Mortising Bed Rail Fastners

[JohnMoss]

I am making Bunk Beds for my son, this is my first project.

I want to use bed rail fastners to secure my post and rails.

You need to mortise both the post and the rail to accept the fastners.

I know (well think) I can mortise the posts easy enough with my drill press,forstner bit and a little chisel work.

But how do I manage the rail side? Obviously I cant stand it on end in my drill press(duh) so I am guessing I must use my router or hand drill.

Is there a jig or template that can be used for this? If so any suggestions?

I am just concerned that I am accurate and clean with the fastner.


Thanks all............

[JBark]

I usedto work with an outfit that made beds and I ended up making a few in my time. If you haven't already bought your hardware and milled then mortises you might consider a mortise and tenon with a bed bolt to hold all together. I'm sure Fine Woodworking did a piece on this but it was about a thousand years ago. The bolts are sold by Rockler or Woodworkers Supply and are actually put through a hole in the center of the post, through the tenon and mortise. The nut is trapped inthe rail, the hole for the bolt covered with...a bed bolt cover - go figure. I've slept in a bed held together like this for 15+ years and have never experienced a problem.

You should be able to make the tenon with a router and the mortise by drill press and chisel - make them good sized if you do. We used 2-3/4" rails by about 3-1/2 - 4" The tenons were about 1-1/4 x 1-1/4 x 3. Don't forget the need to stagger the height of the bolts for each post.

It's a real good method.

John

[ASLNROX]

John,

I simply used a chisel to cut the shallow mortise for the plate. Like doing a hinge. The bigger concern for me was screws into the end grain do not hold up as well. A good way to solve this if from the bottom of the rail drill a hole and glue in a dowel. This way the screws have something to bite into.

My bed has lasted for years, with out any complaint.

I used these for hardware:

http://www.rockler.com/product.cfm?page=10

Good luck.

Blessings,
--Mark

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