I've acquired half a dozen bed frames which are basically just lengths of angle iron.  

What projects have others made out of bed frames?  Or what ideas would you have to make things from this as starting stock?

I've got fabricated hammer racks on the list, but really want something I can FORGE using this stock.

I've been thinking of also starting similar "What can I make with....? " type topics.  I've seen the RR Spike topic, but not a lot of others.  Perhaps a more generic "Project Ideas" would be good to get some idea discussions going.

Hey, Brian. I always grab any bed frames I see put out in the trash, and I've welded a lot of it up into various bits of shop infrastructure. 

The thing to remember about bed rail is that it is usually (not always) fairly high in carbon. This means that you need to be careful about heat management while you're forging or welding it, and you need to make sure it's annealed dead soft before you go drilling any holes in it. 

Some years ago, I came up with a way of making bolt tongs from lengths of bed rail. Here's that thread and the subsequent discussion: 

 

The older bed frames are true angle iron.  I've read in several places that they were rerolled from worn rail road rail.  In any event, the ones I've fooled with were hardenable -- I even made a small slitting chisel from a piece of one.

The newer ones seem to be made from flat stock and bent into an angle -- no sharp corner and no upset.  You could always turn those back into flat stock. I've been avoiding them, but wouldn't be surprised if they're something like A-36.

I made the blade of an old school weed whacker out of a piece of bed frame. The blade has held up nicely but unfortunately the shaft i made is much to long and thin, it bends quite easily. Made that out of 3/8" A-36. 

JHCC, those tongs look like a great idea, I was wondering about the reins but after reading through the comments, I guess they're more comfortable than I suspected.

Mike, I may try using some bits for a slitting chisel.  Some of the cheaper lighter frames may be something like A36, but I'd think something a little stiffer would be required.

Billy, I've got a couple of those old weed whackers, but never thought of making one.   There are times when they're still better than a string weed whacker.

My first real knife was made from bed frame. Quenched in oil and I must have done something right, it is sharp and holds an edge real well. It is with my camping gear and has seen some abuse_ still sharp. 

Angle iron can sometimes be used for spearheads fairly quickly - the angle in the middle acts like an upset and leaves a premade ridge when flattened, and the width lends itself to less work in making a socket. With regular angle iron it's most often mild steel, but with bed rail, you might find something hardenable. 

I also imagine that even mild would lend itself easily to similar shapes, such as very large leaves.

little garden shovel

Torbjorn Ahman has a video on youtube on making a cute cat from angle iron and I think I have seen Black Bear Forge videos where he makes stuff from angle iron.  Somewhere I saw a video where the guy made some knife blade tongs from angle iron that looked like they would work well.  As others have noted, most of it is hardenable so be wary cutting it - it can strip the teeth from a hacksaw or bandsaw blade - abrasive chop saw or cutting torch always works.  Drilling it can also be difficult as noted.  I have tried annealing it first but it seems it does not always work and so if I am making something that needs a screw or bolt hole, I burn them in with the torch or plasma cutter.  I have also heard folks complaining that welds break easily due to the carbon content.  So far, I have not had that problem and I've built many things from the stuff, mostly frames for sculpture bases or other needed constructs in the shop.  A garden shovel is on my list of things to make.  Who can pass up free material when it is seen on the curb on a regular basis?

I think a little garden shovel will be on my project list.  The one I have bends a bit so maybe hardenable steel will make a better one than what I bought years ago.

I'll take a look at Torbjorn and John Switzer's videos.  They're both in my subscribed list, so I should be able to find them.

 

I've seen them used to make feathers, using the thicker center (once flattened) to good effect.

I had one frame made of c channel rather than angle iron.  I made forge doors out of them, but ran out of flux core wire before I could finish my terrible welding on the 2nd set of doors. 

A lot of these replies seem to be focused on the "angle iron" part of the question rather than the "bed rail" part.

It is indeed the case that regular angle iron has a square outside corner and a rounded inside fillet, so that you get a raised central ridge when you flatten it out. This kind of angle iron is made by hot rolling stock into shape not only to create the 90 degree angle, but also to form the square corner on the outside edge.

HOWEVER!

The vast majority of bedframes these days do NOT have this kind of angle iron, as Mike B notes above. Rather, these are made from flat stock that is bent into a 90 degree shape (either by rollers or in a press) with no further shaping. This kind of angle iron has both a radiused outside edge and a round-filleted inside edge, and if you flatten it out, you'll get basically get a piece of flat bar (possibly with a central wrinkle where the bend was, but even that can be flattened out if desired).

Unless you have an older bedframe with regular angle iron rails (an unlikely prospect, but not impossible), you're probably looking at the bent kind. In that case, any project that takes advantage of the sharp outer edge or regular angle iron isn't a good candidate for your material.

Regardless of which type of angle you have, the key consideration is the type of metal. Bed rails have to take an enormous amount of stress in a fairly small cross section (consider the force of a 200 lb. human sitting down hard and the bending moment that creates in the middle of an unsupported seven-foot span), so a higher carbon content and proper heat treatment is a sine qua non.

1 hour ago, JHCC said:

sine qua non

Good point but you're testing my hit-and-miss Latin. I knew every word and still had to look up the phrase after going, "Without which, not" what? Sigh...perfer et obdura.

Dolor hic tibi proderit olim.

Dolor scientia corpus ingrediens est.

On 3/6/2026 at 7:29 AM, Gazz said:

Torbjorn Ahman has a video on youtube on making a cute cat from angle iron

My daughter loved this! One of my first projects.

I use the stuff all the time!
I've made wood gouges by swaging one end of the angle round for the cutting edge and squeezing the other end shut before grinding into the tang shape. I saw that in a book years ago and it works very well, done the same thing for a few small garden shovels.
Not to mention it's usually hardenable so makes fair knives when hammered flat or split down the v with a cutting wheel. 
That being said, i generally just use long pieces to build machine stands, most recently for an old little table saw

17 hours ago, Ed Steinkirchner said:

I saw that in a book years ago and it works very well

I don't know if this is where you saw it, but it's illustrated in The Complete Modern Blacksmith by Alexander Weygers. I think it's in the section originally published as The Making of Tools, but I could be wrong.

I made a little shovel.  I'm happy with the shovel part, but I need to make a different handle.  This is a piece of 2x2 that I shaped with a belt sander.  It's ugly! 

Hmmm.... an excuse to get a wood lathe and make some gouges for it. I've got Wayger's book so I'm sure I can find it.

 

An angle grinder with a sanding disc or flap disc works really well for shovel handles, rounds it up really quick and you finish it smooth with a sander easy enough

Thanks for the suggestion.  I'll try that when I make another handle for it. 

On 4/3/2026 at 1:41 PM, JHCC said:

I think it's in the section originally published as The Making of Tools, but I could be wrong.

I've got it in The Modern Blackmsith, never got the Complete Modern Blacksmith. In Chapter 22, but he mentions using coil spring or for preference flat stock rather than angle iron. He also mentions having published The Making of Tools separately as a book. Dang it, I had completely forgot he had a section on stone carving tools and that's still on my list of to do projects when I finish that seax. Ankle wouldn't work with me today, try again tomorrow. 

I made a new handle using a flap disc on my angle grinder.  It worked wonerfully!