Step one. Bought the van.
Hello Everybody, First post. I camp a lot in tents but after spending three days straight in a tent in the rain at Dolly Sods I swore I'd make a change. Here it is. Bought it Wednesday. Dro...
Forum Discussion
Sofa-bed continued:
I left this off the last posting. After drilling the finger holes for the hatch covers I sanded down the rough edges of the hole.
I have finished upgrading the End Pieces and creating and installing the hatches and panels on the Platforms.
Put the sofa-bed pieces together again. New longer screws will be needed in some places.
Looks OK.
Giving it a test spin with Bob.
It was at this point while testing how to attach the lifter I damaged the 6 inch actuator. I covered this in a previous posting. Just look under "bonehead".
Did you ever have one of those project that you know you should do but keep trying to talk yourself out of. That describes my feelings about the Center Support at this point. I had been messing with this one piece of plywood a lot. Making little cuts here and there and drilling extra holes for the lift mechanism and the actuator base. After seeing how much I liked the doubled up End Pieces I knew the original Center Support's days were numbered.
Started with a couple pieces of plywood from the scrap pile bigger than the 30"x12" needed for the final size. Glue them together then clamp.
The new Center Support will be a different thickness so I'll have to make changes to both the Kick Board and the Middle Brace. Here I get a lucky break on the Kick Board. I had previously mentioned that I made a mistake because I glued the support block for the Center Support to the Kick Board. Well guess what. When I go to remove the support block, thought I was going to have and cut it off, I find it wasn't glued! So I hadn't made that mistake after all. That means I get one UNMISTAKE credit.
The Middle Brace was another story. It was glued and there was a couple of other issues so I just decide to make a all new one.
One change I made to the Middle Brace was at the end blocks. Before I had notched the blocks to fit over the pieces of metal angle on the End Pieces that support the Back Platform when in the bed position.
I changed it by notching the metal angle instead. This way the top of the metal angle rests on the top of the corner block. I think this will give a better fit.
While the glue on the new Center Support dries disassemble the sofa-bed and prime and paint the Platforms, hatches, Middle Brace and part of the Kick Board.
After the Center Support is ready, use the table saw to to bring it to it's 30"x12" final size.
Use the same bar and clamp method I used to make straight cuts with the circular saw but this time with the saber saw.
Notch the front of the board where it will fit over the Kick Board.
Then paint it too.
continued -
I left this off the last posting. After drilling the finger holes for the hatch covers I sanded down the rough edges of the hole.
I have finished upgrading the End Pieces and creating and installing the hatches and panels on the Platforms.
Put the sofa-bed pieces together again. New longer screws will be needed in some places.
Looks OK.
Giving it a test spin with Bob.
It was at this point while testing how to attach the lifter I damaged the 6 inch actuator. I covered this in a previous posting. Just look under "bonehead".
Did you ever have one of those project that you know you should do but keep trying to talk yourself out of. That describes my feelings about the Center Support at this point. I had been messing with this one piece of plywood a lot. Making little cuts here and there and drilling extra holes for the lift mechanism and the actuator base. After seeing how much I liked the doubled up End Pieces I knew the original Center Support's days were numbered.
Started with a couple pieces of plywood from the scrap pile bigger than the 30"x12" needed for the final size. Glue them together then clamp.
The new Center Support will be a different thickness so I'll have to make changes to both the Kick Board and the Middle Brace. Here I get a lucky break on the Kick Board. I had previously mentioned that I made a mistake because I glued the support block for the Center Support to the Kick Board. Well guess what. When I go to remove the support block, thought I was going to have and cut it off, I find it wasn't glued! So I hadn't made that mistake after all. That means I get one UNMISTAKE credit.
The Middle Brace was another story. It was glued and there was a couple of other issues so I just decide to make a all new one.
One change I made to the Middle Brace was at the end blocks. Before I had notched the blocks to fit over the pieces of metal angle on the End Pieces that support the Back Platform when in the bed position.
I changed it by notching the metal angle instead. This way the top of the metal angle rests on the top of the corner block. I think this will give a better fit.
While the glue on the new Center Support dries disassemble the sofa-bed and prime and paint the Platforms, hatches, Middle Brace and part of the Kick Board.
After the Center Support is ready, use the table saw to to bring it to it's 30"x12" final size.
Use the same bar and clamp method I used to make straight cuts with the circular saw but this time with the saber saw.
Notch the front of the board where it will fit over the Kick Board.
Then paint it too.
continued -
