Dog Bed redux - A Platform Bed

I don’t have the tools, time, or space for large furniture projects anymore, but I do enjoy building pet-versions of furniture. I’ve posted one dog bed on Lumberjocks already, and done a few more platform beds for friends.

This platform bed is an evolution of two other prototypes. I started with a basic mitered frame on a torsion box style platform. I experimented with edge banding and different finishes.

The final result is a large frame platform bed of Pine with edge banding in Poplar. I stained the Pine, and painted the Poplar, then gave it three coats of wipe on Satin Poly, with a light sanding to 220 grit in between coats.

The base of the bed is a system like a torsion box without the edges. It sits on two long rails and three perpendicular short rails made of MDF. I used pocket screws to attach the base and platform, then provided a mattress pad of 1/4” Luan plywood to support the standard (large) sized dog mattress.

It’s very sturdy. My 90lb Mastiff mix “tested” the bed rigorously before the finish phase, and the bed withstood his ample weight without a creak of flex.

My finishing skills need work. The first finish job just didn’t cut it, so I sanded everything down to bare wood, and used a mixture of Golden Pecan and Natural stain to achieve the current color on the Pine. Minwax makes a few Poly/Stain mixes that I’m going to try in the future.

This bed was finally delivered to good friends as a Christmas present promised last December. The miters and finish caused too many delays, and I took a couple of days off to get the rest of the real work done. I like the way this one turned out, and I hope their dogs do, too!

For the next project, I’m tempted to try an upholstered bed for dogs. I’ve been dying to try something with upholstery since watching some projects on Cable, but afraid of the size. A dog sized couch may be the perfect opportunity!

-- Mark, Florida, http://penturner.wordpress.com/