Barn Beam BedI made this king size bed in November, 2001. It's made of oak barnwood salvaged from a 100 year old barn (see my salvage project). I left all the surfaces as I found them except for a good powerwashing. |
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 The corner posts are about 8 inches square. Each of them is topped by an original tenon. Each tenon has a hole that held a peg. The footboard stretchers, headboard stretchers, and sideboards are made from floor joists. They're about 2 inches thick and about 10 inches wide. |
 All construction is mortise and tenon. No bolts, screws, glue or other fasteners. Here are the sideboards and stretchers with their tenons all finished. Tenons are 3.75 inches long and 1 inch thick. |
 Mortises were started with a one inch spade bit and then lots of mallet-and-chisel work. |
 OK, so I could have provided a little more clearance in those mortise & tenon joints. Used a sledge and come-along for about an hour to get everything together, but this is one bed that doesn't budge. |
 Missing from these photos is a center-beam that I put under the cross-pieces. The frame is made of 1 x 4 (true dimension) poplar. This replaced a nice steel frame, but made the bed much much firmer. If you have a firm mattress but it's not hard enough for you, take a look at what's holding it up. This is like a brand-new, wonderfully supportive bed. |
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| This bed is right at home
in our 220 year old house.
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