Patrick Gibbons, Houston, TX
>When I made beds I had bed bolts going through a mortise in the head boards and into a tenon in the rail. The tenon's fit is not critical. It's main purpose is to provide support at the shoulder and put weight on the wood and not on the bolt. My beds are rock solid. They do not move. I can't give credit for this solely to the bed bolt joints. The slats for mattress support are screwed down to a ledger on the rails. I cut slits on both sides of the slats and used 1/4-20 screws with tee nuts. This allows movement of the wood while also speeding up the fitting of the slats. I did this originally because I anticipated my sons would be kicking the slats of the bed above them and didn't want them to be able to move. The increased rigidity was just a bonus.