I seem to have irreperably broken ds's bed - help!

[theduchessstill]

I am at the end of my tether and I just don't understand what I've done. I've moved ds1's bed to another room today. I made the stupid decision to try and move it without dissembling it first because I'm rubbish at furniture making (I've only done a small Billy bookcase) and I knew once it was apart it wouldn't go together again.

That led to 3 hours of manoeuvring it inch by inch around the landing before having to take it apart anyway. Now it's finally in the room it should be and just needs screwing together, but the screws are just going round and round and not getting tighter. I know I have the correct screws and allen keys and ds2's bed is identical so I took one of those screws out to see if it would reveal something to me, and at first that was fine and screwed back in normally, but when I did it a second time, that went loose two .

WFT am I doing wrong? I am actually sobbing here .

That's the bolt, you are looking for the nut bit. They aren't screed they def have to screw into nuts.

Oh photo is there .

How attached are you to the idea of ever taking it apart again?

If you don’t care then get some gorilla glue and coat the screw in it thickly then shove it in the hole. After 5 mins it will be stuck fast. You can get gorilla glue or hard as nails from most big supermarkers

You have a bolt, not a bit.

Assuming you’re putting the bolt into a hole on one side of a piece of wood, look on the other side (not opposite side) of the piece of wood for a slightly wider hole

Yep, definitely that same kind of bolt (they're buggers to get back into place). The little nut thingies probably are stuck in the bit of the bed that the bolt eventually pushes into (not in the hole you initially push the bolt in through)

In this picture the bolt is red and being tightened with his right hand with an Allen key. The nut is the gold item that he is holding still in the hole with a screwdriver in his left hand

You need to find the holes for the nuts and your bed and have a look inside to see if the nuts are still in there. Assuming they’re still in the holes then you need a screwdriver to line them up - the nut has a hole in for the bolt to tighten in to. Your screwdriver goes into the nut to turn it so the hole in the nut is facing the right way for the bolt to go into it. Then your screwdriver in the nut holds the nut still while you tighten the bolt into it

Is this a bolt? Da thinks so. Was on the long side of the bed near top and bottom. Do we turn them?

I mean a nut??

That's it. Put a knife or something flat in and turn it and try again.

The barrel shape nuts won't be in the headboard.
They'll be in the inside face of the long side struts

Yep thats it you need to turn it so the line is horizontal with a flat head screwdriver or the end of a butter knife. Hold it in place while you turn the screw

Turn those until you can feel the bolt engage the slots should probably be either horizontal or vertical to be aligned correctly ready for the bolt to go in. Follow the diagram posted. Very good diagram InNeed

Without putting bed together yet, turn the bolt (Black in the last picture) while you gently push the screw into its hole - you'll feel when it's in the right place. Gently screw the screw into the bolt so you know what it should be like. Then have a glass of wine and start again. I do this sort of ridiculous thing all the time thinking 'I'll just move those draws there and the bed there' - 10 hours later everything is upside down and worse than before!

That's them!
They like the picture that mumonashoestring posted.
They need to be held steady with a screwdriver so that the hole thru the middle lines up with long bolt

I've got a bed with those bolt things.
Once you get going it will take no time at all

Thanks so much everyone. I was losing all hope there! I'm going to have a go with the nuts and bolts tomorrow (I now remember them from the Billy bookcase) and if that fails will follow the glue advice above