Hey Brian!
Your build looks great. I bought a 2000 Hawk shell about a month ago, gutted it, and am now figuring out how I want to design it. Some similarities to your situation and needs, wanting it to be flexible for multiple activities and differing amounts of people.
I'm super interested in the specifics of your bench, and how it converts to flip out to a bed. Any chance you could describe it in more detail, with pics? A couple of my questions are...
- how did you install the black edges they rest on? (when the bench is not flipped out to sleep, it is two boards tall, so I wasn't sure if that height makes the bench higher than the carpeted sides of the camper?)
-
- do the boards just rest on the edges, or are they secured in any way?
-
- what are the notches out of the ends for?
-
- so you used a piano hinge to attach them to each other?
-
- any other advice?
-
Thanks in advance! Ian
Hey Ian,
Thanks for the questions! I figure I'll answer your questions by telling you what I did, then I'll tell you what I'm going to do when I eventually rebuild it. After all, better is the enemy of good enough. Your first three questions are all related. The black rails that the bench rests on are doubled up 3/4" plywood bolted to the side. The 4" notches are there so that the bench top is flush with the carpeted sides no matter if the bench is folded close for a seat or open for a bed. The tabs are only on one half of plywood bench so that those get recessed when folded closed. This has the added benefit of securing the plywood when folded as a seat. The bench is not attached in any way other than just resting on the side rails and is only attached to each other with the piano hinge.
When I thought of this, I only had two functions in mind: 1) the long, simple bench and 2) an extra bed. It was only after that I realized it worked as a love seat, which is considerably more comfortable. This week, I've actually been on the road and using this as an office, which works well with the Lagun table The cushions I'm using for now are just the 16" extensions used for the pull out bed. At some point I'll make the cushions to fill out the space in the bed.
Simple Bench:
Bed:
Love seat:
Movie Theater??
Alright, now for what I'll do next time. I've found that there's really no need for the long, simple bench and that I'm either going to use this as a bed or a love seat. I also don't think the notch system is necessary then since it was only there to keep the height uniform when functioning as a bench. I've also found that to switch between the bed and love seat, I have to pull up the whole plywood bench and flip it like a giant wheel of pizza dough, which can be annoying when the camper is full. Therefore, I've dreamt up the following. I want to keep the same piano hinged boards but without the notches. I also want to permanently mount them on sliding rails on the sides that lock in place.
Something like this. This way I can switch between the two modes pretty quickly without having to flip stuff around. I think I will also add some sort of metal frame across the rails to give a bit more support when sitting. The bench will support two people sitting on it, but there is a bit of sag in the plywood that will just get worse over time.
Good luck and let us know how it goes!
Brian
Hey Brian,
Thank you! The explanation and pics were incredibly helpful. The notch idea is brilliantly simple I really like the sliding benches idea you're looking at incorporating, but I'm wanting to be able to pull the bench entirely out if I want to store 2-3 mountain bikes inside, so I may just copy your current setup. I hadn't thought about the love seat potential with the piano hinge attached bench section, so that's a bonus.
I'll post pics when I finish, hopefully in the next few weeks.
Much appreciated, Ian