How to cover wood cracks?

badtz

Hopefully someone on here is good with wood construction and can help





I'm trying to build a platform bed.



Using multiple pieces of wood.





PROBLEM : What can I use to cover the cracks when I have pieces of wood next to each other? After I'm done, I'd like to sand it to smooth out everything, and paint it.



My mattress would sit on top of the board. Would the compound crack over time from the stress?





I've heard the compound to use is some sort of "mud" compound? Would that be the best to use? Alternatives? Suggestions?



Any help would be GREATLY appreciated

matsu

Have you tried guano ?

splinemodel

I'm not exactly sure what you're trying to do, in the sense that I don't see why you can't just lay down some boards and then drop a piece of plywood on top.

scott

Put a venier on it.

magicfingers

for the best looking "do-it-yourself"job you need a "jointer", or at least a "planer" to smooth the edges of the wood. Then to keep them properly aligned you should use wooden dowels, and wood glue, and clamp it together for about 24 hrs. Then you can start sanding until you get the smoothness you desire.

Professional result come from running the boards through a power planer to get a very consistent thickness, then running the edges of the boards through a power jointer to make them as straight a possible. Some lumber yards offer these services. Look in the yellow pages under "milling" and chances are you will find one near. It shouldn't cost too much to have the boards prepped for you. while they are at it have them cut a series of "biscuit" slots, or "dowel holes" to aid in the assembly.

Good Luck, Randy

dmz

...the buscuits are VERY good. -on having to "glue up" your stock, unless you're trying to save money, you're much better off getting material that is large enough to begin with. If you do glue up, glue up first, then joint and plane the egdes after, if you have "checking", a putty stick or "tuff carv" epoxy can fill your gaps, which may or may not need filling---depending on the checking that you are seeing.

scott

or you can just over it over with a venier.

faust9

I agree with scott. Just start with a 3/4 MDF base and put a vaneer over that. It will be strong and easy to do.

addabox

So if your mattress is on top of the board is it even going to be visible?



As far as MDF goes, it has drawbacks: it is very heavy, and it out-gasses some of the binders used to create it (it's just wood pulp and glue that have been put under pressure to make it dense). I would be particularly leery of using this kind of material where I was going to be sleeping.



OTOH, you can get plywood (more wood, less binder) with a veneer already on it, saving you that step. It is much easier to deal with in terms of weight, but does cost more. You should consider some kind of edge treatment, unless the platform is sitting down in a frame where the edges are already concealed.



If you already have made your multiple board platform and really just need to make it look nice, short of what has been suggested (planing and edge jointing, some kind of dowel or biscuit connectors) there isn't much you can do. And be warned: making up a say, 5'x7' surface that is truly flat is challenging for even an experienced woodworker. You'll need long clamps to glue it up and a way to keep thing flat while it dries.



I would recommend going with an open slat look, with a consistent gap between each board (something like a deck). this has the advantage of being easier to pull off, plus it allows air flow to your mattress.

addabox

Oh, and whatever you do, don't try using wide pieces of solid stock. They will inevitably "cup" (curl along their short width) from the combination of the trees original structure and the absorption of moisture. That's why God made engineered sheet goods.

badtz

http://www.o8o.com/platform%20bed-big.jpg





my bed will be somewhat similar [not really] to this [w/out headboard].



My bed is a full size, so I don't think I'd be able to find a piece of wood that can fit the full size [plus a 4" border around the mattress] and 2-3" inches thick.



So I'd need to put multiple pieces together, but I want the whole board to look like ONE piece of wood [that's painted]. With no cracks/lines between the pieces.

addabox

Gotcha.



Looks to me like your best bet for that kind of design would to be to make a "torsion box" and then skin it with something fairly thin.



You can see what a torsion box looks like here. Basically, a grid of cross pieces give the platform its rigidity and the skins tie it all together. This approach is actually more rigid than a comparable solid panel, less prone to warping, and a great deal lighter.



The URL I've linked to shows using MDF to make the crosspieces, but you can do it with a good quality 1x3 fir or pine-- you just have to make sure they're straight along the narrow edge. If not, you'll have to come up with a way to level the narrow edge surfaces, one to another, after you've made the grid.



If you go this way, you can piece together a couple of 4'x8' pieces of 1/4" MDF for the skins (both top and bottom) and fill the seams with an epoxy based filler. Once sanded flat and painted, you won't be able to see them.



You can also size your grid so that the the outer perimeter grid pieces are1/4" smaller than the full sized platform, all the way around. Then you can use more 1/4" MDF to finish out the edges of the platform, fill and sand and you'll have the illusion of a solid piece of material. If I were you I'd ease all the edges and corners very slightly, either with a round over bit on a router or by hand. This gives a nicer feel to the hand and lessens the likelihood of chipping off bits of the edges from wear and tear.



From the picture you linked to, there isn't a very good way to do this with solid materials. If that is a must, you'll have to use at least 2" thick stock--anything less and you'll get bowing from the weight of the bed's occupant.

I would suggest 2" thick boards no wider than 3"-4", jointed and glued up as described in earlier posts.



And you'll need to use a hardwood-- maple, birch, beech, maybe poplar since you're going to paint it.



The torsion box would be a lot easier and do the job better. I would bet that's how the bed you linked to is made.

badtz

I never even came close to thinking about a "torsion box" ... hmmm .....



If I don't have the machines to make the little "grids" to snap the horizontal and vertical pieces together, are there places that can do this for me?



or is it relatively easy to do at home?



What type of wood would you recommend for the grid? [should it be the same as the wood that's on top and bottom?



would this be enough to support one [sometimes two] people without warping?



If I go with the one solid piece method [beech, maple, etc.] , do they make ONE piece that's big enough to cover a full size bed + 4" border?





[thanks for all the great info. so far ]

craiger77

There is no single piece of wood that you can easily buy that would be big enough for what you want to do. A full size mattress is 54 inches wide so with your 4 inch border you need something 62 inches. Standard sheet goods like plywood and MDF are 4X8 feet in size. You could use two sheets if you didn't want to support the bed by the small legs like in the pic you posted. On that website there is another bed that looks similar, but is supported by a wood box. Making a bed this way would be rather simple. Use at least 3/4 inch plywood or MDF for the top and the same wood for the box it sits on. There would have to be a cross piece under the seam where the two top piecies join, but this would be inside the box so wouldn't be seen. I think this would support your bed well enough and be much simpler to build than a torsion box. The disadvantage of this design is that the space under the bed is out of reach so wasted if you like to store things under your bed. Of course if you want to be creative you could make drawers for the box. If you can find it you could use 1 inch plywood for the top, but it is not easy to find and expensive. If you are going to paint it I wouldn't worry to much about the fumes from MDF, but it is heavy stuff and edges can be easily damaged. My local Home Depot has maple plywood for $33 that would work well I believe.

splinemodel

If you're trying to achieve what's in the picture, good luck using wood. . .

badtz

craiger77, thanks for the suggestions, i actually contemplated that design also. though, I already have the bed legs I want to use, and the space it's going in would look better that way. Though, that bed WOULD be definitely easier to make!



Is there something outside of wood that could replicate that look/size?