Rear Dinette and Bunk

It's tough to put a "finish" date on this, since there always seem to be a few loose ends to tidy up. This dinette had seats and cushions enough to for us to use in Death Valley in April, and to have its first guest at Casini a week later. We had the bunk bed ready for Alison to use at Burning Man in August while Brian used the bottom bunk. It wasn't until November that I finally got it looking sort of finished. And there are a few more possible improvements that may still show up.

Before

Pullman style dining

On the right is the original gaucho. The construction is clever and lightweight. But the naugahyde was sloppy, the bed made it difficult to get to the bathroom when extended, and it wouldn't sleep our two adult children.

Also, with the main dinette area permanently taken up with our bed, we needed a place for our morning coffee and croissants. The finished design is modeled vaguely after a Pullman train sleeper car I had access to as a child.

The construction details developed as a response to the odd requirements of the space.

March 21, 2011

Our first concern was fitting the battery and electrical center under one of the seats. Bart had been very space efficient in his layout when building the battery enclosure and wiring up inverters and converters and all the rest of the stuff that I don't understand as well as I should.
Even as tightly packed as it was, a seat box covering it would still be too deep, from knee edge to backrest, to be comfortable for sitting. Hmmmm. Have to think about that.

March 24, 2011

The space was, of course, long enough to sleep in, since it was meant as a sleeping area. So I built two matching cases, one that straddles most of a tire well that bulges up through the floor and the other that contains the battery.

We still weren't sure that it would provide comfortable seating for eating at a table. Starting with a variation of the plywood-gusseted frames of the front dinette, we tested and found that we could sit across from each other without bumping knees. So far, so good.

Supplementary back rest

The solution to the too-deep benches and the need for sloping seat backs for comfort came in the form of a supplementary back rest. It is hinged to a 4" wide strip that makes it lean at a comfortable angle when it is tipped up against the original, vertical back of the bench. When the supplementary back rest is folded down flat and covered with seat and back cushions, the bed gains an extra 8" and uses the full length of the sleeping area.

Both bench seats also lift up for access to the space underneath. This means that each bench has two parts that hinge up,  with the hinges offset by about 3". In addition, the forward bench has a drawer for more easy access. This serves as storage space for the person sleeping on the bottom bunk.

I won't go into construction details about the rest of the seat top because I'm sure the next person will, with very little thought, find a configuration that is simpler and more efficient than mine. Still, a done job is a good job.

April 10, 2011

The addition of a temporary table meant that we had a place to eat for our first trip of the year, a long weekend in Death Valley in April, 2011.

It was delightful to get up in the morning, make coffee and sit in our robes and slippers, drinking coffee and eating croissants and bacon. Now it really felt like a little home and we were more hooked than ever on our Tin Pickle.

The hardware for the table leg was salvaged from the old table in the front room. The table is attached to the wall and swings down to bed height using the table hinge bracket assembly from Vintage Trailer Supply. This makes conversion from table to bed a snap!

Bunk bed configuration

The bunk bed is a removable piece, which does introduce the problem of storage when it is not in use. We don't have an ideal solution for that yet, but the bunk is lightweight, folds flat for removal and storage, and works well as a bunk.

The main part of the bunk is a piece of 1/2" birch plywood about 32" wide and long enough to fit between the end walls. It is supported by 1x2 solid birch boards which are bolted through the 1/4" bulkhead walls at either end. Bolts through the end of the plywood down into the support boards anchor the bunk to prevent shifting during use or travel.

The bunk is positioned about 1 1/2" higher than I'd planned and than I would like. That came from me drawing a line on the wall and then forgetting whether it was the top or the bottom line for the support board (oops!). Alison is agile enough to climb up to and fit in the higher space, and the lower bunk gets a bit more head room.

Inside the bunk bed

The sides of 1/2" birch plywood serve to keep the folding foam mattress in place and provide a bit of privacy and security for the sleeper in the top bunk.

The sides fold flat against the bottom of the bunk, making it possible to tip it up to get it in and out of the tight space.

Bunk bed support and hinge detail

Heavy aluminum angle, from the local metal recycler, provides support down both sides. Captive T-nuts secure the bottom of the bunk to the angle. More T-nuts bolt the sides to the angle, adding stiffness to the bunk. These side bolts are removed when the sides need to be folded down. The T-nuts remain imbedded in the wood.

Padding for the upper bunk is a trifold foam pad with 1" of memory foam on top. These are also bulky to store, but make for a good night's sleep on the road, which counts for a lot.