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
Hey Landyacht,
You obviously know your stuff. I'll have to build a sanding block like you describe.
Sofa-bed continued:
Back to the End Piece.
Glue on a new edge strip to replace the one I had ruined. To prevent a recurrence of the laminate burn while trimming I read that you can use paraffin wax. So that's what I did. Just rub the edge of a block of paraffin along the laminate where the router bit's pilot bearing will make contact. Put it on thick.
As you can see here, the paraffin did the trick. No laminate burn.
I'll use paraffin on the rest of the edge trimming where burn could be a problem. Hopefully as I do more of this I'll get good enough to where it won't be needed.
Flip the right End Piece over so that we're looking at it's right side or exterior side. Need to drill holes through the sheet of Formica laminate that I installed on the opposite side. Use the holes on this side as a guide for the drill.
If you remember from earlier in the build I have extra holes showing. Only drill the holes that I had previously marked before dissembling the sofa-bed.
Here's how it looks on the other side when done.
In the close-up view you can see chipping around the new holes. This isn't going to be a problem since all these holes will be covered by wood blocks, metal angles or hardware sliders.
I was going to cover the opposite side of the End Piece with laminate when I got to thinking. The original plan was to have the bolts that hold everything together extend through the exterior side of the End Pieces. Then use washers and bolts to secure them in place. That is how I've done it so far in this project every time I've assembled/disassembled the sofa-bed.
But two things got me to thinking. First was when I saw how easily Formica cracked. Since I'd not worked with Formica before I hadn't realized that.
Second thing is the amount of deformation that a nut with washer causes on the side of the plywood. When you combine those two I knew I had a problem.
The original plan would most likely cause some nasty looking cracks on the Formica surface. Time for Plan B.
WARNING: I've not had a chance to fully test this out. It seems like it should work but I can't guarantee it yet.
Get a whole bunch of T-Nuts .
The T-nuts will be mounted inside the End Piece and then complete covered with Formica so there shouldn't be a cracking problem. The bolt ends will not extend through the Formica so it should also look a lot cleaner.
I'm using two sizes 1/4" and 5/16".
The 1/4" and 5/16" refer to the inside threads. The T-nut will be countersunk into the End Piece. To do this I need to find what the outside diameter (O.D.) of the T-nut shank is so to know the size of the hole to drill. This is a drill gauge. It's a series of holes with the diameters listed. I'll use it to get the T-nuts O.D.
If you ever want to get one of these gauges just sign up for a woodworking magazine then let the subscription lapse. Thereafter you will periodically get letters offering a "Special Renewal Rate" for the magazine along with a "Free Gift". A drill gauge is often the "Free Gift". For the 1/4" T-nut it looks like I'll need a 19/64 drill bit.
I want to drill the hole just deep enough to seat the T-nut. Use masking tape to mark the bit so I'll know where to stop drilling. I actually have drill collars but masking tape works just fine.
The "T" part of the T-nut also has to be countersunk. Use a spade bit for this. It's fairly easy to eyeball what size spade bit is needed. For the 1/4" T-nut it's a 3/4" spade bit.
Here's how the hole looks after drilling.
I do a test fit of the T-nut upside down so I'll be sure that the "T" head will sit below the level of the wood before installing it.
Use a hammer to install the T-nuts. I use the orange colored punch (with the hammer) to be sure the T-nuts are below the level of the surrounding plywood.
Installed all the 1/4" T-nuts. Now use the 5/16" ones. First get the O.D.
Oh Look. It's different drill gauge. 3/8" drill needed.
Spade bit for a 5/16" T-nut is 7/8".
The exterior side of the right End Piece with all the T-nuts installed.
continued -
You obviously know your stuff. I'll have to build a sanding block like you describe.
Sofa-bed continued:
Back to the End Piece.
Glue on a new edge strip to replace the one I had ruined. To prevent a recurrence of the laminate burn while trimming I read that you can use paraffin wax. So that's what I did. Just rub the edge of a block of paraffin along the laminate where the router bit's pilot bearing will make contact. Put it on thick.
As you can see here, the paraffin did the trick. No laminate burn.
I'll use paraffin on the rest of the edge trimming where burn could be a problem. Hopefully as I do more of this I'll get good enough to where it won't be needed.
Flip the right End Piece over so that we're looking at it's right side or exterior side. Need to drill holes through the sheet of Formica laminate that I installed on the opposite side. Use the holes on this side as a guide for the drill.
If you remember from earlier in the build I have extra holes showing. Only drill the holes that I had previously marked before dissembling the sofa-bed.
Here's how it looks on the other side when done.
In the close-up view you can see chipping around the new holes. This isn't going to be a problem since all these holes will be covered by wood blocks, metal angles or hardware sliders.
I was going to cover the opposite side of the End Piece with laminate when I got to thinking. The original plan was to have the bolts that hold everything together extend through the exterior side of the End Pieces. Then use washers and bolts to secure them in place. That is how I've done it so far in this project every time I've assembled/disassembled the sofa-bed.
But two things got me to thinking. First was when I saw how easily Formica cracked. Since I'd not worked with Formica before I hadn't realized that.
Second thing is the amount of deformation that a nut with washer causes on the side of the plywood. When you combine those two I knew I had a problem.
The original plan would most likely cause some nasty looking cracks on the Formica surface. Time for Plan B.
WARNING: I've not had a chance to fully test this out. It seems like it should work but I can't guarantee it yet.
Get a whole bunch of T-Nuts .
The T-nuts will be mounted inside the End Piece and then complete covered with Formica so there shouldn't be a cracking problem. The bolt ends will not extend through the Formica so it should also look a lot cleaner.
I'm using two sizes 1/4" and 5/16".
The 1/4" and 5/16" refer to the inside threads. The T-nut will be countersunk into the End Piece. To do this I need to find what the outside diameter (O.D.) of the T-nut shank is so to know the size of the hole to drill. This is a drill gauge. It's a series of holes with the diameters listed. I'll use it to get the T-nuts O.D.
If you ever want to get one of these gauges just sign up for a woodworking magazine then let the subscription lapse. Thereafter you will periodically get letters offering a "Special Renewal Rate" for the magazine along with a "Free Gift". A drill gauge is often the "Free Gift". For the 1/4" T-nut it looks like I'll need a 19/64 drill bit.
I want to drill the hole just deep enough to seat the T-nut. Use masking tape to mark the bit so I'll know where to stop drilling. I actually have drill collars but masking tape works just fine.
The "T" part of the T-nut also has to be countersunk. Use a spade bit for this. It's fairly easy to eyeball what size spade bit is needed. For the 1/4" T-nut it's a 3/4" spade bit.
Here's how the hole looks after drilling.
I do a test fit of the T-nut upside down so I'll be sure that the "T" head will sit below the level of the wood before installing it.
Use a hammer to install the T-nuts. I use the orange colored punch (with the hammer) to be sure the T-nuts are below the level of the surrounding plywood.
Installed all the 1/4" T-nuts. Now use the 5/16" ones. First get the O.D.
Oh Look. It's different drill gauge. 3/8" drill needed.
Spade bit for a 5/16" T-nut is 7/8".
The exterior side of the right End Piece with all the T-nuts installed.
continued -
