Bomb-proof bed, for intensive use

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Probably the most overbuilt bed in the human history. Our full-grown special needs child sometimes wants to land on his bed with a somersault. He has great body awareness; learned to run when he was 7 months old. Didn’t bang into furniture then, nor since. But uses them for take-off and landings, and has annihilated many a bed, and sofa, both home and away. After fixing his last store-bought bed for the n’th time, I took matters in my own hands and built this monstrocity. The weakest link is clearly the slats, and they are 1,5 x2 inches solid oak. Supported from four points each. If they break, I will replace them with solid steel slats.

I had to assemble / disassemble the bed several times during the build, to make sure the dominoes and the bolts all line up perfectly. The components don’t bend - at all - so if anything would have been even slightly off, the whole thing would not have gone together.

I was hoping the bed would be heavy enough for our son not to push it around as a sled. I was wrong on that count, so after a while I attached some brackets to the wall, and now two wooden pieces compress the bed towards the corner of the room.

Despite the military-grade strength, in my view it doesn’t look overly heavy. What say you, fellow woodworkers?

12 Comments

You had a need, a bed. It came with special challenges, your Son, and his history of destroying past furniture.

You made a plan and then carried it out, seen here. With a mattress on it, and covers, most would just look at it and see a bed.

Looks like you ticked off all your needs, and wants. In my book that is called success.

Nice build.
looks solid. time will tell. if not time to get the welder out ?

working with my hands is a joy,it gives me a sense of fulfillment,somthing so many seek and so few find.-SAM MALOOF.

Before reading your comments, I was going to say that for all its beefy construction, the bed has a light, floating look.  Very nicely done.
The best part to having your own shop. Have a need and create a solution for that need. 
Looks might tough. 

CtL

Portablepastimes.com "Purveyors of Portable Fun and Fidgets"

Can't say I've ever seen a sturdier bed, even use lock nuts!.

I'm with Ross, the style keeps a light look and it looks like furniture, not shop equipment.
Well accomplished mission!
That’s a good solid bed, I think you solved the problem very well!
Looks good,.usable, well built

Ron

Nice work on that bed. It sure is built!!

Cheers, Jim ........................ Variety is the spice of life...............Learn something new every day

Hats off to you for seeing that through. I don't think that's going to come apart anytime soon. It looks good too.

Doing the best I can with what I've got

no matress?... I dont see any nails either!

Regards Rob

Thanks for your comments! For your amusement, one more pic of me trying to solve the sled-problem initially by taking off some of the felts from underneath to cause more friction. This didn’t stop said activity, so I then resorted to the wall brackets. 

To get to the felts without once again disassembling the bed, used a 2.5ton jack to lift the corners - as you do 😎
It's a good thing that you have the skills. I doubt you could buy a bed as solid as that.
If that doesn't hold up you might have to pour concrete!

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