Rope Beds Revisited

[Cap'n Black Jack]

Once again I am making a rope bed. My first attempt many years ago ended in me and my wife on the ground between piles of rope and splinters. This time I use oak, a bit heavy but strong. My newest rope bed seems to have similar properties to the old; the sides are bowing a lot! I strengthened up the sides with oak 2x2"s on the inside. This did not work as well I would have hoped. Any suggestions? Really anything I'll take whatever it is you have, please help!

On a sort of unrelated note, my Great-grandmother slept on a rope bed all here life, it may have even been her mothers, don't know. But it came over on the boat with them, and she slept in that until the day she died at the age of 97. We had that bed in our house, against the wall in the garage for many years. One day I noticed it was gone. Oh how I wish I had that bed today.

[captscurvy_nc]

Don't know if it would work but what about adding extra legs in the middle to help stop the bowing?

[MarkG]

Once again I am making a rope bed. My first attempt many years ago ended in me and my wife on the ground between piles of rope and splinters. This time I use oak, a bit heavy but strong. My newest rope bed seems to have similar properties to the old; the sides are bowing a lot! I strengthened up the sides with oak 2x2"s on the inside. This did not work as well I would have hoped. Any suggestions? Really anything I'll take whatever it is you have, please help!

On a sort of unrelated note, my Great-grandmother slept on a rope bed all here life, it may have even been her mothers, don't know. But it came over on the boat with them, and she slept in that until the day she died at the age of 97. We had that bed in our house, against the wall in the garage for many years. One day I noticed it was gone. Oh how I wish I had that bed today.

I think that some bowing is inevitable. As long as it is not about to break, you should be ok. The only alternative it to use thicker wood for the sides.

Mark

[Dutchman]

nothing to see here- don't show this to grace, nope it will never fit in the tent honey....

oh wait, to fix the bow. can you run a cross piece below the ropes, nothing major- a 1x4 would work, from left to right spanning the middle to keep it from bowing in?

[Cap'n Black Jack]

nothing to see here- don't show this to grace, nope it will never fit in the tent honey....

oh wait, to fix the bow. can you run a cross piece below the ropes, nothing major- a 1x4 would work, from left to right spanning the middle to keep it from bowing in?

I have bow of a 1/2" with the ropes tight, once I get on it it greatly increases! I think this might be the next step. I just don't want it to feel like a 1970 pull-ou sofa bed.

[Capt Thighbiter]

How about 1"x1" stringers of oak on the inside and outside of your side rails, below the rope? Maybe the wrong KIND of oak? some varieties are harder then others, or perhaps maple?

[Littleneckhalfshell]

one site I looked at said that if you tighten the ropes with 'vengeance' then the bed rails WILL bow, and suggested in that case to use a batten connected to the bottom of the bed rails, however, a thought ran into my head with the description of the problem. The bed rails are bowing, what if you used bowed wood to start with? or induced a bow to the wood by steaming it? if the wood is bowed out towards the outside of the bed, the tightening of the ropes would pull the bow IN and also aid in keeping the ropes in tension.

Edited May 17, 2010 by Littleneckhalfshell

[Cap'n Black Jack]

There is a lot of good advice here, and I thank you all. I believe the plan of acyion I am going to take is a few boards across the center and under the ropes, it`seems to be the best option, they should flex a bit but give some support to the sides. If that doesn't work then it is going to be 4x4 for the side boards, heavy but effective.

[MorganTyre]

There is a lot of good advice here, and I thank you all. I believe the plan of acyion I am going to take is a few boards across the center and under the ropes, it`seems to be the best option, they should flex a bit but give some support to the sides. If that doesn't work then it is going to be 4x4 for the side boards, heavy but effective.

Some bowing is to be expected. I wouldn't worry about the amount pictured. Take one of the side boards, stand it on it's side between two blocks. If it can support you standing in the middle without breaking then you have plenty of safety margin (since in practice your weight is being somewhat evenly distributed between the full length of the four side boards rather than point loading one board. Oak was overkill to be honest though very cool. Mine is cedar which is a pretty weak splintery wood and was half cracked though on one board due to a knot (before I replaced it) and was still plenty stout. Since replacing that board I've had probably 400 lbs on it without issue and I'm sure it can take more. All of that said, you're ropes are probably going to sag low enough to put your butt on any boards slung underneath. You might consider making a shallow U shaped support to clear the sagging ropes. To save weight I'd take a 1x8 or 1x10 of yellow pine and cut it to shape with a jig saw. It's under compression only so something that size is more than enough. I'm about to make another one - this time a "castaway" bed made up crudely of driftwood.