Bunk Beds and the slip through portal theory

Found this online and it's perfect for this blog's description. 

We've all seen them on AMFV, or You Tube of bunk beds breaking when someone gets on them - scary.  I'm just hoping those were cheaply made and or seriously old for that to happen.  But there is also a hidden danger in Bunks that most parents don't care to find out or don't know that it even exists.  Openings.  Spaces.  The portholes of the bunks beyond.  Bad rendition of a kids movie line.  

Our Standard line - $395 as shown

There are codes that bunk manufacturers have to abide by.  There is a magic number that the opening space can not be any wider than or less then.  There are also magic numbers per square inch for weight.  I won't talk about those because I don't build anything out of 3/4" press board covered in veneer.  Seriously, no one should ever buy a bunk that is made of wood that is less than in inch in thickness anyway - unless it's made out of Brazilian or Purple Heart Mahogany and if you can afford that, you might as well purchase that very big diamond or 300" TV for yourself.  

Custom made (Finish and build)

Our twin/full mission style $800.00 as shown

On to those numbers.  I am not telling you.  But I can say this.  The codes are worse to read than any tax instructional booklet from the IRS.  The opening space can't be any more than this but has to be less than this and no wider than this unless it is smaller than this.  (paraphrasing)  After having it translated into a basic and common language most people can understand - we have been building our bunks the same way since the get go.  The rule of thumb is this.  The spacing should not be big enough to get a normal childs head through - this also means a leg.  If the space can fit such an appendage - there better be enough room to get a normal childs entire body through.  Most people use the normal measurements based on their own child.  We go smaller - based on a toddler.  The government provides the common sense measurements (which sometimes don't make any sense) and are based on things that have happened.  That is why there are so many recalls on children's furniture.  Anything and everything eventually does happen and therefore they change things up a little to prevent it again.  For example guard rails.  You should never ever buy a bunk that doesn't have them.  They are the probably the first thing the government made mandatory.  They are there to prevent whomever is sleeping on top from rolling out of bed while sleeping.  No amount of guard rails can prevent anyone from falling off a bunk if they are using the top bunk as a freebasing jumping platform, or as a trampoline or if the child decides that he or she can swing on the ceiling fan blades.  Why would you have a ceiling fan so close the top bunk anyway - that's an ER visit waiting to happen!!!!  Think of helicopter rotors slashing along the forehead.  This is also why the government says no one under the age of 5 should sleep on top. Some kids don't think of danger.    As a mom myself, I know that one of my kids didn't know what danger was till much later.  Every child is different though and so the government chose the magic number of 5 years old for top bunk usage.  Just because it says 5, you should know your own child well enough to know if it will work.  This is another reason why I refuse to build toddler bunk beds.  No matter how much of an angel your child is, anything and everything usually does happen.  That and Toddler bunks are very top heavy, narrow and if you have one..please I beg you to anchor it to the wall. 

Plank loft with two desks and single frame bed.
Two rooms of Furniture in this one ensemble.  

I have seen some local builders advertising on Craigslist in many different states that charge around the same as we do and what they build is A).  Non compliant and B).  An accident waiting to happen and C). I wouldn't put my Chihuahua on the top bunk.   Here is a good rule of thumb that is based on common sense when shopping for a bunk bed for your kids.  If YOU (not your kid) can comfortably climb up, flop into bed and you feel confident - buy it.  If you are slightly worried it can't hold your weight - don't buy it.  All bunks and lofts have a little bit of wobble.  If the frame wobbles more than 1/4 inch or give either way - walk away.  Look at the weight limits on store bought bunks.  Most of them say 160 lbs on the top bunk.  How much does your child weigh?  How much does your childs mattress weigh?  How much does the flat support weigh? Subtract all of that from 160lbs and that is how much you can allow your child to grow before you have to purchase a whole new bed.  

The bolts and or screws;  This is what pisses me off the most.  I guess the government is waiting for some sort of bunk bed Apocalypse.  If you have a bunk that is held together with common screws - burn it.  Take it down and burn it.  If you have a bunk that is held together with thicker screws that are angled in and hidden (Pocket's)- burn those.  If you have  a bunk that is held together by bolted ratchet system that is on the inside of the bed rail, burn those - although all of these are allowed, they are all very dangerous.  You need to have access to your fastenings because over time they will need to be tightened.  If you see a bunk that is held together with the old fashioned hook and eye system....seriously burn that one too. Are you going to trust something 6 foot in the air to hold up you up if the only thing holding you up are a few hooks?  Why would you want your child up there?  Would you trust yourself hanging from a ceiling on a swing with those hooks or screws or hidden pocket screws.  I know I wouldn't.

A lot of people think that to have a very sturdy and well built bunk that it has to made out of huge dimensional pieces of wood and very expensive - this is not true.   It can be I suppose if you are going for that look and like to waste money.  But a good quality affordable and sturdy bunk bed can be made to look sleek, rustic, modern and can be very beautiful.  There are tons of us woodworkers that do great jobs in making these - we take the time to learn and figure out the compliance codes -they we make them to code.   Then there are tons of wood workers that want to make money and don't think about how the build will be in a few months of use - so you might as well have paid for firewood.  Below are some great examples of bunks that are not compliant.  I pulled these off of the internet - can you point out how they are not compliant - notice some of them are all over the internet (viral) because they look great - but sadly, in my experience would end up being death traps or at least contribute to a good concussion and or broken bones.

No Guard Rails or ladder system and top heavy. (It will tip).
Accident waiting to happen on this one.  

No enough guard rails - one post? Wow!
Whats the weight limit on this one I wonder?

No Guard Rails (looks great) - 2 posts holding it up
wonder the weight limit on this one too.

No Guard rails - wood is too thin and I bet
this bed is not sturdy at all.  

Looks great - no guard rails and ladder system
is waiting to be dove off of. 

The (Superficial) Namedropping Game - You're Such a Poser!

Namedropping is a common practice in many different fields.  There is no doubt that it can benefit the products sales, designers pocket and ultimately the bottom line. When it comes to a small business however, I personally feel it makes that brand or that company look very desperate for recognition for something that may not be there. Making you look better than you are, sort of.

Name-dropping is defined as –

The studied but seemingly casual mention

 of prominent persons as associates done to impress others - Merriam Webster

Me for example - I do not boast, brag or namedrop.  Regardless of just how "big" the person is. Trust me, living and working the Los Angeles area, I have made beds for small time and big time actors, musicians, comedians, designers and directors all the way up to the "oober goober" award winning celebrities.  I have met each and every one of them. I have been in their homes.  I have made beds for their kids.  I have let their kids help build the bed when we deliver it.  (The kids really like pulling the trigger on the drill). These customers invited me into their homes and guess what, they like to live a normal life and honestly, they REALLY are down to earth.   Ironically - I just tooted my own horn in this paragraph, didn't I. Oops, my bad.

Poser is explained as - 

is one who poses or habitually pretends to be something they are not. 

Maybe it is my own personal code that I have, I am not sure.  Maybe it is because I was raised by a "celebrity of sorts" and understood real fast, those friends that wanted to be my friend for notoriety and those that were real friends.  Trust me, when you are 13 and think you are all that, your world comes crashing down when you realize the only reason you were invited to a party was to please your parents.  This does no do good for the confidence or for your soul at all.   But after salvaging what self respect that I had - I learned and vowed that I wouldn't do the same thing to others - no matter my gain from it.  It's using people. It is wrong and I personally feel it makes you look, simply put, like a pompous ass.

My little don't namedrop policy - has actually gained me more business.  Seriously, I would rather have a customer come to me because I was recommended to them (within their own little circle) than have someone come to me to be able to purchase exactly what so and so has in their bedroom - that's just creepy.  All my customers, when I first talk to them are treated the same - I have no idea who this person is.  Sometimes the emails don't even ring a bell - but when I meet them, each and every customer (oober goober or your local janitor) gets the same handshake and same "it's a pleasure to meet you, where are we bringing your bed?".  It is an unspoken code between my customers and myself - I don't know who they are (and sometimes I do) and they know I won't say anything at all to other people or tag them in on Twitter, Instagram or Facebook with pics of the beds. That's just rude and presumptuous - if they want to tag me in to their own tweets and posts, though - I welcome that.  But I will never ask for, or expect it.

What I find entertaining - is that some of my pictures on my website are from the "celebrities" houses.  Like Andy Kaufman, sometimes I am the only one in on a joke.  But hey - I laugh.  Yes that was a namedropping line, but since the late great Mr. Kaufman is supposedly dead, and i was referencing his comedic philosophy - it in no way enhances my beds.  No, I have not met him or sold anything to him.  He is supposedly dead.  That would be creepy if I had and even if I did, I wouldn't tell.

I will say this though - If I ever meet James Hetfield from Metallica or Brian Urlacher, I don't think I would be calm and composed.  All bets are off.  I really think i would revert back to my teen age years and be freakishly excited and scary looking - like my daughter is with her band fav's. (That is a whole other blog post in the making and waiting to be written, "dealing with a teenage girl and her stalking tendencies"). I wouldn't mean to cause them harm, but my big bear hug may be misinterpreted as a tackle.  Urlacher would be ok with that I think, I hope.

Happy & Green Puppies, Cucumbers, Neighbors, Bonsai & Keeping Warm.

With having the shop I always have to be creative and inventive to get rid of my excess sawdust, shavings, scraps & culls and my larger unusable pieces.  This is a problem for any wood worker living and working in a major metro area.  I can no longer just make a pile on my 20 acres and have a huge bonfire, like I used to be able to.  Those were the days or nights - many memories made roasting marsh-mellows, hanging out with family and friends and the occasional dancing under the moonlight.  

Living in Orange County now, I can no longer do this to the scale I used to.  Seriously, my wood piles would be huge!  My neighbors here love me because of all the free wood they get to burn in their own fire pits on the weekends.  So in a sense I am now, helping them make memories. 

I catch my clean shavings.  Meaning, when I plane the wood I aim it at a large bin and bag it.  These fresh shavings, smell great, look great, and absorb like nothing else.  Since it's a clean catch, no staples, screws, dust, stained pieces or anything like that - it is safe to give to the local Animal Shelters and horse stables. They welcome my 10-15 large black yard trash bags a month. So I fill my Ford Expedition and off I go.  I love going to OC Animal Care and I always walk around to see the critters and pups.  Did you know they have livestock there?  Many times I've wanted to take home a chicken or two to have fresh eggs, I am not sure my neighbors would like that though - regardless of how many scraps I give them to burn.  

Speaking of scraps, I offer these for free via posting on Craigslist.  Usually it's on a first come, first serve basis.  I do this at least twice a month and I've met some interesting people.  Usually it's people that burn the wood to keep warm, other crafter's who pick through my scraps for specific pieces and people who re-use the wood for specific reasons other than woodworking.  I met a man who grows Bonsai's and uses the wood as bases for his cute little trees, although his aren't so little.  I also have home gardeners that come and ask for wood for posts and garden beds as well as shavings and sawdust for compost.  But most of all it's usually a family whose only supply of heat is a fireplace.  Those few that I am sure of that are in need - I have their numbers to call first.  Believe it or not, none of these families are so greedy that they take everything, all of them have told me they are ok for a few weeks and call me when they are low.  

I have also designed a few items that i can make with culls (scraps) like the blue chair above, along with a some working pieces that fit any decor.  Those will be placed on my Etsy Shop and will also be offered as prizes for my social media campaigns.  Crafty me, I know. 

So in doing all of this, i have solved my trash issue, helped a few people and animals out and most importantly, I am saving the planet just a little.  So the only trash I have coming out of my shop at the moment is your standard trash that any other business would have and it is still no where near the amount of other businesses within my building.  Recycle, Reuse and Re-invent your scraps and shavings.  

Furniture; Chili Peppers vs Wood

Odd title, isn't it?  There is some relation though.  Both peppers and wood are rated on a scale, meaning the higher up on the ratings the more potent.  Obviously the Scoville_scale is for peppers of all kinds, both delicious and those that are used in combat warfare.  Not sure I would ever want to try something rated over a million for the fun of it - it sounds very painful to be honest.  I'll stick with my love of Jalapenos and all the goodies that go well with it.

Wood however is also on a scale, the Janka_Scale.  Again the higher the score, the harder it is.  It is based on the amount of pressure it takes for a small steel or metal ball to be inserted into the wood.  Pretty scientific, considering shooting a BB gun at wood is never a safe thing (ricochet and all) - so I'll rely on the scale.  It's very interesting to find out which woods are very hard and which woods are very soft.  I bet a few would even surprise you.

The largest misconception is that Pine is soft.  Well technically it is (more on that confusion below).    Most people associate pine as in there is only one pine - that commonly thought of wood is actually called white pine.  White Pine was used as flooring, furniture, paneling and anything else back in the day.  It gained popularity because of it's abundance on the East Coast during the colonial era to modern day.  White pine is pretty much found everywhere in the U.S..  Pretty sure even Florida grows it.  Because it was so widely used in many types of furniture people associate this particular soft pine - as being the only pine available.  Go to your Home Depot or Lowe's and the narrower thinner strips of wood are white wood, aka, white pine.  Put your finger nail on it and press - do you see the indentation?  Horrifying isn't it?  Imagine spending $1,000 on a lovely dining room set from Ashley Furniture and the first time the kids do homework on it - you can see the homework mistakes they make indented into the wood.  Their and they're used in the wrong places are forever ghosted on my table - till i got rid of it.   Therefore - because the market was flooded with white pine, most people automatically think this is the only pine available and used in furniture. 

Maybe you have heard of Soft woods?  Yes pine is considered a soft wood, and trust me the reputation that the white wood has as being actually soft really makes sense as why it's called a soft wood.  I bet you have heard of hard woods?  Oak is a hardwood so is Alder wood.  But do you know the difference between what makes a wood considered hardwood or softwood?  Hardwoods come from trees that have leaves, deciduous - they fall off in autumn, pretty colors and all that glory.  Softwoods come from trees that have needles - both those that fall off and those that stay all winter long - Christmas Trees, majestic trees.

Did you know that some "hardwoods" are actually softer than some "softwoods"?  

Making our solid wood beds, our choice of wood is Fir.  Small simple name from a huge tree that has federal and Eco guidelines and protocols for the lumber industry.  Yes your government is on top of it when it comes to planting, cutting and replanting trees.  Especially when it comes to the most common lumber type in the United States.  Fir is a  +Eco-Friendly  sustainable wood, meaning the lumber industry cuts one section, tills and replants that section with fast growing fir and then moves on to another section a ways away.  Basically every tree that is cut is also replanted.  

Fir is actually a very hard and durable wood compared to some hardwoods.  Look at the Janka Scale. 

It is harder than Alder wood which is currently the favorite wood chosen by the furniture industry.  Most kitchen cabinets are made of Alder wood.  Fir is also harder than Chestnut - which we all know to be a beautiful grained wood and is considered very expensive.  Fir however is not as hard as oak.  Fir is rated a 660 - which considering Maple is at a 700 - um, I'm thinking that's really good since Maple is also a common wood used in furniture. 

Fir however, also has a bad rep for those that are not knowledgeable with in the wood world.  It is commonly used as lumber for construction.  Why not, it's hard, durable, lasts forever and is good against pests and mold.  It's perfect to build your house with - behind those walls of your house are studs made of fir and those studs hold up your roof, which is also made with fir. 

So next time you want to purchase a bunk bed for your kids to sleep on or a bed for yourself, ask what type of solid wood (ply with veneer is a whole other gripe in my +Woodworking Network industry).  Would you rather it be built with the same wood that leaves your kids homework indentations on the surface or something that your house is built with?  Many furniture makers make furniture out of the white pine and white wood because it's cheap, it looks great and can be used in any format.  Those pieces will not last over time - especially on weight and structure bearing beams.  Please be careful when ordering or shopping with your local artisans.  Ask.  Then find out if the structure is made of something else and then faced with white wood - that is a different build all together.  

Here at Backwood Beds we use fir for everything.  That means that I plane down to the sizes that i need.  I don't go and buy a white wood piece because it fits or looks better - I form my fir wood to what I need it to do.  It's hard, sturdy, rigid and very durable.  

So next time you are looking for some salsa or hot sauce - ask yourself just how "hot" is my wood?  (Now that's a funny question, right there!)