Let's face it, most metal suspension frames are huge and look horrible. You not only wouldn't be able to fit one in your bedroom, but you wouldn't want it there since most likely it just won't match anything else in the room. So, here's an alternative - a frame that looks good and is small enough to fit in your bedroom.

As a bonus, you get a St Andrew's cross. Well, sort of, it's not exactly a cross, but it does the same job, perhaps even better than a full X.

The frame can be set in two positions, one of which allows more space under the frame for rotating suspensions, the other is shorter and better for semi-suspensions or suspensions involving the cross, and generally allows for a better use of the cross. The whole is 210cm high and 200cm long, but the size can be easily changed.

The frame is designed to rest on something on one side - now it is resting on my 6-poster bed, in my previous apartament it was resting on a built-in wardrobe. It can be anything of the appropriate hight, and if you don't have anything, just get a brace you can screw into the wall.

Step 1: Materials and Tools

Wood:
1x 70x70x2000 (horizontal beam)
2x 120x45x2400 (cross elements)
1x 40x60x1400 (bottom cross stabilizer)

2x 5x50mm bolts with nuts
4x 5x100mm wood screws
2x 8mm wooden dowels

4x 5-6cm stainless steel screw eyes

Wood stain and/or varnish

Tools:
Power Drill
Jigsaw
Long hand saw (50cm)
Chisel
Hammer or chiselling mallet
Files and sanding paper

Before you begin the work, sand all the wooden elements, and paint and varnish them.

Step 2: Making the Cross - 1

First, you need to make the cross.

Take both the cross legs and put them on the floor more-less in the X shape they will have when standing Spread what will be the bottom of the cross legs so that they are around 85cm apart (measuring on the outside). The middle of the cross should now be at 178cm from the outside part of the legs (see first picture). Once the cross is arranged like this, mark the bottom elements that will need cut off so that the frame stands straight when finished (see second picture) and cut them.

Step 3: Making the Cross - 2

Now mark the part in which the legs cross, on both legs. The drawing shows how it should look like on a particular leg.

Use the hand saw to saw on the marks. Saw exactly to half the depth of the beam on each leg.

Now comes the hardest bit. Chisel out everything between the saw cuts, down to half the depth of each beam. It's tedious and hard, but has to be done. If you have a router, that's the time to use it, I didn't. File, sand and paint over everything that will stick out.

The photo shows how the boards should fit after the bits are chiselled out.

Step 4: Making the Cross - 3

Now put the cross together and mark a shape shown on the picture.

The red-grey diamond is a section of the 7x7cm horizontal beam. Mark it first starting from where the two cross legs join at the top. The idea is - once the horizontal beam will come to rest on the cross, it will rest in the place where the legs come out of the join.

Then mark the rest of the red shape on the picture. The point is that after it's cut out, there's enough space to comfortably place the horizontal beam between the cross legs, and take it out or put back in. The first photo shows how it should look when finished.

Once everything is marked, disassemble the cross and cut it all out using a jigsaw.

When you're done, drill a hole in the middle of the cut on the left leg, as shown on the picture. The hole should hold a dowel, so it should be half its length deep, and a milimeter narrower (so if you have an 8mm dowel, drill a 7mm hole). This will be used to hold the horizontal beam in place, as shown on the second photo.

Step 5: Assembling the Cross - 4

Put the cross back together and drill a couple 5-6mm holes through the joining bit. Place the bolts in the holes and secure them.

Step 6: Assembling the Cross - 5

Finish the cross by adding the bottom support board. It is needed because without it the cross can wobble a bit, making the frame less secure. In practice, this should not influence suspensions that much, but it makes rotating and swinging the suspended person impossible.

It's as basic as it gets - simply attach the board to the bottoms of both legs leaving even amounts of wood (c. 30cm) on each side. Use two screws for each leg.

If you want, you can also add the rope, though it's not necessary at all. I had it on to keep the legs together before I realised I will need the bottom board to stabilise the frame anyway. It looks cool, but it's not necessary.

One extra thing I did was to file down one side of the bottom board. The reason was simple - it sticks out in the middle of the room and it's easy to hit it by accident with your foot. Again, it's not necessary, but it's convenient.

Step 7: The Horizontal Beam 1

There are several things to be done with the horizontal beam before it's ready.

First, drill a couple holes which will fit with the dowel in the cross. I recommend one which will allow a full extension of the frame (so right next to the end of the horizontal beam) and one about 40-50cm into the beam. If you want more, do more.

Second, drill holes for the screw eyes. Again, where you drill them is up to you, though I think that it's best to have one on each end, and two in the middle just next to each other. This means that you have two suspension points where you most need them, and two extra for multiple point suspensions. Having one close to the cross also means that it's easy to attach someone's hands to the frame while they are standing against (or tied up to) the cross as well.

Screw in the eyes

Step 8: The Horizontal Beam 2

Placing the beam on the side (so that it's a diamond rather than a square) ensures that it is as strong as it can be - you're hanging not on 7cm of wood, but on 10cm. But this means that while one end of the beam attaches nicely to the cross, the other end is harder to manage.

To make sure I have some flat surface to work with at the end of the beam, I cut a leftover bit of it in half, diagonally, and attached the triangles to the bottom sides of the beam with a couple screws. That's one way of doing it, but I'm sure there are other options as well, depending on what you want this end to attach to. This solution is perfect for placing the beam on a wardrobe and works fine with the 6-poster bed, but you may need something slightly different if you want to attach it to a brace in the wall.

Once you have a flat surface, attaching the end to whatever it will be resting on in the same way you attached the other end to the cross: drill a hole for a dowel, and drill a hole and place a dowel in whatever will support the frame. Now just make sure that the frame won't 'jump out' by tying it to whatever supports it.

Step 9: Putting It Together

To put it all together, best ask someone for help. First fit the horizontal beam into the slit in the cross and make sure it is locked in using the dowel. Now lift the other end and place it on whatever will support the frame from the other end.

Voila! Enjoy!