Convert an Old Bed Into a Bench Seat

In this instructable I'm going to make a bench seat from an old bed.

Supplies

Bed
Drill
Grinder
Staple gun
Pocket hole jig
Drill
Screws
Screwdriver
Glue

Step 1: Watch the Build Video 😁😁

Step 2: Cut the Footboard in Half (ironwork)

After removing the iron work from the footboard I used a reciprocating saw and grinder to cut it in half.
You could use just 1 of those tools.

Step 3: Cut the Footboard in Half (timber)

After removing the legs from the foot board I cut the top round rail in half. I then reattached each half to each leg with glue and screws.
I left the bottom rail in one piece to use as a stretcher on the front of the bench.

Step 4: Attach the Bench Sides to the Headboard

I first found the height of the sides of the bench and marked that out on the headboard.
I pre-drilled 2 holes and countersunk those holes on the back of the headboard.
Using a clamp to hold the leg and headboard together I screwed and glued from the back of the headboard.

Step 5: Attach Front Stretcher

Using a pocket hole jig a made 3 pocket holes on each end of the stretcher.
As I didn't have a clamp long enough I used a ratchet strap to hold the stretcher in place while I glue and Screwed it in place.

Step 6: Make Stretchers for the Bench Sides.

Because i used the foot board stretcher for the front of the bench I needed to make new stretches for the sides out of two-by-fours.
I ran some two-by-fours that I had laying around through my thicknesser to clean them up, cut them to length and attached them with glue and pocket holes.

Step 7: Attach Ironwork to Bench Sides

Now that i had the frame of the bench made I could reattach the ironwork to the sides.
I do this by drilling two holes in each side of the iron work and screw it in place

Step 8: Make Seat Base

After cutting two strips of 2 x 4 on my table saw a pre drilled and Screwed them to the bench frame to make seat rails.

Step 9: Fill the Screw Holes

I filled all of the screw holes with dowels.
once the glue is dry cut them to length and sand them flush.

Step 10: Touch-up Dowels and Scratches

I went around the entire bench touching up any scratches and the dowels with stain.

Step 11: Seat Cushion

Using a scrap of MDF from a previous project as a base I cut a piece of foam to fit.
I used hot glue to hold the foam in place while I attached the fabric with a staple gun.
And Screwed the seat cushion to the bench.

Step 12: Paint Ironwork

Last step was to go over all the iron work with an outdoor metal paint.
The paint are used is made for outdoor fences.