TWIN BED DIY- Under $50

Okay, you guys, I'm going to show you how to build a twin bed. We're going to use 1x6s, these are the side of the side frames, and then we're going to use 4x4, and then 1x4s for the support. I'm going to go through and make all my cuts. First, for the end boards, I'm going to cut them at 39 1⁄2, the side boards I'm going to cut at 74, and then the support boards across the middle, I'm going to put 9 of them and we're going to cut those at 37 3⁄4. Also for the support, like for the legs, I'm going to use 4x4s, and I'm going to cut them at about 14 inches. These are going to be your end support boards. So, first I'm going to cut these at 39 1⁄2 inches, exactly. Now, I'm going to 3⁄4 of an inch off the end. I'm going to cut these 1x6x8 pieces at 74 inches. Now, for the headboard, you guys, I've debated on doing a few different things, but my brother found this at his job site, he found two of them for Simon and Cohen, and it actually is really sweet wood, it looks really good, it's in pretty good shape, and the wood that's on it, it looks like it's a pre-stained gray pine. So I'm actually going to use that, I'm going to sand it down a little bit, stain it, put it on the back to use as a support. So this is already done. If you can find a good pallet that's in good shape, it makes a pretty cool headboard. Now, this is where my 4x4s are going to go, I'm going to mark them 3 inches down. So I leave 3⁄4 of an inch on the side for where the side boards are going to go to, and then my 4x4 is going to go 3 inches down from the top. So it's going to sit right here across this, and the 4x4 will come down like that. But you've got to leave that space here because of the side boards. Okay guys, so I'm going to line my 4x4 up like this. These are actually 4x4s that I already had, because I wanted to make this as cheap as possible. So I'm going to line it up along that line, and then along my 3 inches down, and I'm going to throw two screws in the back, back here, and then maybe a couple pin nails to make it extra strong. Put this down just like that, line it up so it's perfect. I'm going to screw these sides in for support on the side piece. I'm measuring from the inside of each 4x4. I ran my 4x4s through a planer, and these came off of an old bed that I made, so I'm just reusing them. So these are actually smaller than most 4x4s would be, plus a 4x4 is really like 3 and a half inches. So my measurement is coming out to 67 and a quarter, but I'm just going to come and mark on the inside anyway. You really don't have to measure, I would just line them up, take your pen, and do your mark. If you want it to really grab and cinch together, you're going to have to start on the outside first, because the 2x3 is bigger. So if you push through this way, it's going to push the board out, because this is a skinnier board. So start from this way, pinch it, push it in. But put screws on both sides. You don't have to put a ton. I'm probably going to put 4 on the outside and 3 on the inside. And then what I'm going to do is I'm going to fill these with wood filler, stainable wood filler. I'm going to do a really good sanding job on this bed, because my boys are going to play all over it. So I want to make sure that I don't have any slivers in it. So I'm going to go through with an 80 grit, and then probably 120. And then I'm going to fill it with my filler and then stain it. So I can be brave. Let me catch my breath. Now I can feel what I'm saying. This is stainable wood filler. It's like my favorite to use. So I'm going to go fill those holes that I put the screws in, and then I'm going to wait for it to dry and stain over it. Okay, so we waited a full 24 hours before we sanded the filler down, but it was just because it was nighttime and I didn't want to come back out here. And it's really cold. So it's definitely dry now. So I'm going to go over it really quick and sand it all down. I'm going to sand it down with 120 grit, and then I'll probably touch it up another time with 220. So this is just a rough pallet. I have to really be careful about not letting any sliver stick through. So I'm going to sand it down really good. Any of the spots that look really bad, because I know my boys are going to be bouncing against this. They can do whatever they want. This is my favorite stain. This is Brer Smoke. So we basically use this on everything that we ever built, except for kitchen tables. So I'm going to show you guys what it looks like. I just touch it with a rag and then rub it in. I don't use a paintbrush. I like using rags. Take a clean side of your rag, like right here, if it's a little too dark in a spot, and rub it and pull some of the stain off onto the rag, and it'll lighten it up a little bit. But you don't have to constantly dip the rag and get big clumps of stain. So if I just barely dip this end right here, for example, and then I start over here, I lightly touch it, and so it looks matte, but then I'll take a clean side and finish rubbing it in. See? It helps you not to make it too dark because you still want the grain to show through, you know? Sanding it down so it's smooth. So that way your stain goes on a lot easier. If it's really rough wood, you've got to get those spots smoother because it's going to be a sucker to make this stick with a rag. So there you have it.