jigsaw to cut it out. You could also use a band saw if you'd rather. I used the belt sander to help me smooth things out a little on the edges. Then I used this piece to trace my curve onto the second glued up panel and cut it out.Read More
- These curves will be glued together to give me a three inch thick piece but before gluing them up. I used the rabbeting bit in my router to cut a rabbet along the inside edge of one of the pieces. I knew I would never be able to perfectly cut a curve on the headboard panel to match the frame so instead of wasting my time trying. I just cut this rabbit that way I can slide the top of the headboard panel into it later and not have to worry if it's a perfect matched cut. Since my headboard panel will be 3 4 inch plywood. I made multiple passes to cut this rabbit to three quarter inches deep to make sure my plywood would fit into it. Then. I glued my curved pieces together so that the rabbet was in the middle. After the glue dried. I used a flush cut bit on my router and my belt sander to get all of these edges nice and flush and smooth. There was a lot of sanding. Now. The hard part is over and everything else is pretty smooth sailing. I made the headboard legs from two by fours and if you saw my matching office furniture series. This process looks pretty familiar. I trimmed down my two by fours to a little over 40 inches then square. The edges off on the table saw so that the boards were just over three inches wide. Then I glued them together after the glue had dried. I ran these through the table saw again to clean up the glue edges and to give me a three inch by three inch post. Then I trim them to the final length of 40 inches. I lay these two posts and the curve out on the floor and used a square to mark some lines at the joints on both the front and the back side. Then I use the dowel jig on these marks to drill dowel holes. If you don't want to use dowels.Read More
- You can definitely use another joinery method that you feel comfortable with. I used wood glue and dowels to assemble this frame and did some creative clamping to hold it together. While the glue dried to make sure that my headboard legs stayed parallel while the glue dried. I used a 2x4 at the bottom and I just kind of tapped it in at an angle until the legs were the same distance apart at the top as they were at the bottom. Then. I let it dry while the glue dried. I grabbed a sheet of three quarter inch plywood and began cutting it down. I ripped two 11 inch strips off the sheet for the side rails of the bed and I set these aside for now we'll come back to it and I cut the remaining piece just wide enough to fit between the headboard legs. Once the headboard frame was dry and all the glue squeezed out was sanded off. I laid this panel on the floor and placed the frame on top of it. I set the inside of the curve about a quarter inch down from the top edge of the panel and traced it out then. I use a jigsaw to trim about a quarter to three eighths of an inch on the outside of this line. This curve will go up into the rabbit that I cut in the frame so that's why I cut it a little outside the line. Here these edges will be hidden. I drilled three quarter inch pocket holes into the sides of the panel and slid it into the frame so that the top curve slides into the rabbet on the frame. I found it easiest to get this into the rabbet by flipping it upside down and then once it was in place. I moved it to the workbench to screw it. Together.Read More
- It really doesn't matter which side that you make the front and which side that you make the back. But I installed this so that the headboard panel was three-quarter inch inset from the back edge and one and a half inch inset from the front edge but you could flip flop it if you wanted and at this point the headboard section is complete so I moved to the footboard. The footboard. I repeated the process of making three inch by three inch posts from two by fours. I made two long ones for the top and bottom and two shorter ones for the sides. The plans detail the lengths that these should be based on the size bed that you're building and just like with the headboard. I lay these out on the floor and use the square to mark lines at each joint on both sides. Then. I use the dowel jig to drill out the dowel holes at each mark and again you can use another joinery method if you prefer. I glued up this frame using wood glue and dowels and had to get a little creative again with the clamps. If you don't have enough long pipe clamps. For this you could use some ratchet straps instead or just use pocket holes and screws to assemble. Once this was dry. I sanded off all the glue squeeze out and cut a piece of three quarter inch plywood to fit perfectly inside this frame. I used this scrap piece from a project that I started and changed my mind on so you'll notice that mine has some shelf. Pin holes already drilled into it so just ignore that I drilled three quarter inch pocket holes around the edges then installed this into the frame so that it was about one and a half inches inset from the front edge.Read More
- I used one and a quarter inch pocket hole screws to secure it in place. Now. I was installing some furniture feet onto the footboard so I flipped it upside down and kind of figured out how far in from the edge that I wanted these feet to go. I marked and drilled out a hole on each side to install a threaded insert to screw the feet into if you're interested. I will link the exact feet and threaded inserts that I used here in the description if you'd like to check them out. Once both feet were on the footboard was complete and it was time to move on to the side rails. The side rails are probably the easiest part of the entire bed. I mentioned earlier that I cut two strips off the plywood sheet for this and set them aside so. I grab those strips and trimmed them to length on the miter saw since the top edges of these sides will be exposed. I applied iron-on edge banding to them just to give them a cleaner. Smoother look now these side rails will need some supports to rest the bed slats on later so. For this. I used some scrap plywood strips that I had in the shop. I didn't have any long enough to run the full length of the side rails. So I just pieced them together which is fine. I glued and screwed the support pieces along the inside of each side rail so that the top was 7 inches from the bottom edge. Now that all four sides of the bed are made. It's time to put it all together and I used bed rail brackets. For this. There are several styles of bed rail brackets and this is a new kind that I haven't used before. But they seemed simple enough. I attached the corner piece onto the head and foot board like shown. Here.Read More
- The same distance up from the ground. The plans will detail the location of these brackets now. I'm pretty sure these are intended to go the other way but if I flipped them it would push the side rails. Further apart and leave way too much wiggle room on each side of the mattress. So I installed them so that the teeth were flush to the inside of the frame. Now my camera battery died in the process of filming this so I didn't actually get any footage of attaching the other part to the side rails. But I simply screw them in along the edges of the side rail supports so that they would fit together at each corner. Just like this now you'll notice that I kind of fast forwarded there to show you how the brackets fit together. So let's take a quick step back and stain the bed after installing the brackets and making sure that it all fit together. I stained all four pieces in minwax early american and then I gave it a few coats of clear poly. Once the stain had dried then. I carried it inside and put it together. All that was left now was the bed slats. I cut nine three and a half inch wide. Plywood strips long enough to span the width of the side rails and rest across the supports. Then I cut nine two by twos.Read More
- The height of the top of the side rail supports from the ground. This will make sense here in a minute just bear with me. I screwed the two by twos in at the center of each slat and placed these evenly along the bed. Rail supports then I screwed these in place and at this point it was done and ready for a good nap. I know that this seemed like a big project and I guess it kind of is but building beds is more like building. Several separate projects that all kind of just fit together the headboard is one. The footboard is another the rails and the slats so hopefully that helps make it a little less overwhelming when you think about building one if you'd like to build your own in a twin full queen or king size don't forget to check out the plans that I've linked below with all the dimensions and details and if you'd like to keep up with how the rest of this matching series comes together be sure to subscribe to the channel. So you don't miss out on all of those upcoming videos thanks so much for watching friends and until next time happy building.Read More