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A dog bed made from Melamine and Pine to slide under a bed.
The project
When we first moved into our new home, we wanted to give our dogs an alternative to sleeping on our bed at night (they frequently switch between our bed or the floor). My wife made a bed, and while it is sturdy and also slides under the bed, it was difficult to make and has some notable flaws.
Now that our new Rottweiler Rollo is approaching 60kg, we decided to make a second one just for him to use.
Tools and materials
Tools and materials used in the project:
- Measuring tape
- Marker
- Ryobi 305mm dual-bevel sliding mitre saw
- Ryobi 18V ONE+ HP brushless compact drill driver
- Ryobi One+ 18V 82mm rebate planer
- 1 x (1200 x 600mm) 3mm Melamine white
- 1 x Rust-Oleum 340g 2X Ultra Cover Paint+Prime flat black
- 1 x Zenith 6G x 30mm Zinc plated hinge - Long thread countersunk head timber screws - 100 Pack
- 2 x Prestige 125mm brass metal case handle
- 1 x 184 x 19mm 2.4m Dressed Pine
- 1 x 184 x 19mm 1.2m Dressed Pine
- 1 x 42 x 19mm 3.6m DAR Premium Pine.
Steps
Step 1
Cut the Pine to the required size. For me this was having 2 x 1200mm long pieces of Pine and 2 x 562mm for the ends. (Note) As the base was already of size, it didn't need cutting.
Step 2
Place the cut pieces of Pine onto the base and create the box. Drill some pilot holes and then use the screws to bind everything together.
Step 3
Now cut the 42mm Pine to size within and place it flat. It should look like the image below. Drill more pilot holes and begin fixing the 184mm Pine to the 42mm pieces and the 42mm pieces to the base.
Step 4
The dog bed should be pretty solid now, but we're going to flip it over and drill some pilot holes that go from the base into the 184mm Pine. This will ensure everything is together. I've marked out where I placed the nails in the image below.
Step 5
At this stage, I would cover the screw holes if you wanted to conceal them. I didn't. But I took this moment to plane the edges, just because I had images of my son hitting his head on the hard surfaces in the future.
Step 6
Time to paint. Flip it again so that it's the right way up. I only needed the one spray can for this one with an even coat around and inside of it. Once the paint is dry, figure out where you want the handles to be and place them on. These are strong enough to carry the box around, but they are only used to slide the bed in and out.
Give it a day outside (where it can't get wet) to get rid of the spray paint smell and you're done.
The bed itself looks great. I've used three memory foam pillows inside to form the dog bed (our dogs prefer these over actual dog beds) and a blanket the dogs lay down on out in our lounge room (so it has a similar smell). Luna, the smaller of the two, instantly claimed it once I set it up.
Rollo later claimed it back once it was set up. He loved it.
The unpainted Melamine base makes pulling the bed out and back in a breeze on carpet. Here's the bed pulled out.
Going in with a plan certainly sped up the build, as did the base being the exact size I needed (just ensuring everything fitted on it). When my wife built hers, it probably took the better part of an afternoon. This one took a little over an hour (not including the drying time and time spent outside).
We're really happy with how this turned out.
More inspiration for your pet project
Workshop member Poppop built this indoor dog kennel using a combination of Pine timber and chrome curtain rods.
Community member Rylie built this large dog bed using recycled pallet timber.
Get more ideas from our collection of D.I.Y. projects for pets.
Good Morning @Remarka6le
Thats a nice idea and looks good to boot! Does your dog use it or just look at it and decide on the bed? 
I like the added brass handles!
Dave
