Do it yourself!

A while back I told some of you that I had made a new frame for our old bed. The old metal frame was two peices that didn't join right and I spent 4 hours a move getting it together. So a friend of mine has been chating with me about timber frame construction. Its the good old stuff thats both rugged and beautiful. I decided to give my creativity (and mad skills) a whirl and how well it worked. It only took six months to get the photos together and to put on the finishing touches but with a little planning and a 12 hour day you too can build this sleep saving device. Here are some pictures we snagged during the build. Oh, the pictures loaded backwards so feel free to scroll.


This future shot reveals the tapered ends as well as the layout of the frame. Poor Bryant, he wanted to be more hands-on but had burned up most of his energy. Notice the amount of toe clearance around the frame perimeter to accommodate my feet.


To adapt a more classic look I popped the wicker backing out from the old headboard and then used 3/8” lag bolts to secure it to the top beam.


The rest of the frame was secured with ½”x 5” galvanized lag bolts. The joint bolts were countersunk and the legs were not. Just a note, the truck is not to scale!


I could not find a good timber saw, but I did have a reciprocating saw and it cut my depth markings just fine.


With the strength of Zeus,(hence the rubber mallet), I chiseled the large chunks free and used a rasp to file the interlocking cuts smooth and to create an old-timey look.


I selected 3-4X6” fir main beams with 3-4X4” cedar cross beams. The whole structure is solid and provides a pleasant aroma too. Overall difficulties were minimal, just a few sore joints and some bruising. Hope you all enjoyed these few photos, I should have taken more of them but with me being lazy and all it makes for difficulties. Please forgive me. Big Jake