Hal The Van

[jage]

Or...

"Get away from there cat.
You're not a machinist.
You don't even have goggles on."

[WVvan]

Now you're just being silly. Everyone knows cats don't wear goggles. They wear fur face shields.

[saabman]

This must be the most amazing sofa bed ever made

[WVvan]

Hey Saabman,
I wouldn't say most amazing but I will lay claim to the title of "Most Time Every Spend On Building A Single Piece Of Furniture".

[Zaskoda]

Originally Posted by WVvan

Now you're just being silly. Everyone knows cats don't wear goggles. They wear fur face shields.

Text not relevant to our conversation.

[WVvan]

I stand corrected.

[WVvan]

Sofa-bed continued:

Assemble the different pieces to see how everything works together. I took care to make sure the sofa-bed was square as I bolted it together. The best way for me is to measure diagonally from each corner.



If the measurements are the same then everything is square.

As I tighten up the bolts I would continue to re-check the square.


Did some testing with just the Seat Platform but I'll need to attach the two Platforms together to move farther along on the testing


Line up the two Platforms.


I'm using four hinges to join the two Platforms. I choose this style hinge because I happened to have them laying around. This picture shows that the hinge doesn't lay flat. There is more than one way to deal with this but the method I've chosen is to create a gap between the two Platforms. This gap wasn't in the original plan but it's not going to create any problems.


With this hinge the perfect gap happens to match the thickness of a piece of 19/32" plywood. Clamp a scrap plywood piece between the two Platforms to hold them in place.




Measure and mark out the positions of hinges.


Separate the two platforms. Using the marks and a clamp, line up one hinge. Then drill holes for the 1/4" bolts I'll be using to secure the hinges.


Do this for all the hinges on both platforms.


Bolt the two Platforms together and place on the sofa-bed frame. Use clamps to hold the Seat Platform to the metal angles on the end slides and the Center Support.


One of the first things I did with the Seat and Back Platforms joined and in place was to figure out what the optimum angle for the Back Platform should be while in the sofa position. Use clamps to hold the Back Platform at different angles. Kept changing it until I found what was most comfortable.


I like 112 degrees from the Seat Platform. I'm hoping this will still be OK once I install padding.




continued -

[WVvan]

Sofa-bed side trip:

At this point in the build I started working on a mechanism to raise the Back Platform as the sofa-bed moved from the bed to the sofa position. This was to be powered by the movement of the Seat Platform. It didn't work as planned so I moved on to a design using a second actuator. I spend so much time and effort on creating the lifter and trying to get it to work I didn't want to move on without mentioning it. And I do mean A LOT OF TIME. As usual I took a bunch of pictures.













The lifter did work. Just not good enough. Here is a 6 Mb avi file of the lifter in operation.
Lifter in operation
I still think I could get this to work if I spend more time on it. I just have a lot more work to do on the van at the moment.

continued -

[WVvan]

Sofa-bed continued:

After assembling the sofa-bed frame I noticed the square tube under the Seat Platform. It was built to be even with the front of the Center Support and I just didn't like the way it looked.


So remove the Center Support and take it back to the work bench.


I think I'll cut it back an inch.




Also cut back the angle guides to match the shorter tube.


Due to the number of nuts and bolts this will take a little more work.




Shortened angles.


Since I was already messing with the Center Support, time to make some adjustments to the actuator mounting. The mounting hole on the end of the actuator is 1/4" wide. I'm using a 1/4" bolt to secure the base to the Center Support. The longer the bolt is the longer is the part of the bolt that isn't threaded. By using a bolt that's much longer than I need I can get one where the mounting hole stays on the unthreaded part.


That will require cutting down the bolt. Notice that here I'm doing it the right way, not like before, by having a nut between the head and the part of the bolt I'm about to cut.


Take a 1/4" nylon spacer and cut it to fit the gap between the actuator mounting base and the Center Support.


Install the spacer. I'm using two nuts tightened against each other as a lock.


Then put it all back together again.


continued -

[WVvan]

Sofa-bed continued:

I'd mentioned in the previous post about how as the length of the bolt increases the length of the part of the bolt that isn't threaded increases. Here's a bolt comparison to show what I mean.


Reinstall the Center Support while Tiger checks alignment of the Middle Brace.


Put the Seat and Back Platforms in place.


Use the clamps to hold the Seat Platform to the metal angles on the End Pieces and the angle on the Center Support that will drive the platform forward and backward.


Hook the electric actuator up to the battery and use it to drive the platform back and forth to check it's alignment as it moves. I had to shave a little off each end of both the Seat and Back Platforms so everything moves smoothly.

Adjust everything until the alignments are just right. Then start to drill holes for the bolts that will join the Seat Platform to the metal angles.




Insert bolts through all the new holes. Don't bother with nuts since this is all coming apart again. Inserting all the bolts is just to check for alignment. Run the platform back and forth a few times when done.




Now that's done disassemble the sofa-bed and move parts of the frame into the van for the first time. Place it near where it will be installed


The Left End Piece has to be cut to fit over the driver's side rear wheel well.


Measure the height and width needed for the cutout.


Mark out where to cut. I'll be using a circular saw and the drawer slide and it's hardware is in the way.


Because of the failed attempt with my home made sliders there are extra holes in the End Piece. Mark the holes that are still used before removing the hardware.


Make the cuts. Due to the nature of a circular saw it makes an angular cut. To make a nice square inside corner it's best to cut close to the corner with the circular saw then finish the cut with a hand saw.


Reassemble the frame in the van and check the fit of the newly cut Left End Piece.


I'm going to pat myself on the back just this once by pointing out how close the fit is between the Middle Brace and the wheel well. That was not by accident. It's reassuring to finally see one thing I planned out ahead of time actually worked.


continued -