Building a platform for the bed - Hexcel?

[Sandi]

Originally Posted by Christopher Thwaites

We weigh 300# combined!

You misunderstand. We want the platform to be lightweight, but strong to support our combined weight. We want each piece to weigh 20 lbs or less. When you use plywood, that goal is hard to meet.

Thus the Hexcel.

Sandi

[Christopher Thwaites]

Got it. My bed is roughly 72" by 49". Each section of 3/8 ply weigh 7 or 8 lbs. The entire bed frame might weigh 25lbs. without the plywood and other items attached. It is very strong and ridgid. There is one crossmember running in the center of the long length.

[Sandi]

So, we called Hexcel, and their carbon fiber-wrapped panel was $800 for a 4'x8' panel, plus shipping.

There is a local aluminum panel maker, which is willing to sell it to us as a "custom order" with no shopping. Since it's wrapped in aluminum, rather than carbon fiber, it's much cheaper - about $240 for a 4'x8' panel.

They had all sorts of honeycomb and custom combos. One of the neater ones was 1/4" balsa wood core, skinned with aluminum. Very strong and (relatively) lightweight.

Looks like we'll be going with a 1" core, skinned with .040 aluminum. They can also embed aluminum in the edges, since that's the weak spot.

Anyway, we'll post pics when done, but the decision is getting clearer. For anyone else looking at a similar project, I recommend

http://www.pacificpanels.com

Peter, the president, was puzzled by two random yo-ho's wandering into the factory, but he was very nice and ended up spending about 30 minutes with us, showing us materials and various fabrications...

Sandi

[Christopher Thwaites]

40 years ago I was an aircraft sheetmetal technician. We repaired aluminum honey comb panels used on some of the big cargo planes of the time. The panels were very strong from a weight bearing standpoint but could not withstand any kind of blunt force trauma. They also tended to delaminate. Adhesives are probably better today.
In your application they should work well. Will they need to flex at all? That is where you could encounter some issues but if the edges are finished it's probably not a problem.
Sounds like a neat way to go. Spendy but neat!

[Sandi]

Originally Posted by Christopher Thwaites

40 years ago I was an aircraft sheetmetal technician. We repaired aluminum honey comb panels used on some of the big cargo planes of the time. The panels were very strong from a weight bearing standpoint but could not withstand any kind of blunt force trauma. They also tended to delaminate. Adhesives are probably better today.

Yeah, we're only using it to lay on, with a foam mattress on top. Barring accidental dropping, I'm assuming the foam mattress will protect the platform in most circumstances.

Originally Posted by Christopher Thwaites

In your application they should work well. Will they need to flex at all?

No.

Originally Posted by Christopher Thwaites

That is where you could encounter some issues but if the edges are finished it's probably not a problem. Sounds like a neat way to go. Spendy but neat!

See, $280 for a custom-made platform, sectioned into thirds for easy stacking, seems like a reasonable amount of money to us. Two sheets of quality 1" plywood? Heavier (by a lot), although 1/2 the cost. But the difference of $140? Priceless for the light weight, to two spinal surgery patients.

Pay to play, baby.

Sandi

[spomo1]

Sandi

Any pictures yet?

[Sandi]

Nope, not yet.

Dave has been working on welding the E-Track to the sides of the van. It requires putting in spacers, so that the E-Track can be bolted/welded on straight.

Once that's done (with the additional wiring for lights) we take it in to have the bubble top and interior panels added.

While they're building the interior, we'll be building the platform.

Latest iteration is that we'll be buying the 1" thick honeycomb fiberglass panel, 5.5' wide x 2' long x 4 panels. That will give us three removable panels. When assembled in place, the platform will be 5.5' wide by 6' long. And we'll have one extra panel, in case one gets damaged.

I hope we'll have it done by mid-August. But DH has three weekends out of town between now and then, so it's entirely dependent on how much I'm willing to nag during the week....

We've had a couple other things slow us down, and rightly so - including the death of a close friend last week. So it's keeping my natural DRIVE at bay, by understanding that, in the scheme of things, this isn't a life-or-death goal.

I'll post pics as we go.

Sandi

[Sandi]

OK, the van is in the shop, and we're starting the process for this project now. Request for quote is in to Pacific Panels - either 2 standard 4x8' panels, 1" thick, with .032 aluminum skin and 3/8 cell, or one custom 5x8' panel with those same specifications.

Soon!

Sandi

[spomo1]

Great news Sandi. looking forward to the results

[Rockman]

@Sandi,
how did the bed turn out, im looking into a platform similar if within budget.