Lumber for loft bed

[BrentM]

I'm wanting to make a simple and cheap loft bed for my daughter. I want to use 2x6s as the columns and rails. I plan to paint it. Sadly, the selection of 2x6s at the local Lowes is not exactly pleasant to look at. Splintered, gouged out, etc.

I see several options and am wondering what the experts (you) would do:

1) Buy the best 2x6s they have then plane them down. I'll have to buy a planer. Darn.
2) Buy the nicer 1x6s and glue them together to make 2x6s.
3) I have a hardwood lumber yard nearby. Don't know if they carry cheap pine material or not. I've only paid attention to the hard woods there. If not, what is the inexpensive and paintable hardwood to go for?

The kids have a bunk bed that is all 1x material except for 3x3 posts. I don't know what kind of wood it is. I wanted to use 2x6 all around so that it is extra durable.

Any thoughts are appreciated.

[Black wallnut]

Although not exactly 2"x6" I've found in my area that the best is tongue and groove flooring with the T&S ripped off. In your area where it is SYP you might be better served going to a real lumber yard and paying premium prices for good pine or even poplar, which might be a better choice.

[pelligrini]

You'd probably be better off checking at the lumberyards.

When I built my SYP bench I ended up getting 2x12s and a few 2x10s from HD and ripping them down to size. I noticed that their price per board foot was the same for the wider boards (2x6 vs 2x12). The pickings of 2x6s here was really lousy. I also found straighter and clearer 2x12s in the longer lengths. Sorting through 16' and longer boards wasn't all that easy. I'd get them to do a couple crosscuts so I could get them home.

[Richard in Smithville]

You can look at this link.

http://www.canadianhomeworkshop.com/...nk-bed/a/19183

Even though it talks about jointing and planing, you can do your jointing with a router with a sled and a jig. There are plenty of plans for such a jig/sled.

[ironhat]

I'm with Black Walnut. I built a set of bunks based on a design out of the '80's in a chain of stores called Crate Furniture. I used all poplar in 1x4s and 2x for the side rails. I stained it dark and finished it with a Danish Oil wipe on so that as the finish got beat up by the kids it was easy to repair. The poplar has been surprisingly durable and now the grandkids are using it and the same age mine were when I built them.

[cabinetman]

You'd probably be better off checking at the lumberyards.

I also found straighter and clearer 2x12s in the longer lengths. Sorting through 16' and longer boards wasn't all that easy. I'd get them to do a couple crosscuts so I could get them home.

I find both of these statements to be true. Even at the home centers, the longer lengths (10', 12', etc) were better than the 8 footers. For paint grade, Poplar would be my choice. If you go to a good lumberyard, clear Fir is also pretty good, but will have a fairly dominant grain, which may be a plus if you choose to stain.
.

[dkerfoot]

I built a loft bed using 2x6 material from the BORG. In my case, my sons were sharing a room that had a vestibule leading to a balcony.

This vestibule had a small closet on one end and was approx 10'x6'. I tore out the wings of the closet and built the frame directly against the three walls. Because it happened to fit perfectly, I did not need to use any posts at all for support.

I was able to find 2x6 material that was plenty good for my purposes. Of course my plan from the beginning was to paint it in primary colors for a 5 year old boy. But, by selecting the better boards, all I needed was a ROS to prep the wood.

Unless that isn't what you wanted to hear. In which case: This job can not be done without a planer.

I was fortunate in that my oldest son moved out just prior to my now 14 yo going through a 6" growth spurt last summer.

[dbhost]

1) Buy the best 2x6s they have then plane them down. I'll have to buy a planer. Darn.
2) Buy the nicer 1x6s and glue them together to make 2x6s.

I lumped these two options together, because they are BOTH going to require a planer. To get a good, flat, smooth surface for glue application you will need a planer.

If Lowes is your only option, then I would probably grab the best 2x6 material they have in stock, and plane it down a bit. It sounded like you were going to paint it though. Have you considered using something like Poplar instead? Certainly a lot easier on the tools as pine leaves a Lot of gunk on bits and blades...

[JimD]

I will add my vote to the poplar suggestion. It is pretty inexpensive and takes paint very well, better than softwood. If you use softwood, make sure you put a coat of shellac on it before paint or use a primer like Kilz. Otherwise the knots bleed through. You won't have these difficulties with poplar.

The longer boards and wider boards idea is very sound too.

I got a good deal on an old Ryobi AP-10 planner. It is the original portable planner. It planes only 10 inches wide but that is usually not an issue. A friend from church sold it to me for $100. All it needed was the blades sharpened and he had all the original pieces including the sharpening and setting jigs. You might want to look around a bit for a used planner like this. You can make things of construction lumber without it but you will get better results if you can clean up the wood a bit with a few passes through the planner.

Jim

[Shep]

This guy does some great work with pine.

http://woodgears.ca/projects.html

Might give you some ideas. He uses a lot of construction grade wood that he planes down. He makes it look good too.

[dkerfoot]

This guy does some great work with pine.

http://woodgears.ca/projects.html

Wow- Great website! Thanks for the find. Be sure to go to the homepage to see everything he has: http://woodgears.ca/

[schloff]

I built my kid's bunk out of poplar. I went overkill on the dimensions, though. 2x10 rails, etc. Plan all along was to paint (crackle), so it was my #1 choice.

I bought my lumber from an Amish lumber mill, spent about 20 cents a board foot, as they wanted it out of their way. They are in the hardwood flooring business, and needed the space for oak lumber. I took all they had, and am still using it.

I have a planer and jointer, so I had no issue with it being rough. If you don't have the machinery, you might be able to rent some time at a school, military installation (if you have access to it), or have your local lumber supplier plane it for you. I think I paid 30 cents a foot to have some really wide boards planed at my local family owned center. I doubt box stores will offer that service.

[sscherin]

Another vote for poplar..

I built a loft bed using pine 2x12 and 4x4 posts from Home Depot.
I picked the straightest boards I could find but over time some still developed some bowing.
It didn't hurt it structurally but it made re-assembling after a move a big PIA.

The hardwood rails for the girl's bunk bed are still as straight as the day I made them.