The Bed

Sit Down Next To Me

Continuing on from yesterdays blog, I went and got more wood to finish the framework, and some pine for the slats. (Warning : Lots of photos on this post)

First up was to make a frame for the slats to sit on, and this would be hinged so it could be lifted up to reach the electrics below. I made this with the 38 x 19mm pine so it was nice and light.

Next was to cut the pine slats, I spaced them out on this section leaving room between them, but it still gives plenty of support.

Both ends secured on with 2 screws, I noticed a couple of bits of wood were splitting, so used a smaller diameter screw for the rest, and you can see below it completed and it lifted up.

So that section is now complete, apart from a couple of panels to close off the frame and hide the electrics.

Next up was to do the front frame for the pull out section, this was a bit trickier to work out, but managed it thanks to online photos, as you can see below the offset bit I did yesterday now has the front pull out frame against it.

With that done, I made the top frame for the slats, and again I wanted this hinged so I could use the space below to store the duvet and other bedding. 

With that done, I then cut the pine for the slats, this time I left enough room between them all to have the sliding one have enough space to pull out. The photo below shows how it will look.

To allow me to lift up this whole section, I needed to make one of the fixed slats a little longer so it catches on the front rail when lifting, as you can see below near the right of the photo.

As you can see above, I started to fix the sliding slat to the front frame, and then it attaches to another piece of wood underneath the fixed slats.

To support that bit of wood when pushed back, I just added a few bits of wood at the back for it to sit on.

Once all the slats were screwed down, you can see how they interlace together and form a solid base to sit/sleep on.

And the photo below shows it pulled out, as you can see it doesn't go right along to the end of the other section, this was in part in error by myself and not measuring correctly, but it doesn't really make a difference and it is still 4ft wide and just over 6ft long.

I added a couple of 45 x 45 struts to the inside leg of the slide out section just to give it a bit more support.

So that is the sofa/bed pretty much finished, just a few bits to do. I need to do a support frame at the back of the van seats just to hold the cushions in place and also the panels I mentioned before.

And yes I have put the cushions in to see what it looks like, and more importantly feels like.. no complaints really :)

Link to Photo Album