Designing a girls bed

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LostInTheUnderflow

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I would like to build my 4yr old girl a new bed.
The basic idea would be a loft bed with a play area underneath.
Basic construction would consist of 4x4 vertical posts with 2x4 horizontal struts. The 2x4 would be mitered and insert into 4by4s. The outside walls would be 3/4inch board.
I made a 12/th scale model (not all side boards assembled) shown here: //www.diynot.com/network/LostInTheUnderflow/albums/22476.
The model has been useful as I have already seen some pitfalls. I cant get a large enough piece for the front so it would be in two halfs but that would allow each half to accommodate the two towers.

I intend to bolt the 2x4s to the 4x4s. I am hoping that most of the strength would come from the outside boards.

I have a few questions keeping the following in mind:
I has to be solid, over engineered even.
The wood finish will not be seen as it will be painted.
I am toying with the idea of etching/grinding in the brickwork pattern.
Cost needs to be considered.
Most of the cost seems to be the 3/4 inch boards.

My questions are:
What material should I use for 2x4 4x4 and board?
What fixings should I use for the 2x4 -> 4x4 joints?

Any advice would be appreciated, or thoughts on how you would do it differently.
Thanks.
 
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Where is the stable?

Anyway.

I would recommend SketchUp (free 3d draw programme, really easy) to model it.

You say some sides are not attached in your model, does that mean it has at least one other side to provide racking resistance?

Kind of hard to answer what you should use for the 2x4 and 4x4, as you will have different timber availability prices than UK. Spruce would be suitable, and available to you, cheap but good enough. Hemlock has better screw holding power, and I think cheap in America. You lot are also sitting on lots of tulip-wood (cheap hardwood) as you had to fell loads due to beetle infestation.

http://www.softwood.org/cms/data/img/uploads/files/American Softwoods Species Guide.pdf

Are the screws to fix the board to the posts? 40mm
 
Checked out sketch up (I like, thanks).
I will produce a sketch and post it here.

I intended to use board for each side.
The mattress / bed size is US single.
I will need to use two boards for the long sides.

I was wanting to etch / grind a stone pattern (essentially etch out the 'cement' part of the brickwork).

MDF is cheaper, but I am concerned about Formaldehyde. I dont know if I am being paranoid or not.

How do MDF / Ply rate for etching out this kind of work?

If that is too much pain, I might just paint the design on without etching in the 3D effect.
 
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You can get formaldehyde free MDF.

But personally, I have never heard of anyone having a problem with it, except those rare people that suffer from super allergies or hypochondriacs (and I can never tell if they are all really just hypochondriacs).

Remember carpets and curtains will emit more formaldehyde than MDF.
 
I built my daughter's bunk bed with 3"x3" legs. The rails were 6"x1" planks in lap joints (like your pictures) but the sides overlap the end rails rather than using mitres (miters). They were fixed with two skinny coach bolts (about 5/16") at each end.

Originally, Grandad built two beds and I reworked them into bunks. The slats for the matress rest on two battens that run down the middle of the sides. These are fixed with eight(?) 1 1/2" screws on each side. Each slat has a single screw in each end (into the batten) to secure it. Grandad used more 6"x1" for the slats and it makes for a very firm base. The shop-bought bed for the other daughter uses something closer to 1/2"x4" slats and these have a bit of spring in them (I don't know what sort of timber they are). They've had four or five kids up there without any problems.

I like your holes for the ladder. You might want to put some 2"x2" blocks across the botom as climbing up 3/4" edges might be a bit uncomfortable on little bare feet! I remember that one of my girls really didn't like climbing the tubular metal ladder that came with one of the beds. I built a step ladder with 3"x1". Also, it'll be more comfy for you to stand on whilst reading the bedtime story or changing the bedding!

MDF would be much easier to etch/route stonework than ply (and I think that 3/4" might be overkill except for the ladder end - 5/8" or 1/2" should be fine). The ply could get ragged edges as you cut across the grain and you could spend a very long time trying to remove potential splinters. Are you going to route the stonework freehand, prime it all, paint the cement colour in the grooves and then use a foam roller for the stone colour? A cove bit will give you a nicer look than a straight bit with irregular grooves. You could always do grooves for a few 'stones' and paint the rest... ;)
 
Thanks for some really good feedback.

Yeah I changed the joint to this:
View media item 84466
I take your point about the ladder. I will rethink it to make the bottom of the holes wider.

Yes the idea is to paint the grooves and the roller over the raised parts.
I was thinking of using some sort of rotating disk to cut rough irregular grooves to imitate large stonework.
 
A bit of a lazier way to do it, get some 3mm MDF, cut it into brick/stone sized pieces and stick them on, paint over it all.

Routing them will look better, if you have the tools/time for it.
 
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