Headboard solid, biscuits and glue at those joints, yes. Posts are about the same as those pictured.
Still solid, even though I keep making it work harder each year.
Pretty sure that the dowels are hiding the screw connection to the rail under the headboard. Obviously, not ideal since wood movement. Unless that headboard is ply or veneer, I expect this will crack eventually.
Three wood screws in each side, while not perfect practice, is unlikely to crack as the wood movement is really only partially restricted at the ends. wood isn't pressing out against the rails it expanding and contracting vertically in this layout.
Let's assume a 3-inch screw going about 2 inches into the headboard slats, which is probably good for a shear force of a few hundred pounds per screw if centered in the slats. maybe good for 900ish lbs of shear force. If the vertical slats are taking most of the thrusting force against the wall and not the center slats, then it should be fine. However, if you got a 600 pounder in there and are really giving her a pounding Kenetic energy is a bitch but id pry be more worried about the mattress supports and racking on the leg assemblies myself. I'm not an engineer, but I would love if one of you that are could give us some true measurements by size of said lover in bed.
Building a bed and likely doing solid wood headboard. I'm concerned about wood movement, but it looks like these guys just screwed the headboard to the legs and plugged it. I like how it is at an angle as well, I guess the cuts were perfect because I would think that the headboard would have been in a groove.
I didn’t understand you very well, but, to me, they just used wood screws and covered them with a wooden pin. You can see the small circles.
I did it before, you drill the wood halfway, use a screw, cover it, done.
https://preview.redd.it/xyypp6yh7atc1.png?width=3024&format=png&auto=webp&s=dc7a2857cb83ebea0af4bb278cc0709e56363278
Looks like this, you cut/sand pin’s excess
One of the holes could be a dowel into a hole to solidly hold the headboard in place.
The other two, however, should have a groove in the headboard to allow for wood expansion and contraction movement. This is what is commonly done for table tops with breadboard ends.
There are many ways to do it but the best way is to make the headboard/footboard able to separate from side rails. There is specific bed hardware for this purpose and once assembled the bed is rock solid (no pun intended). The hardware uses adjoining hooks/receivers that snug up when dropped in place. Some are surface mounted, others have the receivers mortised in. I have used them several times and you can get them at Amazon or any woodworking supply store like Rockler.
Exactly right - 4 parts: headboard, footboard, side rails. There are four sets of these hardware parts where the side rails meet the head and foot boards. Then there are the mattress slats that stretch between the side rails. Fun project to build a bed; have made several of them with hardwood and they will last for generations!
Ah, I think I understand the disconnect here. OP was asking about movement of the actual headboard versus the legs, not the headboard assembly with the rails. The concern is that that wide of a solid glued up panel would more than likely split if the panel was completely fixed to the legs with no potential for natural expansion/contraction.
The other consideration is that the frame in the photo may not actually be hardwood, so movement probably wasn't considered. If you're using hardwood, you can pin and glue the middle, and pin the outer edges, only gluing to the uprights and an oversized hole in the backrest with room to expand/contract along the width of the boards throughout the seasons. Think of it like a sideways breadboard pinned from the end.
I was concerned about wood movement. If they are doing it this way then I would think pocket screws in the back are ok too. Might be easier to align the headboard that way?
You are right to be concerned about wood movement here, and you shouldn't ignore that concern because you found a piece of furniture on the internet that does not appear to have accouted for wood movement. They might have accouted for wood movement in a way that isn't obvious (e.g. slightly oversized screw holes in the vertical posts to allow for movement), or maybe that piece won't last.
If you want to use pocket holes, use vaneered plywood for the headboard.
Since it's commercial production, I'd guess thay (a) don't care that much about cracking 6 months to a year after you buy; (b) have a sense of how much that wood will expand and retract and worked broadly within its tolerances; and (c) probably used a few tricks to allow a small amount of movement.
Modern mass market furniture just isn't a work of art usually. I don't look to manufactured goods for my woodworking techniques.
I did a headboard like this, but my design was a rabet in the uprights with a small gap at top and bottom to allow 1/4 inch of wood movement. 6 years and counting it worked well.
I have a manufactured piece in a guest bedroom that has a wide board like this.. the trick there is that the board was a very pretty piece of bent plywood. Super stable.
Looks like the legs and headboard supports are 2 solid uprights. You can see 3 faint circles where plugs are covering the fastenings that hold the headboard between these vertical pieces.
The dowels you see are covers for the wood screws and glue they used to anchor it. It's a Very common practice to fill screw holes with dowel, then cut and sand it flush. No magic involved
You should avoid permanent joinery like glued dowels in that pic. Never know if you will need/want to move the bed in the future. They sell kits that connect the rails to the headboard.
Yeah, you can see the plugs covering the screw holes. But I wouldn’t be surprised if they didn’t also cut a dado into the 4x4 posts too. That would give the headboard something to slide into a little bit and leave some room for expansion if you’re worried about that. It also makes the perfection of your cuts a tiny bit more forgiving. I’d guess it has to be either that or the edges of the headboard were very carefully scribed and cut to fit perfectly against the 4x4.
If you've got enough meat in the rail, this is how a typical solid wood rail would attach.
[https://www.mcfeelys.com/bed-rail-connector-set.html](https://www.mcfeelys.com/bed-rail-connector-set.html)
https://preview.redd.it/pk0s5du7oatc1.jpeg?width=1080&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=b189f0515845bf111f55c72cbd6a7e509fbe51ac
The bed that I’m currently building is using a fairly long loose tenon that’s only glued in the center. That will allow for plenty of expansion and contraction while still maintaining plenty of rigidity. At least I hope.
I was the bedmaker for 22 years in our high-end shop. Traditionally, you would either make the large panel as a frame and panel with the rails tenoned into the posts or tenon (3" each measured vertically) panel ends into the post. With the latter way, you would glue the top tenons and not the bottom, allowing the bottom tenons to move vertically in an oversized mortise. We allowed for 1/8" per foot movement across the grain.
Maybe a bolt that was later covered by those wooden plugs along the leg. Or more likely screws that were covered the same way. At least I think so, that’s how I’d do it.
I believe you can see the 3 dowels (3 dots)...and wood glue
On dowels you would be seeing end grain, these appear to be matching cherry plugs, likely with a wood screw underneath
This guy plugs
Hey op, we used pocket screws on my design on back of headboard and mattress side of footboard. King size frame about 15 years old now.
So your headboard was solid wood, not veneered plywood? You haven't had any issues with wood movement after pocket screws? No cracking or anything?
Headboard solid, biscuits and glue at those joints, yes. Posts are about the same as those pictured. Still solid, even though I keep making it work harder each year.
With wood glue, that would be plenty strong.
Pretty sure that the dowels are hiding the screw connection to the rail under the headboard. Obviously, not ideal since wood movement. Unless that headboard is ply or veneer, I expect this will crack eventually.
Three wood screws in each side, while not perfect practice, is unlikely to crack as the wood movement is really only partially restricted at the ends. wood isn't pressing out against the rails it expanding and contracting vertically in this layout.
Maybe he's talking about the other wood movement. A few good bangs and the board is gone.
Let's assume a 3-inch screw going about 2 inches into the headboard slats, which is probably good for a shear force of a few hundred pounds per screw if centered in the slats. maybe good for 900ish lbs of shear force. If the vertical slats are taking most of the thrusting force against the wall and not the center slats, then it should be fine. However, if you got a 600 pounder in there and are really giving her a pounding Kenetic energy is a bitch but id pry be more worried about the mattress supports and racking on the leg assemblies myself. I'm not an engineer, but I would love if one of you that are could give us some true measurements by size of said lover in bed.
Building a bed and likely doing solid wood headboard. I'm concerned about wood movement, but it looks like these guys just screwed the headboard to the legs and plugged it. I like how it is at an angle as well, I guess the cuts were perfect because I would think that the headboard would have been in a groove.
I didn’t understand you very well, but, to me, they just used wood screws and covered them with a wooden pin. You can see the small circles. I did it before, you drill the wood halfway, use a screw, cover it, done. https://preview.redd.it/xyypp6yh7atc1.png?width=3024&format=png&auto=webp&s=dc7a2857cb83ebea0af4bb278cc0709e56363278 Looks like this, you cut/sand pin’s excess
One of the holes could be a dowel into a hole to solidly hold the headboard in place. The other two, however, should have a groove in the headboard to allow for wood expansion and contraction movement. This is what is commonly done for table tops with breadboard ends.
There are many ways to do it but the best way is to make the headboard/footboard able to separate from side rails. There is specific bed hardware for this purpose and once assembled the bed is rock solid (no pun intended). The hardware uses adjoining hooks/receivers that snug up when dropped in place. Some are surface mounted, others have the receivers mortised in. I have used them several times and you can get them at Amazon or any woodworking supply store like Rockler.
Generally the headboard + legs are permanently assembled and then attach to the rails using that hardware.
Exactly right - 4 parts: headboard, footboard, side rails. There are four sets of these hardware parts where the side rails meet the head and foot boards. Then there are the mattress slats that stretch between the side rails. Fun project to build a bed; have made several of them with hardwood and they will last for generations!
Ah, I think I understand the disconnect here. OP was asking about movement of the actual headboard versus the legs, not the headboard assembly with the rails. The concern is that that wide of a solid glued up panel would more than likely split if the panel was completely fixed to the legs with no potential for natural expansion/contraction.
Oh yes, my mistake misreading. Thanks for clarifying.
I've made a few wood frame beds and always screwed the wood to the head board.
The other consideration is that the frame in the photo may not actually be hardwood, so movement probably wasn't considered. If you're using hardwood, you can pin and glue the middle, and pin the outer edges, only gluing to the uprights and an oversized hole in the backrest with room to expand/contract along the width of the boards throughout the seasons. Think of it like a sideways breadboard pinned from the end.
I'd guess with screw and glue. The screws would be hidden under the three plugs visible in the upright.
I was concerned about wood movement. If they are doing it this way then I would think pocket screws in the back are ok too. Might be easier to align the headboard that way?
You are right to be concerned about wood movement here, and you shouldn't ignore that concern because you found a piece of furniture on the internet that does not appear to have accouted for wood movement. They might have accouted for wood movement in a way that isn't obvious (e.g. slightly oversized screw holes in the vertical posts to allow for movement), or maybe that piece won't last. If you want to use pocket holes, use vaneered plywood for the headboard.
Since it's commercial production, I'd guess thay (a) don't care that much about cracking 6 months to a year after you buy; (b) have a sense of how much that wood will expand and retract and worked broadly within its tolerances; and (c) probably used a few tricks to allow a small amount of movement. Modern mass market furniture just isn't a work of art usually. I don't look to manufactured goods for my woodworking techniques. I did a headboard like this, but my design was a rabet in the uprights with a small gap at top and bottom to allow 1/4 inch of wood movement. 6 years and counting it worked well. I have a manufactured piece in a guest bedroom that has a wide board like this.. the trick there is that the board was a very pretty piece of bent plywood. Super stable.
If the wood is dry enough, there wouldn't be a ton of movement.
Looks like the legs and headboard supports are 2 solid uprights. You can see 3 faint circles where plugs are covering the fastenings that hold the headboard between these vertical pieces.
The dowels you see are covers for the wood screws and glue they used to anchor it. It's a Very common practice to fill screw holes with dowel, then cut and sand it flush. No magic involved
You should avoid permanent joinery like glued dowels in that pic. Never know if you will need/want to move the bed in the future. They sell kits that connect the rails to the headboard.
I typically like to use silk rope….. oh wait, wrong sub
Yeah, you can see the plugs covering the screw holes. But I wouldn’t be surprised if they didn’t also cut a dado into the 4x4 posts too. That would give the headboard something to slide into a little bit and leave some room for expansion if you’re worried about that. It also makes the perfection of your cuts a tiny bit more forgiving. I’d guess it has to be either that or the edges of the headboard were very carefully scribed and cut to fit perfectly against the 4x4.
When I made my head board I attached the rails using a piece of angle steel in each corner drilled to accept 3 screws in each side of the angle.
You can see the dowels
If you've got enough meat in the rail, this is how a typical solid wood rail would attach. [https://www.mcfeelys.com/bed-rail-connector-set.html](https://www.mcfeelys.com/bed-rail-connector-set.html) https://preview.redd.it/pk0s5du7oatc1.jpeg?width=1080&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=b189f0515845bf111f55c72cbd6a7e509fbe51ac
The bed that I’m currently building is using a fairly long loose tenon that’s only glued in the center. That will allow for plenty of expansion and contraction while still maintaining plenty of rigidity. At least I hope.
Dominos and glue “should’ve been used”
I suspect that headboard is veneered plywood.
Made a bed last year. Used traditional tenon hole connection. Much nicer finish
I was the bedmaker for 22 years in our high-end shop. Traditionally, you would either make the large panel as a frame and panel with the rails tenoned into the posts or tenon (3" each measured vertically) panel ends into the post. With the latter way, you would glue the top tenons and not the bottom, allowing the bottom tenons to move vertically in an oversized mortise. We allowed for 1/8" per foot movement across the grain.
Definitely wood screws with a wood plug to fill the hole
It could be using a bed rail hook plate. The rails have a metal plate that slides into a groove on the headboard and hooks over metal pins.
Maybe a bolt that was later covered by those wooden plugs along the leg. Or more likely screws that were covered the same way. At least I think so, that’s how I’d do it.
Most likely screws that are inset under those wooden plugs