Canopy Bed Frame

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First post and a very novice welder. Using a Miller mig system.I have done a few small projects - the biggest was a rotisserie for an old 911 that I am working on.I am currently getting ready to make a bed frame for a friend - A kind of house warming gift.  It will be a canopy bed with 1 inch square steel tubing.It will be similar to the attached picture.I want it to be very clean and modern looking - but at the same time not all the joints can be welded because it needs to come apart to get it into the house.I am looking for suggestions on different ways to connect the non welded joints - things that would be clean looking - I'd like to avoid exposed bolts and things.I am really a total novice so any advice helps.Thanks
Reply:I hate to discourage you, but wouldn't it be easier just to go and buy a bed canopy already to go?This would be quite the undertaking for a "total novice"....Just a couple welders, big hammers, grinders, and torches.Work will free you.Men in dirty jeans built this country, while men in clean suits have destroyed it. Trump/Carson 2016-2024
Reply:1" Tubing will be probably be too small. Depending on how big the bed is and the span to clear the mattress,  the tubing will sag.1" will only allow for one bolt so it won't be as secure once bolted together.1"x2" would work better or bigger as in the photo.Ed Conleyhttp://www.screamingbroccoli.com/MM252MM211 (Sold)Passport Plus & Spool gunLincoln SP135 Plus- (Gone to a good home)Klutch 120v Plasma cutterSO 2020 benderBeer in the fridge
Reply:If you can find a source for "nestable solid tubing"  You can buy enough to make slip joints.  The stuff isn't cheep.Buy it short enough UPS will deliver.  I bought a long stick once because it was cheeper but the truck shipping was as much as the tubing.  Lesson learned.http://www.mcmaster.com/#nestable-tubing/=111et3vDan D.Manipulator Of Metal
Reply:Thanks for the replies so far.Yeah I could buy a bed but that's no fun.Something with nesting tubing is what I had been thinking but I'm not sure how to secure it without exposed bolts.
Reply:Originally Posted by JPGrandJunction - but at the same time not all the joints can be welded because it needs to come apart to get it into the house.I am looking for suggestions on different ways to connect the non welded joints - things that would be clean looking - I'd like to avoid exposed bolts and things.
Reply:Here is one of my first bed frame side rails and jig. And a side rail and jig from this weekend. One is better than the other but overall the same design. gotta have two bolts otherwise its a pivot.Last edited by Jimmy_pop; 02-08-2016 at 04:11 PM.
Reply:Use at least 1 1/2" for the top frame. Either make the top frame separate and drill a hole in the corners, then cap the post tube and drill and tap and run a bolt through each corner. Or, build the head and foot boards with the top bar welded in place, and weld a tab on top of the connecting tube and drill and tap the top of the frames. Then just bolt in the connecting tube. Solid top frame is better, the bed frame won't rock and squeak as much. The bigger tube diameter you use the more solid the bed will be.
Reply:I built a canopy bed nearly identical at my last job.  We did a bottom and top fully welded frame out of 2" square tube.  (I probably wouldn't go less than 1.25" tubing for a bed like this.)  Each corner of the frames had 2" square tube legs about 4" long with all the welds welds ground smooth to give the junctions the fully finished look.  Fit snugly inside the small extensions was a sleeve (fabricated from 1/8" sheet metal) that stuck out a few inches.  These were plug welded in place to keep a perfect butt seam between the joining tubes.  The vertical members bolted in place with I believe a single bolt, countersunk head done on the least conspicuous face.  Not sure what size you are planning, but the one we did was a king size and required taking the door frame apart to fit it inside.  If you think long enough, I'm sure you can figure out a slightly "cleaner way," but given the fact you're new at this, I think that should be the least of your concerns.  Sorry I don't have a picture, my old boss likes to hog that stuff for some reason.  Hope the explanation makes some sense.  If you do go this route, pay attention to which side the weld seam of the tubing is on.  Good luck.Lincoln Square Wave TIG 200Lincoln SP-175 PlusDynabrade 52636Grizzly Lathe + friendsAll in a barn too far awayCertifiably uncertified