Two questions: Loft bed construction and CMS blades

[sscherin]

On my daughters bunk beds we used the Heavy Duty Wrought Steel Bed Rail Fasteners from Rockler. They hold very tight.. Takes a hammer to knock them off.
http://www.rockler.com/product.cfm?page=10

Pics of the installed plates here
headboard
http://www.pontiacs.org/pics/project...d/IMG_0138.JPG
rail
http://www.pontiacs.org/pics/project...d/IMG_0136.JPG


If you go with a lag bolt type setup I prefer a threaded metal insert..
http://www.rockler.com/product.cfm?page=363

They will stand up to repeated setup and teardown and not get sloppy over time.

I've also had a bed that used Barrel nuts.. They held up quite well and the install is easy.
http://www.mcfeelys.com/product/0612...ed-Barrel-Nuts

Now a few fun tips

for the mattress support (board or slat whatever you pick ) screw the support to the bed rails at the mid point.
Kid's do weird stuff playing around and we had the girls push the rails enough to drop a slat one time. We screwed in the center slat and it's never happened again..

If you use a solid sheat of ply for a mattress support you can have a little fun with it..
Paint the bottom with chalkboard paint or attach a sheet of metal for an overhead magnet board.