[TheForge] Bed Frames

[Dann]

My experience is primarily wooden rope beds, but  if I were thinking of  an 
art- blacksmithed bed, I would spend most of my time working on the head 
board and the foot board of the bed.

My first thought  would be to  design to spend the forge time on the 
headboard, possibly foot board that would bolt on to a "factory" 
frame.   This would apply even if you were building a canopy bed.

What ever you build will have to be able to come apart in pieces to 
move.  You could design it that would work for a  King, or  a 
combination  Queen- Double.   A  Queen bed needs to handle a box spring & 
mattress that is 60 inches wide by 80 inches long.  A Double bed mattress 
is 54 inches wide by 75 inches long.  I can't remember a king size... just 
now. Most the commercial frames and head boards fit either a double or a queen.

There is nothing mild about  the steel in commercial bed frames.  The 
steel  rails behave like very  high carbon,  very hard  steel.     I have 
re-fabricated  the angle iron from countless old bed rails.  It is tough 
stuff  unless  heated and annealed.

Dann Johnson
ropemaker@hotmail.com
Thompson, Iowa


At 10:14 AM 1/10/2003 +0000, you wrote:

>Hello,
>
>I am seeking some advise from those of you who have built beds in the
>past.
>I just finished doing a lot of iron work for a new home.  The architect
>designed everything;   the fire doors, lights, railing, drawer pulls,
>bathroom and kitchen hardware, coat racks etc.  He was actually very
>enjoyable to work with as he had a good grasp of the forging process and
>visited the shop many times.  He also freely gave me latitude within his
>designs.
>
>Anyway,  the clients would now like me to build two bed frames and some
>end tables.  I have never built a bed before nor has the architect had
>one built.  The architect is envisioning rails connecting the head board
>and foot board that support cross boards that the box springs sits on.
>
>My questions are these;
>
>if the rails were made from regular mild steel angle iron what would be
>an appropriate size.  I am assuming most bed manufacturers use some type
>of steel other than mild and therefore get away with lighter gage.
>
>I would welcome any thoughts regarding rail ideas.   I am imagining
>cutting the ends of the angle so I can bend one down at a 90% upset the
>end and have them bolt onto the corner posts.
>
>Thank you,
>
>Roger Olsen
>
>
>
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