King size bed plan
Bill of materials
The list below assumes all the lumber is of clear of knots and defects. You should buy extra wood to be able to cut around pieces with defects in them, as construction lumber is usually full of knots and other defects. It's best to buy wider pieces of lumber and then rip them to the right width. You end up with higher quality lumber that way, because the larger trees that the wider pieces are cut from tend of be of better quality.
| Part | Quantity | Used for
| 2x10 x 8' | 3 * | For headboard top horizontal, and footboard top horizontal
| 2x8 x 12' | 1 * | Bottom horizontal for headboard and footboard.
| 2x8 x 8' | 2 * | Side rails
| 2x3 x 8' | 3 * | For the posts
| 2x2 x 8' | 2 | Supports for slats
| 2x4 x 8' | 13 | Slats
| 3/4" dowel | 6' | For cutting dowels from. Get 6' worth
| 2.5" #10 wood screw | 24 | To mount side rails
| 2.5" #10 wood screw | 10 | To screw slat supports onto side rails
| Wood glue | 200ml | At least 200 ml of wood glue.
| |
* It may be better to buy seven 2x10x8' instead of the pieces marked with a star, and rip the appropriate sized parts from these.
Overview
Cross section
Note how the slats rest on the ledge on the inside of the side rails.A rabbet in the end of the slats ensures that they don't add too much height.
Headboard
The holes for the dowels are best drilled by clamping the horizontal and the post together, and drilling
the hole through both parts at once from the outside, as shown below.
Footboard
The footboard is nearly the same as the headboard, just shorter. If you who prefer to stick
their feet off the end of the bed, leave out the top horizontal part, and make the posts just 18" long.
Bed rail
The bed rail has a series of blocks on the ledge to support the slats. The purpose of these blocks is
to hold the slats in place laterally.
It's best to glue and screw the 1.5"x1.5" support rail for the slats onto the main part of the rail, as
all the weight is transferred through that rail.
Final assembly
The side rails are only attached on location. To move the bed frame, the side rails are unscrewed.
The slats are placed between the bed rails, and are not fastened in place. The
blocks on the bed rails prevent them from sliding around.
Also read my Building a bed for a description of how to build a twin size version of the bed in these plans.
You can also download a Sketchup model of this bed plan
See also
