# Platform Bed design - will I fall through some night?



## benomatic42 (Oct 21, 2007)

I have been toying with a design for a platform bed for a couple weeks. I finally went from thinking to drawing and wanted to see where I'm going wrong here.

I wanted a design that was entirely knockdown, and fairly simple. All of the pieces are 1" wide. All of the inner joints are sliding dovetails. The inner height is 15", the outer is 14". There is a 1" thick rail that goes around the entirety, and will have 1/4" ply or pegboard screwed across the top for the actual mattress. The six side holes will feature drawers, and the end hole will have a vertical door to open space (for storing blankets, etc.).




























There are no fasteners drawn in, but I intend to have 1 bed bolt in between the M&Ts at the four corners. If necessary, I could use plain old bolts across the 6 inner sliding dovetails (having the vertical cleat/support pieces).

Will this hold up? In a previous discussion on another forum, the concern was racking over time with the sliding dovetails and lack of solid joints… For that reason I added the vertical cleats to the inner joints. I could also take the top horizontal pieces (the 2nd horizontal line, if you think of it as a tic-tac-toe board), and make it a single continuous piece, using halved joints across the 2 vertical members. Not clear to be yet whether that is worth while.

I intend to use pine, starting from 2×8s and 2×10s, milled down and glued into 14 and 15 inch widths.

Any thoughts/advice/warnings-for-my-sanity would be greatly appreciated. Thanks.

For the especially curious, the actual sketchup is here


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## Karson (May 9, 2006)

It looks great to me. I don't believe that you will get any racking if the top is attached to keep the pieces from moving. I would think 3/4 ply would be useful and would cut down any bowing that a 1/4' piece might do.


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## edp (Jul 23, 2007)

I completed two platform beds last winter with elements similar to your design. No sliding dovetails but plenty of drawers. I built a queen size and a king size and they each had 3 drawers per side that nearly met in the middle of the bed. I built structural tubes from plywood that performed several functions. They supported the box spring and mattress. They created the drawer guides and they tied the sides together. You can find some pictures of the project somewhere in here. Best rule to learn early is to keep it simple.

Ed


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## edp (Jul 23, 2007)

Oh by the way, to answer your question, looks plenty strong to me.

Ed


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## Dadoo (Jun 23, 2007)

I built one of these into my RV…I agree with Karson to go with something thicker than 1/4" ply. I used 1/2" ply in the camper. You can stand on it without any bowing.


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## SteveB (Apr 17, 2007)

I used to sell waterbeds, and your plan brings back memories-it's almost exactly what you'll get if you buy a drawer pedestal, except:

· The material was all ½" particle board except for what was visible, which was dark-stained pine.
· There were center spacers only at the head and foot-nothing in between. A foot spacer that opened cost extra. The head spacer was particle board.
· Everything was stapled together with a little glue. They fell apart if they weren't moved carefully. Part of the installation process was to straighten them to get rid of racking.
· Every joint was a butt joint.

Big spenders bought two sets to be stacked up. 4000 pounds of water on top would really keep things from moving.

Suggestion: Leave out the middle support so you can then store skis underneath.


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## benomatic42 (Oct 21, 2007)

Thanks for the feedback so far. 1/2" ply takes the vote.

edp-Overall, I think it's a good combination of simplicity (all boxey and cornered) and structural sophistication for me to learn on (2 part glue-ups, sliding dovetails plus a handlful of M&Ts). I debated whether to use ply + dadoes in the middle to keep it simpler, but thought that the dovetails would hold the shape without requiring fasteners. Is this going too far beyond simple for a beginner?

SteveB-I have a 3 stall garage and a wife with cold feet, so blanket storage wins out over ski storage 

Thanks again.

ben


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## edp (Jul 23, 2007)

Ben, never let it up to others to decide how big a challenge you are ready for. For me, sliding dovetails are a demanding bit of joinery that I would only use in full sight, never in areas that will not see the light of day. The effort required in the execution can better be spent on dressing visible surfaces. Also, I would not consider attempting sliding dovetails in anything less than a full ¾" thick solid, never plywood. My opinions only and I'm sure you will find them to be worth every penny you paid for them. Best of luck.

Ed


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## edp (Jul 23, 2007)

Ben, never let it up to others to decide how big a challenge you are ready for. For me, sliding dovetails are a demanding bit of joinery that I would only use in full sight, never in areas that will not see the light of day. The effort required in the execution can better be spent on dressing visible surfaces. Also, I would not consider attempting sliding dovetails in anything less than a full ¾" thick solid, never plywood. My opinions only and I'm sure you will find them to be worth every penny you paid for them. Best of luck.

Ed


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