Two questions: Loft bed construction and CMS blades

[dewi1219]

I'm building my daughter a loft bed for Christmas. I am designing it myself, and the head and footboards will be frame and panel construction with 3x3 or 4x4 posts. What is the best way to attach the head and footboards to the rails? I know the hook and plate setups allow for quick disassembly of the bed, but I'm not sure if that's the best solution for a bed that will be six feet in the air. Maybe screw / dowel construction would be better.

Also, before I begin this project I have to replace the blade on my el-cheapo Delta CMS, and I'm looking for suggestions on an inexpensive blade that will give good results. I put a Freud Diablo in my BT3 and have liked it pretty well so far. Any suggestions are appreciated.

[dbhost]

I have achieved excellent results with the Diablo 40T in my BT3, and a Diablo 80T in my el cheapo B&D CMS. A ZCTP would help on the CMS as I do get some tear out on the bottom side.

I tend to use a sacrificial piece to control that, which works with 2x4s, and similar, but 4x4s are out of reach for sacrificial pieces...

I stumbled across the idea of a ZCTP for a CMS a while back, I sure wish I could recall how it was done...

[crokett]

I have a Diablo 80T in my CMS and like it a lot.

As for the bed, I've built several loft beds. We always did them with dowels/glue for the frames and screws for the supports that hold the box spring. I've never put a headboard or footboard on one - we always put them in the corner so there were two sides up against a wall. I would not care so much about easy disassembly. It is a loft bed and won't get moved around all that much. I would use something like lag screws to attach to the side rails and plug the holes so they don't show.

[Norm in Fujino]

I've always used Freud blades and never been dissatisfied, although I've likewise not had anything to compare them against. I suppose I should spring for a Forrest wwII blade at some point just to give me a ground for comparison.

As for the bed issue, there's probably lots of ways you could do the joinery. It would be best to have a picture of the overall design you have in mind.

[LinuxRandal]

Just make sure it IS JUST a CMS. SCMS gets different recommendations.

Depending on budget, I normally recommend either a Diablo 10" 80 tooth, or a Freud LU85R010. I bought the later from a damaged freight store (no damage) and was pretty happy with it side by side to the neighbors Diablo on his son's saw (helped him on his porch).

[dewi1219]

This is the closest photo I could find. You can see on this one the rails appear to be attached with lag screws as already suggested.

My saw is a CMS, not a SCMS. Thanks for the suggestions.

[Bill in Buena Park]

...I would not care so much about easy disassembly. It is a loft bed and won't get moved around all that much. I would use something like lag screws to attach to the side rails and plug the holes so they don't show.

This is what I did when I built bunkbeds for my kids. I used 2x6 frames for the head- and footboards, and 2x6 for the rails (I like to over-engineer ) - so ended up using three (3) 4in lag bolts per rail/frame joint for shear strength - counterbored, but not plugged. Then I added a hidden L-bracket to the inside of each joint to be doubly sure any racking (sp?) would not allow the lags to pull out.

For head- and footboard 2x6 frame construction, I joined with 4 #20 biscuits per joint (non-load-bearing).

[dbhost]

What about Mortise and tenon joinery? Good and strong for sure!

[Mr__Bill]

Bed Bolts

Whatever you do, remember that some day you will have to remove the bed from the room, store it for 20 years and reassemble it for a grandchild. You may wish to make sure that it can be dissembled without destruction.


Bill

[dewi1219]

Bed Bolts

Whatever you do, remember that some day you will have to remove the bed from the room, store it for 20 years and reassemble it for a grandchild. You may wish to make sure that it can be dissembled without destruction.


Bill

That's the problem - this is going to be a full (not twin) size bed, and finaly assembly will have to take place in her room. I don't want to have to take a chain saw to it when she leaves for college

[crokett]

Well depending on the look you want you could do through mortise/tenon with pegged tenons. Just make the pegs tapered so they wedge the joint together. I've built a couple platform beds (not loft) that used similar pegs.

[gjat]

I built two beds for my kids when they were little, and they've survived through a number of moves, and my eldest took hers when she got married last year (for the spare bedroom, LOL).

They held up well. Even though you won't "move them around much", you have to consider kids are kids. They were built when all I had was a circ saw, 1/4" drill, and a finishing sander. No fancy joints.
Permanent joints were done with pegs and wood screws, putting glue in the screw holes. Dismantlable joints were done with "L" brackets and wood screws, as well as long wood screws. The problem with lag bolts, is they're too big and can work loose over time. Better to use a number of wood screws of smaller diameter. I also used metal plates as a backing for removable wood screws so the screws wouldn't pull into the wood over time and work loose.

[Bill in Buena Park]

...A ZCTP would help on the CMS as I do get some tear out on the bottom side...I stumbled across the idea of a ZCTP for a CMS a while back, I sure wish I could recall how it was done...

I saw a ZC concept for S/CMS work in a recent mag - don't remember which. I believe it was 2 pieces of 1/2 ply - joined at 90 dg, 1 vertical piece to be the sacrificial fence, the other horizontal piece serving as a sacrificial table/plate - counterbored and bolted to CMS fence.

[billwmeyer]

I believe that article is in American Woodworker magazine.
Bill

[schloff]

I built a loft bed for my kid a couple years ago. I used mortise/tenon to hold the weight of the bed rails (and everything it's supporting) and anchored them with cross dowels from Rockler. I had plenty of depth and width to work with, though.

I used 2x10 for the rails. The bed is poplar, except for the mattress support, which is maple. I was pleased with the strength. It's heavy, but that's what I was looking to accomplish. A bit of overkill, but these are my kids that I am doing this for.

http://www.rockler.com/product.cfm?page=367