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The
bed assembly became a family project. Here, the author's
eldest daughter
inserts screws for the bed slats, while her little brother
helps remove them.
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I
made the bed frame as specified in the plan; however, instead
of using plywood, I used select maple milled to 3/4"
thickness and #1- and #2-grade maple for the bed slats. After
the frame was built, I attached the folding-bed hardware as
per the plan, which specifies that the M6 machine screws may
need to be cut. I threaded the screws so tightly that they
went through and scratched the side of the spring box. I measured
again and prepared to cut the screws, but I forgot to thread
a nut onto the screw before cutting so that it could be taken
off to reestablish the thread on the cut portion. Thank goodness for my tap and die set!
I then measured the width of the bed frame with the spring
box hardware attached. This measurement is critical, as the
frame width defines the width of the carcass. I put the frame
on saw-horses to get its weight off the spring box hardware,
which extends slightly below the frame. If the frame is on
the floor, the hardware will flex and the dimension can spread
up to an inch.
Next,
I started to build the carcass. Since I wanted a frame-and-panel
look,
I used four 85-1/4"x5" cherry pieces for the panel
stiles and six 14"x5" cherry pieces for the rails.
The extra length in the rails was used for deep tenons (2")
into the stiles. I used 1/4" G2S cherry plywood for the
floating panels.
The end result is a pair of 85-1/4"x20" side panels.
Note that you could build the cabinet front for the bed simultaneously,
as it is also frame and panel. I was concerned about making
mistakes, so I deferred this until the case was assembled.
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| Panel
side |
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Panel
side with spring box mounting plywood plate atttached. |
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