It was decided some time ago that a bunk bed would need to either be purchased or constructed to reside in my daughter's bedroom. Me, being the person to volunteer to build everything and actually turn out very little, decided that this was the one on which I was going to follow through.
Requirements were simple, solid construction, functional, attractive and full over full. The last part was somewhat of a tall order. We wanted to go with full over full as we have two full beds in the house currently and my wife and I wanted a queen size for our bedroom.
After an exhaustive search, I couldn't find any free plans (I'm somewhat of a cheapskate) for a full over full bunk bed. There were a couple for which I could pay, but I wasn't about to cough up the money for one.
I eventually found a set of plans by a guy named Matthias Wandel, he runs a few websites, one is Woodgears. He posted some plans for a twin over twin bed that I found quite attractive. After studying the drawings for a bit, I made a cut list that expanded his dimensions for a full over full.
Lucinda (my wife) cautioned me to not spend more money than it would cost to purchase a solid wood bunk bed. I ran off to Pro Lumber to pick up wood and screws.
Much to my chagrin, Pro Lumber had everything in stock that I needed except for kiln dried 2x6. I settled for the green stuff as they told me it had been outside for a while. Unfortunately that "while" meant not very long at all. I ended up pulling quite a bit more weight home than I needed.
When I got home I opened up the garage to get to work only to realize:
I hadn't emptied the garage from camping or race season. Clean the garage into at the very least a workable condition and I can get to work.
Okay, the garage has been cleaned and I think I'm ready to get going. I found after studying my plans that I'd make one error already and Pro Lumber was closed for the day. Instead of 2x4 material for the corner posts, I'd purchased 2x6 stock. Not an issue, just rip the 2x6 down to size on the radial arm saw.
The Radial Saw that I have is one that my wife's uncle gave me. I got it with a hideous table and a "brand new" DeWalt blade. Unfortunately, "brand new" was referring to the blade in its unused condition when it was put onto the saw several years earlier. After a new blade, plus a complete tear down and rebuild, plus re-painting the legs, adding casters and a shelf under the table as well as making a new table for the thing, (50 hours of labor time) it was ready to go. Oh, and I had to install a 220 V plug in the garage too.
I got the 2x6 ripped down to size before I was tired and done for the day.
No comments:
Post a Comment