We had a "year in review" meeting at the furniture bank this morning.   One topic that came up is they have a source for bed frames and get a lot of mattresses but there are few box springs.   They had received a few "bunkie boards" from one donor and wondered if that would be the answer.   In case you are not familiar, it sits on a bed frame and is a panel, usually fabric covered, that supports the mattress.  I suppose it gets its name from its use in bunk beds where vertical space is a premium.    Some of them appear to just be a wooden grid and some appear to have sinuous (AKA zig-zag) upholstery springs in them.

 

Now we're tasked with coming up with a plan to fabricate these.   Anyone have thoughts or plans?

 

Never heard of one of those but have heard of Bundling Boards

 

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bundling_(tradition)

So this replaces the traditional wire & spring support from the ww II era bunk beds we slept on with the thin striped cotton mattress?   Sounds like a good idea to make the beds a bit more comfortable. 

I did a Google search and it appears a wooden frame strong enough to support a mattress is most common.  I would think a piece of particle board with four or five support slats would suffice and be easiest to make.

35 minutes ago, HandyDan said:

I would think a piece of particle board with four or five support slats would suffice and be easiest to make.

the PB will sag between the slats...

1 hour ago, Stick486 said:

the PB will sag between the slats...

That depands on the distance between the slats, the width of the slats, the thickness of the PB, and the weight distribution across it.

 

10 minutes ago, hatuffej said:

That depands on the distance between the slats, the width of the slats, the thickness of the PB, and the weight distribution across it.

 

¾'' PB w/ the slats 12'' OC and it will sag....

high humidity environments are the worst for the PB...

PB will add to the weight without adding to the strength you would get from 3/4 wood of some type.

 

I made a couple of these real quick few years back.  Had one day to make 6 for 3 sets of bunkbeds as mentioned.  Went quick and dirty.  two 3/4 x 1 1/2 wide long slats with the middle pieces being tied together by 3 inch screws.  Yeah no fine or sexy joinery but last I heard they had not broken and this was for a kids getaway camp thing.

PB works on roofs without sagging.   Just saying.

 

Dan

5 minutes ago, HandyDan said:

PB works on roofs without sagging.   Just saying.

 

Dan

yur thinking OSB...

9 minutes ago, HandyDan said:

PB works on roofs without sagging.

For bathroom cabinets it sucks wind!!  My neighbors kids killed 3 before he broke down and asked me for one made of "the good stuff".

7 hours ago, Woodbutcherbynight said:

PB will add to the weight without adding to the strength

and it won't hold fasteners worth  a tinker's darn...

Okay, my mistake.  Let's use OSB.

I don't think the box spring is needed at all.  For a conventional mattress, about a 50% coverage of slats (1x4 or 4" plywood) seems to work (screw slats to frame, esp for kids that like to trampoline on beds; I think that's pretty much ALL kids, then).  But my next bed will have an air mattress (I've tried them before, love 'em), and for that I'll use 50% slat coverage, with a 1/4" BB ply topping, which avoids edge loading/pinching/abrading the air mattress.  Of course, next bed for us may be one of those articulating semi-medical frames.  Those don't have box springs, either!

13 hours ago, lew said:

Never heard of one of those but have heard of Bundling Boards

 

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bundling_(tradition)

TMI