[Ansteorra] OT: Bedding dilemma

[Haraldr Bassi (Ansteorra lists)]

Building a bed sounds daunting, but really isn't that difficult.
Breaking it down to the essentials it is simply four posts, four (or
more) rails to connect the four corners together and something to keep
your mattress suspended between the rails.

My bed is a recreation of the Gokstad style four post bed using 7 slats
(1x5). It breaks down to a bundle of four 3x3 corner posts, 2 long rails
with double tenons on the end and mortise holes for the slats, two short
rails with single tenons for the head and foot and a pillow catcher
headboard with a weird bracket to mount it on one of the bed ends (all
1x8). The slats and rails ride on top of my Toyota Matrix on the roof
rack along with the pile of tent poles. The 5" foam futon folds
lengthwise and rides inside the Thule cargo pod on the other half of the
roof rack along with the down comforter and down pillows. The four posts
ride inside the car because they are two short to be effective on top of
the car. All the wood is poplar for strength but less weight than
similar sized oak or ash. The futon and down comforter are folded
together and use a couple of heavy bungies to tie the thing together to
make it easier to stuff into the cargo pod.

Note that this design would require the most amount of woodworking
skill. A much simpler design can be created by using standard bed
hardware available from Rockler and similar types of sources. The side
rails above are sized as large as they are because the originals were
even wider.

To make a simple slat bed using modern hardware, obtain a length of
square decent hardwood circa 2" square to make 4 posts. Get two sets of
locking bed rail brackets:
http://www.rockler.com/product.cfm?Offerings_ID=5783
You will attach them to your four posts and four lengths of 1x6 hardwood
which will be the rails on the bed. The rails will need a 1x2 attached
inside the rail where the slats will ride. You can use some dowel pins
to keep the slats from sliding around and the rails from pulling out.
You can use a half set of brackets to add a headboard. The entire thing
will break down to a pile of slats, four or five rails and four posts.
You can use a tick bag with straw, a futon or even an air mattress on
the bed, though you might want to increase the number of slats to have
less space between if you use an air mattress. You could even design the
frame to use a set of IKEA bed slats which are ultra compact and very
lightweight but require a brace in the center of a full or queen size
bed to share the weight. Slat sizing is always difficult. I tend to
design my beds so that I can stand on the bed and access the top of the
tent and not have to worry about whether my foot is spreading my weight
evenly across two or more slats or whether I'm standing in the center
and breaking the slats. I would never use wood with knots for a slat.
Good lumber yards will sell Poplar for less per board foot than Home
Depot or Lowes will charge for number 2 pine.

I don't monitor the Ansteorra list as regularly as I'd like so if anyone
has questions, please CC them to me directly.

Best of luck,
Haraldr Bassi


Morgan Blackdragon wrote:
> Hello to the kingdom!
> 
> I have a general question and thought I would pose it to everyone to
> get the most information I could.
> 
> My lady and I are sick of air mattresses and would like to move to
> something a bit more dependable. What is the best bedding in terms of
> set up / break down, amount of truck space it would take up, etc.
> 
> I have heard suggestions on rope beds but I've also heard that the
> ropes will stretch and take a lot of maintenance. I have been looking
> at platform beds but I am trying to work out an easy (and cheaper) way
> to make one myself instead of buying it from a store.
> 
> We'll most likely be using a futon mattress so I am mainly looking for
> bed frame ideas. What do you use currently, what have you used in the
> past, what sort of problems or praises have you come across? Do you
> make or have have a good bed frame that you'd like to sell? Any
> information, either on the list or directly to me, would be greatly
> appreciated.
> 
> Thank you for your time,
> ~Morgan Blackdragon~
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