Replies

1. 
   Tinkerer3 | Oct 28, 2009 07:00am | #1

   Seems a lot would depend on whether you already had a wrench to fit the Lee Valley bolts. 

2. 
   WillGeorge | Oct 28, 2009 02:04pm | #2

   Not sure.

   For my two beds I am using the Lee Valley hex head bolts (nickle plated?) with the solid brass cross dowels. The cross dowel requires a round hole to fit and the tapped hole is offset to one side so you do not have to drill through both sides of the bed rail to center.

   I think the Hortons are more 'traditional' as the bolt head are square with a formed washer and use a square nut. The square nut needs a mortis - A slot for the nut-

   Either will work.

   Both require accurate drilling/or slot to about 4 inch depth? Something like that.

   Have fun.. Making a bed seems simple untill you do it.

   My EDIT:

   Rockler also sells bed bolts. Just a comment to do another price check for you.

   All will work but may need a different method for the capture nut and different depth needed to drill into the leg for the type of bolt head. I used the common hex head bolt with a seperate washer because the 'Horton' type need a deeper hole drilled. (I think). Not knocking the Horton type. Whatever works. My bed posts are not that thick. About 6X3 cm at the point where the side and front/rear rails connect. I thought more wood is better!

    

   
   

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   Edited 10/28/2009 7:18 am by WillGeorge

1. 
   chgorugbyref | Oct 28, 2009 05:24pm | #4

   Thank you WG. 

   I had checked Rockler and Woodcraft and their bolts were like the Horton, but a little more spendy.  Both require basically the same mechanism to install, although Lee Valley might be slightly simpler.  I guess the biggest difference between the two styles is that you tighten the Lee Valley bolts with a socket, whereas the Horton style requires the use a specific wrench.

    

3. 
   JiminFla | Oct 28, 2009 05:02pm | #3

   I made a bed and used Lee Valley bed bolts a few years ago and they have held up well.

   Jim

   http://www.jimreedy.com
1. 
   chgorugbyref | Oct 28, 2009 05:27pm | #5

   Jim

   Thank you.  It seems the Lee Valley bed bolts are very similar to their bench bolts.  So maybe if I order bed bolts I order an extra set and tell my wife that I now need to build a new bench too.  hmmmm?;-)

    

1. 
   JiminFla | Oct 28, 2009 06:47pm | #6

   Tell her you need a couple of new planes and a bigger table saw too.

    http://www.jimreedy.com

2. 
   WillGeorge | Oct 28, 2009 07:00pm | #7

   I order an extra set and tell my wife that I now need to build a new bench too.  hmmmm?;-)

   Yes! And tell her you plan to build a special bed for her also.  One without you?

   No man should be withought his first mate.. Ever...

4. 
   JohnWW | Oct 28, 2009 08:09pm | #8

   Just go to the local hardware store and buy four 3/8" bolts, four nuts, and eight washers and you'll save yourself $10.00 to $20.00 and you won't have to keep track of a special wrench you might not need again for years.

   If you can get square nuts, use them in a round blind hole bored in the rail, no washer needed. If you can't get square nuts, square up the hole in the rail, on the post side of the hole only, and use a hex nut with a washer.

   John White
   Shop Manager for FWW Magazine, 1998 to 2007
1. 
   chgorugbyref | Oct 28, 2009 08:17pm | #9

   John

   Thank you.  The pragmatic solution.  I like it.  Off to the big box...

    

1. 
   davcefai | Oct 29, 2009 10:12pm | #10

   Another possibility, if I'm not too late.I couldn't find bench bolts in Malta, or even long enough normal bolts, so I made my own. I used lengths of threaded rod and welded a hex nut to one end. After grinding the welds they looked quite presentable. For a bed I'd have painted them.For the nut end I chopped out a suitable recess and then wedged the nut with a screwdriver while tightening the bolt. It all worked out very well and I have a 2 bed project in my sights where I'll use the same method.Tip for drilling the long hole in the rail:I mounted a drill horizontally in a drill clamp. I then rigged up a platform to support the rail, used a board as a fence and pushed the rail into the bit. 8 holes each 6" deep and they were dead on. As always it took longer to set up the job than to do it.

1. 
   chgorugbyref | Oct 30, 2009 01:15am | #11

   Dave

   Not too late, but I really like John's idea of standard bolts though (easily available).  Good idea on drilling the holes.  Thank you.

   Now if the snow would stop here in Denver so I can go home....

    

1. 
   davcefai | Oct 30, 2009 09:09am | #13

   After I posted my message I watched the Installing Bed-Bolts video. Matt drilled relatively short holes using the hole in the bedposts as a guide.At that depth one would not need a technique as elaborate as mide but frankly I don't like the idea. I was taught to visualise the lines of force in a stressed structure to attempt to predict how it could fail.A short hole means that the lines of force are more "spread out" and thus tending to split the wood. On the other hand Matt knows a lot more about woodworking that I do.Nevertheless I feel safer with long bolts.

2. 
   JohnWW | Oct 30, 2009 02:52pm | #15

   Are you talking about stresses splitting the wood just while drilling or later once the bed is assembled?John White
   Shop Manager for FWW Magazine, 1998 to 2007

3. 
   davcefai | Oct 31, 2009 10:50am | #16

   Once the bench is assembled.Imagine that the nut and the corners of the rail form a 45 deg angle. When you resolve the force exerted by the nut there is a sizable component at right angles to the rail, ie outwards. The net result is that an appreciable amount of the tightening force is
   1. Wasted pushing outwards.
   2. Trying to split the wood.The longer you make the bolt, the smaller the included angle becomes and this lessens the outward force component. This therefore
   1. Increases the effective force locking the components together
   2. Lessens the force attempting to split the wood.You can of course argue that the longer the bolt, the nut can act like a wedge, trying to penetrate between the fibres and splitting the wood that way.An engineer I'm not, but based on the above I prefer to make the bolts long and rely on a large washer to minimise the "wedge" effect.If the above is unclear I'll try and post a sketch.

4. 
   davcefai | Oct 30, 2009 09:11am | #14

   "Now if the snow would stop here in Denver so I can go home...."On the other hand over here we're still mostly wearing short-sleeved shirts. :-)

5. 
   rushisaliar | Oct 30, 2009 07:40am | #12

   I've used Horton for many years and as far as I know, They still make everything in house, I'll always support USA made products. I don't know where the other dealers get their stock.