My Homebrew Rock and Roll bed.

[rob1927]

Hello all i thought i'd share my home brew rock and roll bed with yas(not litterally ), i emailed bluebird for a sexy italian metal one about two and a half months ago i still aint heard anything back so in the mean time i bought a second hand mig welder some 30mm 3mm thick box section and am making my own. It's almost complete just the hinges to go on which i'll order soon and of course the boards to form the seat back and base.
I have say a thanks to Covkid for sharing his homebrew bed design i got the gist of how to go about it and a few measurements and dimensions from looking at Covkids RnR bed tho i did mine a little differntly, cheers Covkid.
Some fotos then!

First a face to a name, that'll be me in the highly equipped workshop(the front garden equipped with old house bricks for a workbench.



First of all i made the base, i chose to use 30mm box section for its rigidity and strength which i continue to use throughout.



I never worked from a drawing or anything i kind of made it up as i went along, a few ideas of how i want it to look when finished determined the dimensions for the base i quite fancy having the board that houses the speakers and plug sockets in such a position that it does'nt come past the sliding door opening, so i made the base to fit accordingly so as when the 10mm board is fixed to the front it should fit snuggly just behind the door opening albeit with a little overhang from the wooden seat base.

Another point to make here the holes i made were determined by the 'complex' floor pattern, ridges and grooves everywhere made it a little more tricky hence the 'stepped' in sides for the metal base.



The upright struts, for want of better terminology! To take measurements for these i bolted my now made base to my vans floor and took a straight edge from the rear bulkhead(the engine bit) and measured off the straight edge to my base and minused 30mm to allow for the top rails(more dodgy terminology!)



Just checkin'.



With all four uprights welded in place,(first time on a welder by the way )i welded the front rail on. The next part i don't have fotos of unfortunatly so i'll try to explain best i can. Story so far base with four uprights and the front upper section now fixed. Next i bolted that lot to the vans floor then cut a piece of 3mm thick 30mm wide flat bar to the same length as the whole width of the bed i then drilled and bolted that to the top of the sloping section on the rear bulkhead. I then used an adjustable angle finder to determine the angle of the sloping bulkhead(now with my flat bar bolted to it.) I cut the outer upper sections of box section using the angle i found and it fits nicely up to the bulkhead.

Heres a foto maybe this makes it a bit clearer.



Since then i put an upright piece of box section in the middle down the front, and will be putting another couple of bits in to strengthen it up but to be fair it already feels well solid, more fotos to come as i go along.

TTFN- Rob.

[CovKid]

Weight could be a problem though. Have a look at this one I made further down this page:

https://club8090.co.uk/wiki/Ca ... build_beds" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

May give you some ideas. Some of the structure doesn't need box section, just angle iron to tie it together. The overhang is a good idea anyway. Most people sitting upright tend to bring their feet inwards by default and a straight box shape isn't comfortable to sit on for long periods.

The challenge you'll have is (if you use RnR hinges) is getting them mounted correctly. Clamps or better still, small tack welds will help you get that part right.

Ralph

[tforturton]

Never welded before! Gettaway! You're doing really well. What welding gear do you have?

[rob1927]

Hi Ralph thanks for the feedback regarding the hinges, the bed is a little heavy but it's the only feature i'll be adding so i think it should be ok, i'm not putting any cupboards in or further storage, would you say the JK hinges are the best to use? Are your hinges bolted or welded? Or both?
Also Ralph great thread on the rustoleum and roller paint job, i think i'll be giving that a try next summer.

Thanks tforturton i bought the welder i have off my girlfriends brother, it's an old mig that uses gas, he said it's old but good, it only has an on/off switch speed and volts control and weighs a ton, it seemed to work really well after a bit of practice setting it up, i think it's a finnish company that made it.

[CovKid]

I basically tacked the hinges in the area I thought they would work best then once I was absolutely sure I welded on some bracing pieces/tags so I could bolt the hinges on - if that helps. Don't rush placing them as they MUST be right. Think about how the boards will fit too. I used Marcle Hinges but any will do I guess, just a case of finding the sweet spot for them.

Yep, roller, its the way foward.

Looking good fella!

[rob1927]

Cheers Ralph regarding the hinge placement and fixing ideas, they would have to be spot on for the whole thing to work properly so i'll definatly take my time doing it. I don't suppose you have any fotos of the the back of your seat back, you mentioned that you used some metal to give it rigidity, it's quite a width to span without some kind of additional support in there.

Loads to do on the van i was on with the interior stuff then the cylinder head went, i took the block out to discover a CR(VW Jetta) engine block with 2 broken pistons! It's all good fun! The engine should be a JX, i just picked up another van for 500 euros with a JX lump, the JX engines seem to go for a round 300 or so euros, i think it was a good buy as theres some captain seats in the donor van in great nick plus those small front door windows that open outwards and(!) i need a tailgate as mines well shot with rust, the donor van has a decent one and its the right colour! The list goes on and on.

I'll have a look at the marcle hinges you mentioned, it would be good to get the welding stuff done before the winter arrives.

Thanks again.

[CovKid]

Will take a pic once the back of mine is clear of camping stuff but basically I used a length of 'W' profile galvanized fencing upright which went from one side to the other and under one of the bolts (each side) that fasten back to hinges. It added just the right amount of rigidity to avoid having to use 1" thick plywood for the back - lol

This 'strengthener' drops into the seat base when everything is down flat. You could weld up a complete frame for the back of course but that just adds weight. Once you've got the seat board and back more or less right (even if they seem flimsy at first), you only need a few tweaks like extra batons to the underside of the seat bit to add rigidity (and/or tidy edges) and to help lock it against your metal seat frame when in the seat position. If you get it right it shouldn't need any kind of locking pins when going from bed to seat. Chances are you'll see whats needed (as I did) once the thing is 80% there.

Make of hinge doesn't matter to be honest - you just make them fit. Correct positioning is what matters.

Beats the MDF cheapo rock n roll beds anyway

You'll know what I mean by W profile fencing uprights if you look here (scroll down)
http://www.qynetting.com/products-palisade-fencing.html" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false; - you just cut the tops off!

[rob1927]

Thanks Covkid some useful pointers there, i was thinking of making some kind of frame for the back but as you say it just adds more weight, maybe an alluminium frame would be the way to go but i don't think ally is mig weldable.
I definatly agree with what you say about MDF jobs they look very very flimsy i think it would definatly fail the three strong blokes trying to pull it out test!
Progress is being made on the van i need to shape up a bit now tho, winter is unfortunatly on its way, i dont fancy the spanners when its minus 20 here in finland!

Thanks again.