Bed bolts

[dlminehart]

I'm replacing the foot of my daughter's bed, which now has an arched and doweled top, with a simple low one no higher than the bottom of the mattress. This will allow her to sit at the foot of the bed.

I've located the 2"x2" ash for the legs, and the 1"x5" ash for the rail. I can use the existing twist lock bolts to attach the foot to the bed's side rails. I'd assumed I'd use a bolt through each leg into the foot rail (plus a dowel there to prevent rotation). On checking around, I find that these 6" bolts (with nuts) are about $7 apiece, plus $3 shipping! This seems outrageously expensive, more than I'll be paying for the ash.

I'm wondering about alternatives. For instance, the existing legs show what look like two 5/8" dowels (but might just be flush sawn plugs) going in the direction of the rail. Perhaps I could just use dowels myself.

Or, perhaps mortise and tenon joinery . . . tho' as a neophyte, I'm not optimistic that it would come out good enough to hold up a bed.

Anyone dealt successfully with this issue?

[eezlock]

bed........

Not trying to upset you here on the dowels....but I believe they may be
some type of solid steel roll pin instead of dowels...eezlock

[ChrisD]

Hi David,

I built my son's bed about 3 years ago when I was much more of a neophyte that I am now, but I believe I built it using decently sound methods. I used "Beds" by Jeff Miller as a reference.

I used post-and-panel construction on the headboard and the footboard. The rails are tenoned into the posts, or legs.



I used bolts to connect the side rails to the headboard and the footboard. I just used 6" lag bolts from HD. Instead of using dowels to prevent the rails from rotating, I tenoned the ends of the rails, about 1/4". I figured aligning the dowels would have been more difficult.

Here's a pic of the inside face of one side rail. The dowel you see here is for one of the 15 slats that support the mattress. You can see part of the slat which I had to lift to shoot this pic (BTW, I deserve some credit for being able to do this without waking up the kid ).



I hid the bolts with brass bed bolt covers that I bought from Lee Valley.



The paint job ain't much to look at (my first experience with milk paint). Honestly, I just wanted to get my first WW project done!

Hope that helps.

[Tom Miller]

So, you're just talking strictly about the footboard construction, right? And, you've already decided how you're going to attach this footboard to the existing siderails, right?

Assuming I'm understanding your situation, I think the bolts you're looking at aren't really the ones for the job. Those are probably meant for connecting the headboard or footboard to the side rails for easy knockdown.

For the joint you're making, you really can't beat M&T, IMO, especially if that piece is going to bear any load. If the joint doesn't have to be really pretty; you can even "peg" it with screws if you have to, from the under-bed side.

Regards,
Tom

[JimD]

I would use mortise and tenon if you have a plunge router - I am assuming you do not have a dedicated mortiser. You can either make female joints in both the legs and the rail or in just the leg and then cut a tenon on the rail. It is probably easier to make a slip tenon - female joints in both pieces and a separate tenon cut to fit the mortises. You will want to make a little jig for cutting the mortises and use a spiral up cut bit if the price is not an issue. If it is, a straight bit will work - just be noiser. A starting hole helps. Best way I have found is to plunge the bit repeatedly into the wood to the full depth and then clean it up with a straight pass. I used to just make multiple passes with the router to cut but the plunging then pulling seems to make a more accurate mortise. Most of the time now I use my dedicated mortiser.

Biscuits would also probably be strong enough. I used them on a bunch of interior doors and they held up fine. Doubling them helps.

Jim