Bed Hardware

Rob,

I put bed bolts on my daughter's bed and I like them. Easy to attach, easy to tighten, and solid. The downside(?) is that you really need stub tenons, and you need to drill some pretty long holes accurately.

I have something like the Bed Rail Fasteners on my Queen bed and I don't like them, I find they squeak and wiggle. There is no way to adjust them.
 
I'm with Art - I've built six beds using bed bolts. He's right on all counts, including the need to accurately drill long holes. If you have a good doweling jig, it helps.
 
I've made 4 beds so far. 3 with the mortise bed locks and 1 witht he mortise free ones. I'll never use anything but the mortise locks again. Th mortise free ones are too flimsy.
 
mortise bedlocks. I used the screw on bed rail fasteners on a few grandkid beds, but the screws work loose. One I have changed over to the mortise type. If you use the mortise type, make sure they are not set below the surrounding wood. I had one with the slots, a 1/16" too deep ( hand chiseled ) and they won't lock up tight when assembled. I now set a laminate trimmer to the thickness of the steel and rout the recess. You can easily make a jig to speed things up too.
 
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