Platform bed on casters.

This is a platform bed I built just a little while ago for my Mother-in-law. She had just got a new queen mattress, and since her old bed was a double, needed a new frame.

She wanted the bed to be low, with no box spring, so we went with a platform design. She also wanted to be able to move it around without too much trouble, so, the casters.

To keep the cost low, I built it out of standard dimensional lumber. It has a headboard, footboard, side rails and a plywood platform with extra support feet in the middle.

I used the through-bolt system for the attachment points. Each side rail has a long threaded bolt centered in the end, and a wood dowl above and below it. The bolt enters the end post of the head and foot boards and is pulled tight with a washer and nut from the out side. In the pics you can see the hole for the nuts in the corner posts. I usually cover these with a brass rosette, but I forgot them when we took the bed up.

Around the inside of the headboard, footboard, and side rails is a 1x2 support strip for the edge of the platform to rest on. The platform is in two pieces, so that I didn't have to wrestle a queen size sheet of plywood up to the third floor.

A center support runs up the middle of the bottom of the platform, and four posts support it to ensure that there is no bowing.

The stain is minwax Ebony, with a finish of four coats of satin polyurethane. The weather was hot and sunny when I was finishing this bed, and I like to use the sun to "bake-on" each coat of finish.
I set up a pair of ladders in the back yard and ran plywood sheets through them so as to hold the pieces up facing south. I like to make sure the finish is thoroughly mixed and warm and thin before applying it. It also helps if the wood is warm as well. This gives you a nice even coat that doesn't harden too soon.
I also sand lightly between coats, the end product has a much smoother feel if you take the time to do it right.
A final hand rubbing with a sheet of corrugated cardboard, ripped into two sheets, gives you just enough abrasion to bring up a nice shine.

This bed will break down easily for transport with a ratchet and socket with an extension. In use, you will find that a bed put together like this, instead of the more common hook and eye type connection, is rock solid. This bed does not creak, wiggle or bow. If at any point in the future, wood shrinkage loosens the joints, a half-turn on the nuts will pull it up snug again.