I've been looking for a design i like for a galvanized pipe bed. A major influence for my design comes from willparks on Instructables. If you want to make a very sturdy bed this would be a great start. The great thing about these bed designs are that you can change it to your liking. I hope you can put everything together by my disorganized planning.

Please note all my measurements are in mm but the pipe size i used was 3/4" galvanized piping. You can give it some character by finding this kind of piping at demolition yards as i did with most of this build for a fraction of the price. (I am not 100% sure what the joint names are but hopefully you understand what i am saying below)

Pipe lengths and threaded at each end:

1 x 1540 mm
2 x 1000 mm
4 x 930 mm
2 x 880 mm
2 x 530 mm
7 x 350 mm
4 x 120 mm

Connections needed:

2 x reverse thread joiners (NB)
8 x T - joints
4 x 90 degree joints
8 x Flanges (feet)

Wood needed:

I only went and bought my wooden slats after i built the frame
16 x 40 mm
2 x 10 mm x 10 mm square wood lengths of 2000 mm (For keeping the slats together)
The head board is completely up to you but i used a scaffolding plank. Cleaned and cut it in two.

Tools needed:

A pair of rubber gloves to grip the pipes nicely
2 x monkey wrench

Optional extra's

4 cans of clear coat (or any other color you need/want)
If you are going to make a headboard you'll need the half circle type brackets as you'll see in my steps below.

Step 1: Pipe Preparation

As an optional extra you can either risk it and see if the pipe makes your sheets dirty or it could rusty and do the same over time. I used a clear coat to seal the pipe and prevent it from making anything dirty or eventually rusting. You can see in this image how the galvanized pipe was sprayed. Aerosol cans of clear coat is easiest to apply. 3 or 4 coats will do. Try avoid the threaded areas as it will make your life a bit difficult during assembly.

Step 2: Assembly

Start by joining all your connections and pipes together. A good place to start is from the lower end where your feet will be and working your way up until you get to the headboard section. the last two connections should be the reverse thread joiners. As you go along done forget to fit the flanges (feet) so it wont make any marks or damage the surface its being assembled on. When have finished assembling the pipes you can use what is left over from the clear coat and give the section where you have used the wrench to seal that up.

Step 3: Wooden Slats Assembly

Once it has been assembled you can put the wooden slats on but before you put them on space them out on the frame. Once they are on and all aligned nicely you will need a friend to assist. I placed all the slats on the frame and spread them out evenly. Once they were aligned i had a friend put some pressure on them to keep them in place. I screwed in the slats and did the same on the other side. When i flipped the board made of slats over the 2 pieces of wood 10 mm x 10 mm fitted perfectly between the frame sides. You can see the front view on the first image. I just needed to cut the extra lengths off from the 10 mm x 10 mm wood to get everything even.

Step 4: Testing

Once i had the frame assembled i placed the last piece of support under the bed. When you screw on the flange on either side of the pipe it should fit very snugly under the bed. No need to fasten it anywhere. It will stay where you leave it. I jumped on the bed and found it quite sturdy. Not a squeak or any kind of noise.

Step 5: Headboard

I attached the headboard with half circle type brackets as shown in the image above. I gave all the wood a clear coat as i did with the pipes to keep things sealed and clean.

There is one more piece to this headboard i have not put in yet. There will be one more piece of wood put in at the bottom but it will be cut shorter to fit in between the posts and attached with a screw type bracket that will go into the wood and be fastened around the pipe. If i place another piece of wood on as i have with the two pieces above it will overlap the mattress and annoy the hell out of you. so by aligning the wood with the post you loss no mattress space and it will block you from pushing up the mattress and into the space.

Step 6: Conclusion

This all took me an afternoon to prep and 1 evening to assemble. Acquiring the materials took me about 2 weekends to do. Buying everything new in South Africa is quite expensive but if you know of demolition yards you can do it for a fraction of the price. A bit of elbow grease and you'll have an awesome sturdy as hell bed frame.

Hope you find this useful and assists you with your design.