Bed time

And so, …..to bed,… my bed, …the place I love to go when I want to think my thoughts.
The place a few of you fellas have expressed an interest in seeing, so here it is.

Its not just any old bed but one with a lot of storage space beneath. I was going to do the traditional drawer divan but that does waste a lot of space. So ive opted for the lift up base, assisted by gas struts
I googled ‘gas struts’ and found a company which make the whole hinge mechanism, which has saved a lot of time.
They didn’t come with any instructions so I had to make up a mock side and base to work out the hinge position. The moment arm arc radius and deck length when combined with the raised height determine the pivot position. The only constraint I have is my headroom in the boat which is only 6’1, not 8’ which is more usual.

The pressure in the struts is set to my requirements, 950 NM, (Newton metres) based on the weight of the deck and mattress so its easy and simple to lift.
When it reaches 35 degrees, the hinges auto lock and the base has to be lifted another 4 inches before the cam goes over centre and unlocks to enable the mattress to be lowered.

Ive designed the base so that its narrower than the deck and mattress. Theres nothing worse than stubbing your toes on the bed base so the mattress over hangs the deck by one inch and that over hangs the base by another 3 inches.

The rest was simple. I found all the slats on the bonfire down the yard, they were the remains of a Futon bed. The only other materials needed were a sheet of half inch ply and 18 feet of 3x2, 8 bolts, glue, and some 2x1 batten to stiffen the sides with.

To finish off, I will cover the sides with carpet.

Sweet dreams.

Drawers

I haven’t posted for almost a month and so much has happened. Its almost impossible to get a net connection which holds for more than 5 consecutive minutes so posting is hard and frustrating work.
The biggest thing has been the move to living aboard. Actually moving on only took a day but ive been busy since with doing all the little jobs which make a boat a home and most importantly, catching up on sleep and rest. Over the last 4 months the tiredness and wrinkles caught up with me and I was seriously worried that turning 50 was taking its toll but im feeling and looking a little better now.

I finally managed to finish off the chest of draws and faced them with Maple and inset them with brass handles. I made a template to fit inside the router collar and then used a straight bit to plunge in and remove enough wood to accept the inset portion of the handle
The top is inch and a quarter thick pine to match the frame and ive treated it all to a couple of coats of Danish oil

Ive also made a combined step/laundry hamper from a few scraps of beech board which I found on the farm. That’s also had the Danish treatment.

Next is the bed.