I Made a Dog Bed... for a Dog (Without a Dog)

Since we've got a new dog last year I wanted to make a bed for here. Since she was taken from the shelter I wanted her to have something she would appreciate - her very own place in her new family. She didn't use it and now I'm trying to sell it...

Here's how I made it.

Step 1:

For the begining I've found a bunch of boards (salvaged from some crate at some point I assume) and it happened so that when just put together they make a perfect size for the bed, so I decided to adjust all the other parts to these dimesions.

Step 2:

So firstly I made a frame to attach the boards to and make a bedding panel so to say. Few pine beams, basic joinery, held by glue and some nails.

Step 3:

Then I've nailed the boards to the frame.

I also planed the board shield a bit to remove splints and protruding ridges.

Step 4:

Next I went for cutting side boards, begining with the back one. For this I've found a couple of 20mm thick oaken boards. They were laying at the attic for bunch of years so now they've got a bit bowed out in the middle, but for the home project like this it was within acceptable margines (for me atleast). Water stained parts were successfully removed by moderate ammount of sanding later.

So here I used the initial width of the board and just cut the back piece to lenght.

Step 5:

The narrow board for the front was cut from a scrap piece of similar board and planed for straightening the edge.

Step 6:

After that I've screwed down the front and back boards into their respective positions on the frame.

Step 7:

At this point I decided to take care of the wheels.

Although the wheels aren't a crucial part for a piece of furniture like this (even more it can prove to be quite unconvenient since the bed can move away from the dog when it tryes to get on it), my idea was that it would be easier for room cleaning if you just can roll the thing away when needed. Anyway, sue for yourself...

So to begin with I've cut four triangles and drilled a bunch of holes in them: some to screw them to the frame; others to attach the wheels, which will make more sence in the next step.

Step 8:

So the triangles are screwed into the inner corners of the frame, and the pins from the casters fit snuggly into those other holes, facing down now.

Step 9:

With that been done I went to cutting the side panels. Since I was limited in ammount of material I had to fit both details on one board so I used some clever geometry to make it possible.

Step 10:

Then I've clamped two pieces together matching the curved sections as closely as posible and sanded the edges untill both boards are similar in shape.

Step 11:

So now I could to test fit al parts together using screws. Obviously I've predrilled each and every neccessary hole.

Step 12:

Since, as I've mentioned, the boads had a bit of a curve to them cutting the back ends of the the side boards square to size wasn't an option, so I cut them a couple of mm longer on porpouse with the intention to flash trim the excess after instalation... which I did.

Step 13:

Also with the side boards installed I could now determine the curve I needed to shape the front board to. I did it using a hand plane.

Step 14:

Now, when the major job on the board had been done I adressed minor stuff, like rounding the edges, countersinking the screw holes, some planing and sanding.

Step 15:

For the finish I gave everything a coat of linseed oil.

Step 16:

Before the final assembly there had left one more thing to do, so I've cut a piece of sythetic padding material to the board bedding size and covered everything with a sheet of that unwoven fabric I don't know a name for in English.

Step 17:

When the frame is finished the time comes to the pillow, and I'm starting from making the casing. As a material I use scraps of fabric from our old cauch we've salvaged after it was reupholstered. Since there's very few large pieces have remained I had to be somewhat tricky with my patterns to to fitt everything I needed, but eventually the casing was done.

Step 18:

Then I went forward and cut a stack of sheets of that synthetic filler material that used for making pillows. Ypu definitely know what I'm talking about...

Then The inner casing was made to accomodate the whole stack.

Step 19:

And here's the pillow filled and ready.

Step 20:

And... here's the final result. My dog didn't like it. I like it, maybe someone else's dog will like it too after I sell the thing, but anyway, this is it for now, thanks for your attention and have a nice dog.