Hello fellow instuctablers. I am going to show you how i made a bed for my daughter.

it all started when she was about 3 and getting closer to needing a "big girls bed." I didn't like any of the ones i had seen in the stores so i thought what better thing than to make a butterfly and/or fairy bed.

Step 1: The Design

so first step is the design process. grab out the ol' graph paper and pencil and sketch up a few ideas.

the main shape i came up with was a butterfly and then incorporated the fairies in the wings for the bed head. For the bed end was a side view of a butterfly with some floral influences.

Step 2: Gathering Materials and Tools

As i am a Boilermaker by trade i naturally went with steel for the bed.

material list-

25x25x1.6mm painted SHS

20x20x1.6mm painted SHS

50x25x1.6mm painted SHS

12mm round bar

10mm round bar

8mm round bar

6mm round bar

50x4mm mesh

75x6mm flat bar

As far as quantities go i can't quite remember.

Tools-

MIG welder

grinder (with cutting discs, grinding disc, flat disc)

hammer

scraper/chisel

pipe bender

tape measure and ruler

permanent marker

scriber

lots of clamps

rope

theres probably some more but i can't remember right now.

Step 3: Getting Started on Making It

The first thing i did was get a big piece of ply board bigger than the size of the bed head and drew the bed design on it so i could use that as a template.

once that was done i used the rope to follow a line on the template and the measured it. this was the length i had to cut the steel, but i ended up cutting each piece about 50mm longer just to be safe.

After cutting the piece of steel to length it was time to form the shape. i used a pipe bender because that's all i had. It was a long and tedious process as each curve was a lot of tiny little bends. But i got there in the end.

i repeated this process for all parts of the bed that were made out of the SHS.

once i had a few of the parts formed i laid them out on the template and marked the angles i had to cut then tacked them together.

Step 4: Getting More Progress Done

after the main shape of the bed was all welded and cleaned up it was time to start on the fairies.

i used 8mm round bar for the body and wings. i made quite a few little jigs to get the bends right for each little piece. I also used the vice quite a bit.

the same process was used here as in the last step. used the rope to follow the line on the template, measure, add a bit and cut. but i used the vice and jigs Instead of using the pipe bender.

Step 5: The Bed End

this was my favourite part to make. all the processes were the same as the other end, just different shape.

Step 6: The Mattress Frame

once both ends were completed it was time to make the frame that holds the mattress. i didn't like the idea of having the wood slats so i decided to use mesh instead.

i used 20x20x1.6mm to make a frame the same size as the mattress for the mesh to sit on. Then i used 50x25x1.6mm welded to both sides for added strength to stop the frame from sagging.

Step 7: The Test Fit

Now that the 3 main parts are all done it was time to fit it all together to make sure that its going to bolt up with no troubles.

i did have to make a couple little adjustments to the bolt holes with a die grinder. But apart from that it was all good to be sent off to get powder coated.