KOW: Simple Daybed, Take I

I decided that it was time to start the Simple Daybed from Knock Off Wood.

It's the next "big" change for my office-ish room and I just couldn't wait any longer.

Last Saturday I went out with my mom to buy the lumber... and I'm glad she was with me! There were too many choices and I was quickly overwhelmed trying to figure out what would be the best/cheapest wood to buy. Once I calmed down we were able to pick through the lumber to find the straightest and smoothest boards we could.

Saturday afternoon my dad showed me how to use some of his power tools and between the two of us we got most of the lumber cut down to size. I let him use the ripping thing. It made him too nervous for me to use it since that's what sliced his thumb last year. He cut the 1x12's down to 1x6's and 1x3's. (1x12's were slightly cheaper than buying two 1x6's.) I cut the lengths for the rails, spacers, headers, footers, and other things... and I only made one mistake.

I hope.



Right about now I wish I knew what all the tools were actually called. Ah well.

Sunday was the building day.

I put the side boards together (which are two of the foot boards from the Simple Bed plans from KOW) and then the back board. I used some carpenter's glue plus my dad's nail gun. It still took me awhile to do, but I think that's mostly because of my inexperience. I couldn't imagine doing it without the nail gun!

I nailed the first spacer on at the end of each 1x6 and then the first rail. Then I made sure that the two 1x6 pieces were straight and parallel to one another by clamping another rail near the end of the 1x6. It made it easier to be sure the 1x6's stayed the correct distance apart.



After the rails and spacers were all set I sandwiched them between more 1x6's. (For some reason the total length of my spacers and rails didn't match up with the 1x6 sandwich boards so we had to fake it a bit. My dad trimmed a piece to fit the last spacer-space... it all worked out.)



Finally one side board was together! I was so proud.

Then I remembered I had another to go, plus the back board... and the posts, topper things, painting, etc.



An additional "touch" we added was to round some of the edges with my dad's router tool thing. I rounded the edges of the 1x6's on the rail-sides as well as on the posts.

You can see the rounded edges below relative to the un-rounded edges towards the back of the photo. Rounding the edges seemed to make it look more "finished" and a bit softer. Subtle but effective.



My dad helped me put the posts on either side of each of the side boards once I was finished with the back board. (He drilled three screws from the top and bottom of the side board at an angle into the post. We'll probably add some bolts, too, but haven't got that far yet.) Then I added the top 2x4 pieces to all three sides and the 2x2 to the back board (to support the box spring/mattress).



Almost there! (For the first part, anyway.)

With the topper things on we could set the three sides up together. The 2x4 topper on the back board has an overhang that rests on the back post of each of the side boards.

And it all fit! And it looks like furniture! Woohoo!



I put the front rail together as well but it can't "hang" like the back board... and is boring to look at. (It's just a 2x6 with a 2x2 attached to it.)

Most of the wood work is finished! I just need to do some final sanding and possibly use the router thing on the 2x4's... and then I'll be ready to prime it.

I'm planning on painting it some sort of brown while it's still at my parents' house. I won't do the final assembly until it's in my office-ish room-- it's super heavy so this way it will be easier to move!

So far this has been a fun and educational project! My dad has let me do most of it by myself and has given me a bunch of useful carpentry tips.

By far my favorite "motto" of the project came from a dude at Lowe's:

"A bit of putty and a bit of paint make a carpenter what he (she) ain't."