There will be six big bits of wood that make up the frame (it's all 120x120mm pine) and then four more that make up the posts, hopefully keeping us off the floor and four metal pipes at the top of the legs to stop them waving about.
Not having much of a work area the dining room table I made earlier has had to double as a workbench... it seems to be holding up well too which may be a good sign...
First step was making the frame, this needs to fit together nicely to resist horizontal twisting actions and give strength. The are called lap joints (I'm not actually using full or half lap but somewhere in between for reasons that will later become clear). These are made by making several cuts into the timber, then cutting out the bits at 90 degrees with a saw or a chisel:
Gluing and screwing the frame together helps with the strength factor as well. At least the cat thinks it's comfortable...
A dry run of the frame with the slats. I cheated with the slats and bought two 80x200cm pre made jobbies. The only problem was that our mattress is 160x220cm so to make up the other 20cm I made the lap joints so that they would stick up an amount equal to the thickness of the slats, read this was a pain in the donkey...
This is how the frame will join to the legs - eventually:
Working out which legs to put where, and the cut outs for the metal pipes to stop the whole thing swinging like it belongs in a sea shanty:
Sanding the posts and painting the metal pipes on the balcony - a lovely way to spend a Sunday:
Oh and while taking a break for the paint to dry there's a folding table for the balcony c/o one old kitchen cupboard and three spare slats from the bed...
Still to come is the rest of the sanding, all of the staining, varnishing and assembling. Not to mention hoping that it doesn't fall down...
Looks like a lot of hard work. Don't forget to post about the final product :-)
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