How to Build a Log Bed

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Last Updated: December 17, 2023

A log bed is a bed frame built entirely from logs that are cut and shaped to fit together without nails or screws. Early log beds were made with crossrails and topped with a mattress. Modern log beds hold a box spring as well as a mattress, and so have no need for crossrails.

Method 1

Method 1 of 2:

Preparing the Logs

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1
Choose which logs you will use.
- The best choice is a log from a fire-killed standing dead tree. A wildfire burns diseased trees to the ground, but leaves healthy trees dead but still standing. Therefore, your chances of getting good logs are best from these trees. Fire-killed wood also loses its bark, saving you time when you start building.^{[1]
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- You can find fallen logs or logs that wash onto a beach or riverbank. You can also buy logs from a sawmill. However, you may find after you start working that these are rotten or have other problems that make them unsuitable.
- Cut live trees down to get logs if it's legal to do so. You will have to wait about a year for the wood to dry enough to build with it. Stripping the bark will help it dry faster.
2
Saw the logs to the lengths you need for bed.
- Saw 2 4-foot (1.2 m) posts and 2 3-foot (90 cm) posts to make the legs and the ends of the headboard and footboard. The posts should be cut from large, sturdy logs.
- Saw 4 rails to separate the posts. Measure the mattress width and cut the rails to be 1 inch (2 to 3 cm) longer. When you cut the tenons to fit the rails into the posts, they will be the width of the mattress.
- Cut spindles to place between the rails of the headboard and footboard. You need 36-inch (90 cm) spindles for the headboard and 24-inch (61 cm) spindles for the footboard. After cutting the tenons, they will measure 1 inch (2.5 cm) shorter. The number of spindles you need depends on the size of the bed.
- Prepare 4 bed rails to connect the headpost to the foot post on each side. Measure the mattress length and cut the bed rails so they're 1 inch (2 to 3 cm) longer.
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These are blades with 2 handles that you set against the wood and pull toward you. A curved drawknife removes bark and a straight drawknife shapes the log.^{[2]
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You can do this with a drawknife, but it's easier to do with a tenon maker, which attaches to a drill and operates like a giant pencil sharpener.
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Carve out mortises with a drill and Forstner bits. Frostner bits drill flat-bottomed holes large enough to hold tenons.^{[3]
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- Mortises for the headboard should be cut at 9 inches (23 cm) and 44 inches (1.1 m) from the floor. For the footboard, the mortises are cut at 9 inches (23 cm) and 32 inches (80 cm).
- Spindle mortises are cut so the spindles will be evenly spaced.
- Mortises for the bottom bed rail are drilled at 5 inches (13 cm) above the floor in all 4 posts. The mortises for the top bed rail are drilled at 13 inches (33 cm) from the floor.

Method 2

Method 2 of 2:

Assembling the bed

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Place the eye hooks so you can stretch a cable between the right headpost and left footpost and the left headpost and right footpost.^{[4]
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Use turnbuckles in the centers to tighten the cables and hold the bed together. Adjust as necessary to make sure the bed is square.
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How do you fix a long cracs on a bed post?

Community Answer

Long answer short: you can't. However, you can use wood filler, then sand and wax. It will never look the same but it will add character.

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How round do the cedar logs need to be for the bed post and the railing?

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You could do this same build with square posts and it would be okay. However, if the logs are a lot bigger at one end than the other, you might have to change the length of a higher or lower railing to make it fit together correctly.

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Tips

You can buy a log bed kit that has logs that are already cut for the size of your bed, drilled and tenoned so you only have to assemble the bed.

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Don't worry if there are cracks in the logs. This is a natural feature of dry wood. If you turn the logs so as to avoid drilling mortises into the cracks, the logs will be just as strong as those without cracks.

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Consider using logs that have knots, aren't quite straight of have other unique characteristics.

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