Building Medieval Furniture

Cut an 8-foot, 6-inch-by-6-inch piece of lumber into four equal parts, two feet in length. These will be the four corner posts of your bed.

Cut a hole about 1.5-by-5.5 inches into the posts on three of the sides, and use a chisel to clean them out so that they meet in the middle. These should be positioned about two inches from either side of the post and about four inches from the top.

On the fourth side of each post, cut a smaller rectangle about 1.5 by 2.5 inches, 2 inches from either side and about 5 1/2 inches from the top. Clean up the holes with a coping saw and trim the posts as specified by your plans.

Construct the bed's side rails by trimming five inches off each end of one of two of the 2-by-6-inch boards. Then on each of the four ends, cut a rectangle that is 1.5 by 2.5 inches. These should be positioned about one and a half inches from each side and two inches from the end with the short side of the rectangle parallel with the long side of the board.

Fashion the head and foot rails from the other two 2-by-6-inch boards. Trim 3 inches from each side and cut a tongue shape in the end of both sides of each rail so that there is a one and a half inch drop on each side. The tongue should be 2 1/2 inches wide and 7 1/2 inches long. The shape should make an actual tongue pointing out, so do not cut into the board to make a tongue-shaped indentation.

Bevel the ends of the tongues and cut a .5-by-2.5-inch rectangle in the center about 2 1/2 inches from the end. On one side the rectangle should be angled so that it is 3 inches long.

Drill holes along the rails 6 inches apart. They should be centered on the boards and should start from the close end of the cut out rectangles on each board. Make the holes are large enough to accommodate the rope you have chosen.

Cut four wedges from half-inch plywood about 4 1/2 inches long. On the wide end they should be about 2 1/2 inches wide and on the thin end about 1 inch wide.

Prepare the mattress using a canvas sheet that is eight inches smaller in width and length than that of your bed frame. Attach grommets so that they correspond with the holes drilled along your frame. Choose a large grommet to make the lacing easier.

Assemble the medieval design by inserting the rails into the side posts and inserts the wedges through the tongue slots to secure the frame. Secure the canvas to the bed corners with bungee cord and start lacing your bed so that the mattress is attached to the rails. Once you are finished lacing, you can remove the bungee cords.