Day Five: Awesome progress and pictures!

     Yesterday was a great day! The weather was beautiful and I managed to get started around 9am. For the most part the boys behaved okay which made for great progress! I certainly got more accomplished than I thought I would.

Cutest Little Helper of the Year award candidate!

     First things first, I would like to introduce you to my primary helper with this project. What he lacks in height, strength, carpentry skill, and directability, he certainly makes up for with his enthusiasm and cuteness! Maxie, take a bow!

     He helps with things like picking up my tools and putting them in new, creative spots (like my tape measure under a bucket in the grass, or my pencil stuck through the fence), and with making sure I don't work too fast by forcing me to constantly clean up wood waste, unplug and render safe any power tools when I finish with them for the moment, even if I'm going to use them again in only a few minutes.

Frame with all support braces

     I decided to add side braces to the center support beams to beef it up a little. Initially I was unsure whether or not to add these, but I was leaning towards doing so. My sister reminded me about how rambunctious Maxwell can be was all the encouragement I needed. I had all 8 supports cut and screwed in place by 11am!

Temporary screw

     The next tricky part was going to be putting the frames and the legs together by myself, despite how awesome my little helper(s) might be. To do this I determined where each boards was going to be used according to which side was going to be visible, and laid the head/foot legs for one side on the ground. (I have few scrap 2x2 pieces that I've been using to protect the wood from being damaged by the concrete, so I laid these down and put my legs on top of them.) I placed the bottom frame on its side, and fit the 2x4 protrusions into the notches of the legs. There was enough pressure to hold the frame upright in place, which allowed me to put the top frame on its side and into place, too. I had to use clamps to keep the top frame from falling out until I could screw it (temporarily) in place.

Leg after it's been bolted.

     With the two frames held together by the legs, I lifted the whole thing so it stood right side up. This allowed me to drill the 1/2" holes I needed for the carriage bolts (the secret to the whole thing being able to be broken down!). After the four bottom holes were drilled and the bolts secured tightly, I removed the temporary screws holding the legs, one at a time, and replaced them with carriage bolts as well. All of this was done by 1pm, with an interruption to make lunch for the boys.

Frames & legs. Note: 2x4s inset into the legs = Strength!

This might be good spot to note  that the largest chunk of my time is actually spent in contemplation. Whether it's on what I'm about to do, or visualizing what the finished product will look like if I do this or that. More time than is needed, I'm sure somebody with more experience than me, which is to say ANYbody with ANY experience. My experience level = ultra newbie, but I can read ;)

    One crappy thing that happened today was that I broke a clamp when putting the frames on the legs. I guess I squeezed too hard, and the squeeze handle broke. It still works, but to a much reduced pressure capacity. I bought this clamp in a set of 6 on sale for $15, so for $2.50/clamp, I can't really complain. But on the off chance that somebody from Mastercraft or Canadian Tire is reading this, hook a brother up with a new clamp!

     With the afternoon still ahead of me and both boys still behaving well enough, I felt like I should endeavor  to finish the last half of the top section to complete the "L". This is the part that I was slightly off on my measurements when using Google Sketchup, so it took a little bit of extra time to measure things up properly. Not only that, but I decided to change the design slightly and put a leg directly under the overhanging corner in order to prevent anybody (me) from smashing their head into a low corner. I did manage to get it all done, but it it was close to 7pm before I had everything together and the area cleaned up. I checked the weather to make sure I could leave it assembled and uncovered overnight, and called it quits for the day. I feel a little foolish for admitting this, but I really am proud of what I did today!

Now THAT's a happy camper!

Day Four: S...L...O...W...plus shrinkage!

Cedar support leg with notches cut out

     Just a quick update today so you don't forget about me! I took a day off yesterday to watch Maxwell and take care of things around the house, and only got to spend a couple of hours working on the beds today as well. Just enough time to cut the 7 support legs to size, and cut out a couple of 1.5"x3.5" notches that will be home for the overhanging 2x4 of the bed frames. I didn't take any pictures and my wife's out with the camera so I'll add them tomorrow and explain what I mean better. [edit: photo added] One thing that I learned today was that if I had initially planned to put the top bunk at 60" (instead of at 68", which turned out to be too high anyway) before I bought the lumber, and brought a tape measure, I could have saved myself another $36.00 (approx.) in lumber costs by only buying 4 boards instead of 7, and by cutting two legs out of one 10' board -provided the board measured 120-1/16" or more.Three of the seven boards I bought measured 119-7/8", hence the reason for bringing a tape measure to the store when buying lumber. Lesson learned! I guess I never really though to take shrinkage into effect. I suppose not many guys want to.

     I also made another trip out to Pollock's Hardware today to buy the carriage bolts that I'm going to need to allow the whole thing to be taken apart in sections.Tomorrow, despite the fact I'll be alone with both boys all day, I think I'll be able to mount and secure the two frames on the leg, and take some pictures, too.

Day Three: Back on Track

     Thankfully today wasn't as full of surprises as yesterday, and I feel like I made decent progress, relatively speaking. Another late start but that was because I slept in. Yay for me! Maxwell was his usual self, causing plenty of distraction and delay, but I do find kind of like him buzzing around the yard when I'm out there working.I really should remember to take some pictures of him as well.

Bottom bunk frame thus far.

     Today I got the bottom frame finished as far as I can take it at this point. All it's really missing are the two cedar head/foot boards, and the holes for the bolts that will hold the support legs on, which I'll put on after I get the legs finished. There's bound to be a fair bit of banging and I'd like to try to avoid bashing up the cedar as much as possible.

     I also got the first top section frame done as well. It's exactly the same as the bottom bunk frame, but without the cedar boards, so there's no point in showing a picture of it.

     I'm debating whether or not to add angled supports to the center braces. It's pretty damned strong right now, but for the sake of a little extra effort, I could make it bombproof. If anybody is reading this who knows about this kind of thing, let me know what you think. I guess I'll decide tomorrow when I get back at it

   

Aye Caramba!

     You know, when I started this project I anticipated a certain amount of comedy (of errors) which, honestly, was part of the allure to blog my efforts. I had no idea I would be able to provide so much comedic relief. However, if you ask my wife -and I did- she will tell you that it is right on par with what she expected -and she did! All I hope is that some of you get a good chuckle out of this whole shenanigan, and maybe one or two of you will be inspired to do something equally as nutty, and be able to remember my mistakes before you make them yourself.

     I woke up this morning feeling pretty confident that my progress today was going to make up for yesterday's lackluster performance. I spent a bit of time last night reading about why I shouldn't use glue on this particular project, learning about pocket screw joints, and other little tidbits. One article that stuck out was the advice to hook up a dust control system directly to your sander to drastically reduce the amount of dust and improve sanding efficiency. After all, anybody out there who's used a hand-held sander will agree with me that the built in dust collecting bag simply, well, blows. They don't work for crap. So I had an idea how to hook up my shop vac to the dust collecting port on my little 1/4 pad sander. Check it out:

     First, you need to envision the end result and figure out more or less how you're going to get there. Although I had a rough idea of what I was going to do at the outset, I first needed to figure out the finer details. I call this trick "visualization for dummies".






       Next, get what you need. In my case it was

• a thin foam mat
• scissors
• utility knife
• marker
• duct tape (of course!)
• the dust bag frame from the sander (without the bag)
  

 

  Make it. This is more or less how I did it.

1. Use the scissors to cut out 3 rectangular pieces of foam and trim to fit inside the nozzle of the dust bag frame.
2. With the marker, colour the end edge of the vacuum nozzle and stamp a template on the foam pieces of the circle you'll need to cut out.
3. Slide all three foam pieces on to the vacuum hose nozzle and bunch them together. Wrap them together in duct tape (2-4 times around).



Pay attention, this is the last photo before it's finished!

4. Slide the tape-wrapped foam block to the end of the hose nozzle and push it, with the hose, into the dust bag frame. It should be a snug fit, requiring a little effort to get it into place. Test the suction by turning the vacuum on and plugging the dust bag frame mouth with your hand. The vacuum should whine appropriately. If not, you've got poor suction and need to put that duct tape to use, wrapping more or less as needed around the foam block.

     Now I've got a wonderful vacuum hose attachment for my sander and it works great. Your results may vary.

     At the end of using it today I actually felt like my dust mast worked like it was supposed to, I didn't have a mouth and nose full of dust paste, I didn't feel the need to shower right after, and totally enjoyed the work tons more. It actually did speed things up, too, and took some of the sting out of the fact that I was sanding two replacement boards for the ones I messed up yesterday...
     

This is the board I should have cut in the first place!

Okay, on to the bunk bed...

My feeling of accomplishment at making an awesome, free vacuum hose attachment turned quickly to self-denouncement once I realized that the two 1x6x81" cedar boards I cut and painstakingly sanded yesterday were CUT INCORRECTLY! I should have cut an 84" board with two cut-outs, giving an 81" length on the bottom of the board. After 15 minutes of tearing myself up, I accepted the fact that if I let it slide and built the bed with two cosmetic 1-1/2" gaps (that you wouldn't even see!) it would eat at me until my dying day, and called in the cavalry. Although time was tight, there was a small, immediate window for a friend to take me quickly to Home Depot. We got there and they didn't have the boards I needed, so my friend figured we would have time to drive halfway across town to the next location where, we were assured, it was in stock. When we got there they didn't have any 1"x6"x8', but they had 1x10's, so I got those figuring I could rip them through the table saw and turn them into 1x6's. By the time we got back to my place it was just after 1pm. Again, there goes another morning without even starting on the beds, and I'm even further behind! However, getting the boards ripped down to size and properly cut and sanded didn't take that long.

When exactly do the frickin' delays stop?!?

     Next step was to router all outer edges (those not being joined with another board) of the four cedar boards with a 1/4" round over bit. This is to soften the blow when little legs, arms, and skulls come smashing into them. Sure, it'll still hurt, but at least it won't be as bad as Jacob's current bed frame that has square edges and has taken strips of skin off shins and arms, and drawn blood from his knees and head.

     I was getting ready to work on drilling the pilot holes for the screws that would attach the 84" cedar boards to the 81" 2x4's, when it started to sprinkle. One freaking cloud overhead in the otherwise mostly blue sky and it lets enough rain out that I started covering all the wood and tools, knocking over my drill in the process. There goes my only 1/8" drill bit! So it's off to Pollock Hardware for a new one. After I got back home, I spent perhaps too much time considering esthetics and strength before I was able to determine where I wanted to drill the pilot holes and screw the wood together.

Screwing.

     So here we are, at the end of day two, and I've now succeeded in creating the left and right side of the bottom bunk frame and spending $26.03 to cover my mistakes!. At this rate...no, let's not go there just yet. It's just day two. However, my wife did comment on how I would fail miserably at any Canada's Top Handyman challenge. I tried to stand up for myself, but it was pretty feeble, and I pretty quickly agreed with her.






    

Day One: A Slow Start

     Today went a little differently than I imagined it: Instead of jumping right in to building bunk beds, I spent the morning setting up this blog and assembling my new folding workbench (Black & Decker) and table saw (Ryobi). The best part of the morning was when I discovered that I would have to remove my basement door to bring the saw outside. Yes, that was certainly awesome.

     Initially, the plan for the day was to cut and sand the frame of the bottom bunk, after a trip to buy some stain, glue, and screws. But after over a week of anticipation I was so damned eager to start working with the wood that I quickly decided to go to the store after cutting and sanding...which never actually happened. The sanding took so long that I only had time to clean up before it was time to make supper.

     Maxwell and Arlene hung out in the back yard with me all afternoon, and Maxwell was (of course) VERY interested in everything I was doing, and was mimicking everything that I would let him. Although it slowed me down a fair bit, it was pretty darned cute, right up until I had to go to the bathroom, at which point he made a beeline for the scrap wood and grabbed a length of 2x4 and ran with it over to the miter saw! Of course, I unplugged it before I left it alone and locked the blade down, and Arlene was there, too. Proof positive that (a) it's safety first where kids are concerned and all safety measures and precautions should be taken, and (b) Maxwell is going to give me a heart attack, that little bastard.

    Another reason so little was accomplished today was because I was sanding, like, FOREVER! I'm sanding all six edges on every piece of wood, and while the 2x4's went pretty quickly, the cedar 1x6's took forever. Partly due to the fact that I paid $9 for an 8' rough finish plank, rather than $36 for the same length finished on both sides, and partly due to the fact that I foolishly used 120 grit paper right off the hop, rather than starting with 80 grit. I realized this when I was 3/4 through the very last piece of cedar, and when I switched to 80 grit for the last bit I swear I was going more than 3 times as fast! Oh well, live and learn (or live and remember, as is the case here) and it was a beautiful day to spend in the yard.

     This is what I've got done so far :
-2x4 x 47 1/4" (x2)
-2x4 x 81" (x2)
-1x6 x 47 1/4" (x2)
-1x6 x 81" (x2)

     Despite my meager progress, somebody is excited to have bunk beds!

And So It Begins

My wife and I are expecting our third child, which means we are going to have to put our two boys in one (small) room. If we want them to be able to have any floor space whatsoever it also means that we need a bunk bed for them. For the past 5 months, we've been looking around at what's available and how much they  cost. Here's what we found: If they are cheap (less than $600) it is most likely built to minimum standards, has a low weight rating, and uses a ladder to get to the top bunk (not a option for us). If you spend closer to $1000  the bed is upgraded to have stairs instead of a ladder, use better wood and have a nicer stain, and a slightly better weight rating. $1000 is a lot to spend, especially for a family on our meager income. Considering how fussy I am about quality, it didn't seem right to us to spend so much money on a bed that might have been just sturdy enough, but not bombproof. Also, I'm Scottish AND a Winnipeger -if it's not tough as nails and a good deal, it's crap!

11 days ago my wife, agreed to let me build a bunk bed. Folly on her part? Perhaps.You see, I have a bad tendency to procrastinate, and a knack for making things more complicated than they may need to be. I also don't have a garage to store a bunch of big tools or a workroom set up. Okay, I've got a workroom, but it's dedicated to bicycles, it's tiny (11' x 10'), and almost completely full. I have enough room to work on a bike or at my work bench, but that's about it.

So, over the past week and a half I've been researching, planning, designing, redesigning, buying tools, and generally driving my wife insane by talking incessantly about my research, plans, designs, redesigns, and tools that I've been bought. Yesterday, with the help of a friend and his truck, I bought the lumber. I still have to buy the fasteners and stain, as well as some various bits and pieces that I intend to use to make it even more awesome, but today is the day that I get to really start making good, tangible progress.

This is what I designed (using Google's free Sketchup software), and intend to build, more or less (I stopped before adding the safety rails on the top bunk, I haven't decided on a style yet):

Stay tuned.

Welcome Here

Here we go again!

I am starting this blog in order to document a bunk bed building project, and because I enjoy writing. However, it is most likely that I will veer off course and post about something else that catches my fancy, much like I tend to digress in actual conversations.

Please enjoy, share it with people, and of course every time you visit please click on the google ads. Give me pennies!