Bed post question

[NCGrimbo]

This summer, I'm planning on making a king bed for myself. I've bought plans and watched the video that the seller of the plans made. In his plans, the bed posts are made from 16/4 white oak. I'm planning on making mine out of maple, but I can't find 16/4 or larger maple boards. But I have a lot of 5/4 and 6/4 maple in my wood pile that I can plane down to 4/4. I figure I can make the 4x4 posts by mitering the 4/4 maple and then make some sort of cap for the tops. My concern is whether these post will be able to support the headboard and footboard that will be screwed into the post. (Assume the screws go at least 3/4" into the posts.) Also, the bed rails will be attached via rail hardware to the post and the middle of the headboard and footboard. I figure the posts will be supporting most of the weight of the bed and mattress.

So, do I need to figure some other way of making the posts or will my plan work?

Thanks!

 

[AlanJ]

If by mitering you mean you will cut 4 1x4 boards And glue them together that’s usually stronger than using a single board. Be careful with glue squeeze out and clean it before in dries on your new 4x4 surface. You will need a long flat surface during glueup and a lot of clamps. Also mostly will need to plane the 4x4s down a bit after glueup unless you can keep the boards from shifting better than I can.

 

[JohnnyR]

Mortise and tenon the head/foot boards into the posts and you won't have to worry about falling on the floor during strenuous use.

 

[Bill Clemmons]

By "mitering" I assumed you mean cutting a 45* angle on the long sides of each board, then gluing them together to form a long post. If that is your plan, you will have a hollow center. My suggestion would be to start w/ a solid 1"x1" core of any hardwood, then wrap it w/ the 1x4's. Then when you attach the head and foot boards to the post, I would use longer screws to go at least through the outer board and into the core for more strength and rigidity.

 

[Mike Davis]

I would build a jig out of 3/4 plywood to align and hold the boards while clamping.
I would also use some t-nuts or threaded inserts instead of wood screws.
Tapered posts will look better than straight if they are taller than the headboard.

 

[Wiley's Woodworks]

However you configure it (any of the above suggestions will get you to 4 X 4), if you use 4 different boards for the outer faces it's likely you will run into some strange looking grain patterns in your finished work. I learned this from experience.

 

[FredP]

You could use fir 4x4 and veneer with whatever wood you desire. Fir is much easier to get.

 

[junquecol]

Laminate up a post out of 4/4, then add a veneer to the sides where the laminations show.

 

[AlanJ]

I’ll add that even well known and respected furniture companies use laminated stock for their posts. Our Ethan Allen cherry bed is laminated and tapered. Not very noticeable unless you get right next to the posts and look for grain and color changes visible through the stain.

 

[JimD]

A solid 4 inch post will not be as stable as a laminated one. The bed plan I sleep on and both my married kids sleep on has 3 inch posts and I laminated all of them from thinner material (2 are cherry, one is oak). I think your hollow idea would work but I would add interior blocking at least where the joints will be. I used mortise and tenons to hold the headboard and footboard together and then use metal rails fasteners inset into the rails and the headboard/footboard. I would want more than a 1 inch long tenon on the headboard/footboard and more than a 1 inch screw on the rail attachments. Thus I think you could use some interior blocking. Just gluing up the legs worked well for me. You can see the layers but I orient them to the sides of the bed and nobody has found the appearance to be an issue at all.

My other suggestion is to make a platform bed. I just paid for a mattress and boxed spring for my Mom and it was ridiculously expensive. My family finds a platform bed with a "mattress in a box" foam mattress to be very comfortable and they are a lot cheaper. No real reason for the boxed spring in any event. Even a traditional mattress can go on a platform. I've done slats and solid plywood platforms. The later are easier but bulky to transport and pretty heavy. Slats take more time to make but are easily transportable. For a King, I would make slats of dimensional lumber - framing softwood. I did this on a queen in my house and it worked well. The bed my son and daughter-in-law sleep on has a platform that is the size of a boxed spring but has ribs of plywood and a solid 1/2 inch plywood top. Very solid. If you like a real firm bed it is an option. I prefer the slight give of a 3/4 plywood platform.

 

[jlwest]

I built mine out of 1x4x3/4 cherry beveled at 45 degrees to provide a nice strong joint. I then made some cherry molding to wrap equally around the four corners about 3/4 inch to hide the joint. I used a 1x5 plank across the top to add strength. I did not use a footboard, makes it easier to make the bed, but rather used a king size metal bed frame that the head board is attached to. A king size mattress and box spring is heavy and usually requires a support foot to the floor in the middle of the bed which a metal frame has.

 

[rivens]

If you have a lock miter shaper cutter ,a mitered construction clamps in one direction making the assembly fairly straight forward.