Live models · bed frames
One brief, two answers.
The request was a floating bed in ordinary framing lumber, for every standard mattress from a twin to an Alaskan king. It got two designs in one weekend, each a script, each drawn live here, each writing its own material list, cut list and instructions for the size you pick. They are kept side by side because the differences are the useful part: what a housing buys you, what a bolt buys you, and what a slab weighs. Both are held by their joinery — wood carries the weight and metal only holds it together — so both come apart with one wrench.
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Model 09Bed frame · 2026
The slab
A low black slab with a wide ledge round the mattress, floating on four blocks set in from its corners, and a live-edge headboard standing on it. A 2x8 rim standing a quarter-inch proud of 2x12 planks laid flat; three 2x12s and a jigsaw line for the headboard; charred and oiled. Held by its joinery: the side rims hang on the joists in housings, eight bed bolts pull it tight, and the headboard slides down onto dovetail keys. The weight is what keeps it down.
TryFrom the foot for the headboard, then switch it to two boards. Explode it: it comes apart in the order you would take it apart — boards, battens, planks, joists, bolts, rims. Move the ledge sliders and watch the slab grow.
2x12 · 2x8 · 2x6 · bed boltsOpen the model -
Model 10Bed frame · 2026
The floor
A platform framed the way a floor is framed — a 2x6 rim, joists on centre, plywood on top, set on a smaller base so it hovers, with an LED strip along the base lighting the floor. No screws: the rims hang on the joists in housings, the plywood drops into a rabbet, oak pins locate it on the base and eight bed bolts pull it tight. The space under it is one tote bay, open at the foot.
TryChange the base stock: 2x6, 2x8 or 2x10 sets the float, the storage height and the bed height together. Turn the totes and the light on and off. The joist count follows the mattress at 16" or closer.
2x6 · 2x8 · ¾" ply · bed boltsOpen the model
The two, for a queen
| The slab | The floor | |
|---|---|---|
| Pieces | 32, the heaviest a 28 lb plank | 11 sticks + 2 plywood panels, the heaviest 40 lb |
| Cuts | 45 to size — two rips, two notches, one jigsaw line, the rest crosscuts — and 54 joinery cuts | 23 to size and 54 joinery cuts |
| Joints | housings, stopped rabbets, saddles, tongue and groove, sliding dovetails | housings, stopped rabbets, a deck rabbet, oak pins |
| Fasteners | 8 bed bolts, 48 screws | 8 bed bolts, no screws |
| Lumber | 177 bd ft, ~426 lb | 42 bd ft + 2 sheets of ¾" ply, ~171 lb |
| Storage | none — 5½" of clear floor | one bay, 7¼" tall, four totes |
| Tools | table saw and dado stack, a router and a router table, a drill press, a jigsaw, a torch | table saw and dado stack, a router, a drill press |
| Mattress top, 12" mattress | 24½" | 25½" (2x8 base) |
| The look | a black slab with a ledge and a live-edge headboard | a lit platform on a hidden base |