Hey everyone, I’m going to build a bed frame soon, and I’m torn between a castle joint bed frame, dovetailed rails into the head/foot board, and traditional mortised hardware as ways of tying the frame together.
I really want to do dovetailed rails like in the Sketchup picture above, but I’m wondering if a castle joint would resist the forces better. That said, I’ve read that castle joints are prone to breaking under racking forces—something to do with the grain orientation. I’m planning not to glue anything together. I’m capable of cutting a dovetail joint that has the appropriate fitment to stay together without glue, and I’m planning to use 6/4 cherry.
Mortised hardware is my last choice because it’s boring to me.
Some features of the bed that aren’t in the sketchup design:
- There will be a center rail connected to the head and foot. Slats will go on top of the center rail into the ledge on either side rail.
- Yes, those are box joints in the picture. It was quicker to draw than dovetails.
Open to all kinds of suggestions for how to make this sturdy, preferably with the dovetailed rails. I’m not settled on the design for feet or a headboard yet. If you’ve got comments, throw them below.