How to fix ripped support hole of bedframe?

[Sunda]

Hi braintrust,

I need advice on how to fix the big hole in the Bedframe.

I tried to disassemble the bed, and the bedhead suddenly fell off.

There was a rip in the support area, and a couple of the Timber Dowel Connectors broke in half, with them stuck to the joints.

I'm at a loss as to what to do, as I am not sure if I can fill the hole with Builder Bog, and if I do, will it last?

Also, how do I extract the Timber Dowel Connectors, which are stuck, and have little surface to pull them out?

I have attached two pics, one is how the joints are supposed to look like vs the pic with the ripped support.

I really appreciate all your advice on this matter.

Kind regards

[MitchellMc]

Hi @Sunda,

These cam and dowel style fixings are very convenient when a bed needs to be flat-packed or disassembled, but they are not the strongest type of joint. Once the dowels shear off and the cam bolt rips out of the surrounding timber, the remaining material is usually too damaged to rebuild reliably. Even if you fill the area with a product like Builder Bog, it rarely holds long-term under the side load that a bed frame experiences.

In your case, with the dowels broken and the centre bolt having torn out of its pocket, the simplest and strongest solution is not to try to restore the original hardware. The much more dependable fix is to realign the bedhead and the side rail, then drill from the back of the upright leg straight into the end of the side support. Three decent-sized timber screws driven through the leg into the end grain of the rail will give you a very strong mechanical connection. This method gives better long-term strength than the original cam and dowel fittings and avoids the complications of trying to rebuild the torn-out holes.

For the broken dowels stuck inside the panel, you can ignore them if you go ahead with the screw through method, because they no longer serve any functional purpose. If you did need to remove them, you could drill them out carefully, but that is not necessary for the fix above.

I have repaired several beds and cribs the same way when these fittings fail, and screwing through the leg into the rail is a clean, reliable and solid repair. 

Please let me know if you have any questions.

Mitchell

[AlanM52]

Hi @Sunda,

Much the same @MitchellMc and I often use screw caps or

Furniture repair kit.

Cheers

[Noyade]

Evening @Sunda 

To my eyes the bolt appears to be threaded into a steel insert which in turn has been screwed into a pre-drilled hole.

Are you able to tell us about the anchoring method for the long piece, not shown?

Is it a drilled out section which the bolt feeds through and then a 'special' spanner tightens the nut on a curved washer within a very confined space?

We had a bed like this.

Simply appalling engineering.

[EricL]

Hi @Noyade 

That is an excellent question and a beautiful render.

Eric

[Sunda]

Hi Noyade,

You are quite right.

There is a bolt that is bigger at the end, which should be attached to the Bedhead legs. 

I have taken the pic of the attachment for your viewing.

My main concern is that the bedhead leg is quite thin…

And I suspect the bed is made of pine wood, hence quite soft wood. 

 

[Sunda]

Thank you for your advice, MitchellMc

[Noyade]

That actually looks a better bed connection than we had @Sunda thirty five years ago.

For me - different decade and more skills - I would be trying today for a small steel plate in that 'cavity' and a threaded bolt from the post side.

Hex head for a socket/wrench.

I would be welding the nut to the plate - meaning no 'special' spanner required.

You have the hole positions already.

Happy to help make the 'washer' nut for you.

Cheers and good luck.