Morning all,

I'm looking to turn my daughter's bed (one part of a separated bunk) into a high sleeper. The frame is painted hardwood - Oak I think - with the uprights finished size of 55 x 55.

Looking around online, there is no off the shelf planed Oak this size and sites offering custom planed sizes have a minimum order of over £500. Prices quoted for what I need seem to be between £50 and £75.

Has anybody managed to source small quantities of custom planed hardwood? I've not had much luck with local sawmills either (I'm in Suffolk).

As the frame is painted anyway, I've considered softwood instead, partly due to availability. From a strength / structural point of view, is this a sensible way to go?

Thanks in advance,
Dan

On Saturday 16 November 2013 12:52 Dan S wrote in uk.d-i-y:

Morning all,

I'm looking to turn my daughter's bed (one part of a separated bunk) into
a high sleeper. The frame is painted hardwood - Oak I think - with the
uprights finished size of 55 x 55.

Looking around online, there is no off the shelf planed Oak this size and
sites offering custom planed sizes have a minimum order of over £500.
Prices quoted for what I need seem to be between £50 and £75.

Has anybody managed to source small quantities of custom planed hardwood?
I've not had much luck with local sawmills either (I'm in Suffolk).

As the frame is painted anyway, I've considered softwood instead, partly
due to availability. From a strength / structural point of view, is this
a sensible way to go?

Thanks in advance,
Dan

Your local timber stockist (real one) should be able to plane it down - most
have a thicknesser on site.
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On 16/11/2013 12:52, Dan S wrote:

As the frame is painted anyway, I've considered softwood instead, partly due to availability. From a strength / structural point of view, is this a sensible way to go?

Most beds of this type are made entirely of softwood, so yes it's strong
enough. But it depends on the design. If you join the uprights with some
ply (to make a partly closed-in space with 3 walls) that would be plenty
strong enough.

If you had exactly the right size hardwood, how were you proposing to
extend the legs and brace the structure?

On Saturday, November 16, 2013 12:52:54 PM UTC, Dan S wrote:
Morning all,
I'm looking to turn my daughter's bed (one part of a separated bunk) into a high sleeper. The frame is painted hardwood - Oak I think - with the uprights finished size of 55 x 55.
Looking around online, there is no off the shelf planed Oak this size and sites offering custom planed sizes have a minimum order of over £500. Prices quoted for what I need seem to be between £50 and £75.
Has anybody managed to source small quantities of custom planed hardwood? I've not had much luck with local sawmills either (I'm in Suffolk).
As the frame is painted anyway, I've considered softwood instead, partly due to availability. From a strength / structural point of view, is this a sensible way to go?
Thanks in advance,
Dan

2x2 softwood is enough, but I'm far from convinced that a join from new to old would be ok, I'd replace the legs entirely with it if practical. Also you've got to restrain them against sideways movement in both directions somehow.


NT

On Saturday, 16 November 2013 17:33:47 UTC, GB wrote:

Most beds of this type are made entirely of softwood, so yes it's strong
enough. But it depends on the design. If you join the uprights with some
ply (to make a partly closed-in space with 3 walls) that would be plenty
strong enough.

If you had exactly the right size hardwood, how were you proposing to
extend the legs and brace the structure?

Thanks. That was exactly my plan. Having read a couple of IkeaHacker posts on the subject, I think we're now going to start from scratch by fixing two sides to the wall and supporting the third using a wardrobe (bought or framed and clad).

D