So a while back, I had the itch to build a wooden jon boat. Realized the cost and time, and decided just to buy an aluminum one.
But that didn’t scratch the itch to build a boat… and my son needed a bed frame for his mattress.
So. I spent WAY more hours building this than any normal human would spend on building a bed frame… but man does my son love this thing!
I have several design changes that I would make if I did this again. The lapstrake angle on the bow is wrong, it should point up… but I don’t think the bed will sleep any worse because of it lol
Massive pic dump coming…
“Sire, it belongs in truth to the Church of God, in whose name I speak, to endure blows and not to inflict them. But it will also please your Majesty to remember that she is an anvil that has worn out many hammers.”…Theodore Beza
Paint done. I am a cabinet maker, but the finish work is my true specialty. Sprayed with conversion varnish.
Notice the stowaway hiding in the bow…
“Sire, it belongs in truth to the Church of God, in whose name I speak, to endure blows and not to inflict them. But it will also please your Majesty to remember that she is an anvil that has worn out many hammers.”…Theodore Beza
Looks nice.
Why not just run full length strakes? You can fashion them out of 1/4" plywood.
That was the original plan (and these are 1/4" MDF).
Two problems:
Would require 10’ plywood, or require me to butt join them (which wouldn’t be a big deal on a kid’s bed.
The real problem was that this bed is far too heavy to make in one or two pieces. You can see in the pics above that I built the bow as a separate piece. The lapstrakes do line up but I didn’t put the angle right on the bow. It’s not really noticeable except to those who understand boat building. You’ll notice the “joint” between the bow and the sides… that’s the only way I could figure to do it reasonably. Since I painted the joining boards the same color as the strakes, it really blends right in.
“Sire, it belongs in truth to the Church of God, in whose name I speak, to endure blows and not to inflict them. But it will also please your Majesty to remember that she is an anvil that has worn out many hammers.”…Theodore Beza
Yeah this boat frame is incredibly heavy lol. I had never built one, so I really had to just dream it up as I go. I’m quite happy with how it turned out, other than the weight. I do NOT look forward to moving later. Really none of the individual parts are all that heavy, just takes up a lot of room.
“Sire, it belongs in truth to the Church of God, in whose name I speak, to endure blows and not to inflict them. But it will also please your Majesty to remember that she is an anvil that has worn out many hammers.”…Theodore Beza
“Ships are the nearest things to dreams that hands have ever made.” -Robert N. Rose
I was hoping you’d see this Larry, I knew you’d have a good idea! I was trying to figure out a practical way to put a sail on it, but I can’t think of any way to do that reasonably without it getting in the way (8’ cieling, it would be too short to look right, and not be sitting too low).
A think something like a t-top would look awesome for this. Since he’s starting to read, I could put him a reading light up in the top of it.
Other ideas for the t-top? This would make a neat Christmas gift.
“Sire, it belongs in truth to the Church of God, in whose name I speak, to endure blows and not to inflict them. But it will also please your Majesty to remember that she is an anvil that has worn out many hammers.”…Theodore Beza
“There is no hunting like the hunting of man, and those who have hunted armed men long enough and liked it, never care for anything else thereafter.”
Ernest Hemingway
