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Old 01-04-2015, 03:28 AM   #281
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Join Date: Jul 2014
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bunk progress

So the folding bunk beds are more than just beds – they’re a central location for the kids and us to work in during the day as well.

The beds when stowed in the vertical position contain chairs that are secured against the underside of the bed. They consume a few inches of head room for the lower bunk, however I planned on this when designing the bunk headroom.

A standard double twin bunk in an 8′ ceiling has a 40" headroom before the mattress. Since we’re using thinner memory foam mattresses, all the clearances work out to a standard 30-ish inches even with the chairs fastened to the underside of the upper bunk.

The lower bunk will have a work surface 18″ deep, on the bottom of the lower bunks. The rear work surface won’t be quite as wide to allow ease of passage to the rear bedroom.

This works out to four chairs, an 18″ deep work surface approximately 10′ wide. When it’s time for bed, attach the chairs back to the wall, fold up the desk, and fold down the bunks.


I used a design for a folding chair that I really like. I believe that 4 chairs can be cut from two 4'x8' sheets of 3/4″ plywood. Attached is the 3d model of based on the actual cut lines. I based it on the photos I found.




Note this is both bunks, clamped together back to back for working on.

The bunk frames themselves are just about ready for paint. I’ve build the brackets that need to be attached to the bus, at which point I can bolt them in and get on with my life. The latch mechanism works good enough, and it’s very strong. I plan on picking up some small gas struts that work to unload the weight of the assembly when opening or closing.

They’ll be installed in an over-center position, meaning that they will help keep the bunk closed and keep it from slamming down, and also keep it down once deployed.



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Old 01-04-2015, 09:56 AM   #282
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Outstanding design and the execution appears to match!
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Old 01-04-2015, 05:54 PM   #283
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Awesome design and building!!!
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My Conversion Thread: https://www.skoolie.net/forum/viewtopic.php?f=9&t=3065
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Old 01-04-2015, 08:34 PM   #284
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Still don't get the whole picture how you are going to combine beds work space etc.... I might missed something. ...
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Old 01-05-2015, 03:34 AM   #285
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Here's some more visuals. The white block on the right represents the proposed volume taken by the bathroom and shower. When open, there is 15 inches of clearance between the bath/shower volume and the bunk ends. Not ideal (gee, a slide out would be nice - hint hint), but enough to shuffle past to go pee at night.

Bunks open.


Bunks closed, chairs and desk stored.


Bunks closed, chairs and desk in use.


Quote:
Originally Posted by Vlad View Post
Still don't get the whole picture how you are going to combine beds work space etc.... I might missed something. ...
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Old 01-05-2015, 09:13 AM   #286
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Sweet! Great use of sqaure footage. Reminds me of the last time I was on the International Space Station.
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Old 01-05-2015, 10:10 AM   #287
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Tango View Post
Sweet! Great use of sqaure footage. Reminds me of the last time I was on the International Space Station.
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Old 01-06-2015, 12:33 AM   #288
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Thanks for more visual explanation. Now it all make sense.

A couple of things to consider:

I do see you have a great idea how to utilize space properly but I see a potential problem. You (or somebody) will have to fold/unfold beds every time somebody wants to sleep/have a nap etc. This will be a fun at the beginning but later.... you know.... So you have to make it almost automatic.

1. I would fasten mattresses to bed's frames (velcro, nails, screws, superglue, etc)

2. I would use bed sheets with elastic bands (like toddlers sheets).

3. I would have a bed cover with elastic bands attached on the inside side of the mattress(the wall side). You will have to pull it toward you and cover the bed in one move, then you can lift the bed.

The other thing is your chairs. I think regular 3/4" plywood won't hold. You will have to reinforce it with some crazy epoxy/fiber mix. We have very nice very strong very compact foldable chairs from Costco:
http://www.irv2.com/forums/attachmen...1&d=1254881802

They don't fold to nothing like yours(3/4") but you have enough room under lower bank bed when it is down and when bed is up you will need chairs anyways. This will also give some head room and you won't need to lift chairs up and attach them every time.....
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Old 01-06-2015, 10:01 AM   #289
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Cool

Quote:
Not ideal (gee, a slide out would be nice -
Jesus, man!!
-YOU got the skills and the building speed...
-Obviously you are not too concerned with weight (....are these bunks or bunkers?)
-You would LOVE the space you get!
-It's not too late, yet!!

[Obviously you would want to make them so that everything stays "functional" with the Slides in....]

"JUST DO IT!!"

(......stolen from NIKE....)


All the best for the rest of the build!!

thjakits
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Old 01-06-2015, 11:11 AM   #290
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More things to consider:

I had exactly the same dilemma....I needed to use bedroom as an office for my wife. I had an option to have lift/tilt bed or a bed in a slide out. I decided to go with a slide out because I can see more value in more square footage without transforming the space everyday. But your set up makes sense in a good way.

Here is another idea you can implement. My wife asked me to build a standing desk for her at home. In home office almost 300 sqft this was easy. I just added another desk with all double(monitors, keyboard etc). Now she can seat or stand whatever she likes.

In our bus I will build the office desk which will slide up and down. Because you build your bed/desk unit from scratch you can easily implement this feature.
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Old 01-06-2015, 12:42 PM   #291
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Cool

....and you can keep your bunks ANYWAY - just with the option of having even MORE space when you want/need it!!

thjakits
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Old 01-06-2015, 02:53 PM   #292
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Those costco chairs seem pretty nice. I copied the design I mentioned from the monstrans folding chair:

http://www.monstrans.com/folding-chair/

Their variant uses bamboo plywood, I figured it can't hurt to at least spend an hour or two and build a prototype out of 3/4" ply and see what happens when I park my butt on one - I'll use the same ply as the work table surface anyway.

My "seat of pants" feeling is that it might work simply because most of the frame work is in a vertical orientation and pretty strong that way. I could always get them waterjet cut from aluminum plate! ;)

I am planning on utilizing retainer straps on the mattresses. The design is intended to use the ikea malfors mattress and the ikea luroy slatted bed base. The bed base slats will be retained with a strip of metal covering the ends of the slats so they don't fall out of the frame, and allow for flexing.

Part of the folding design is to "encourage" the kids to keep their things neat. I don't want the bunks to become holes to collect kid cruft.

Quote:
Originally Posted by Vlad View Post
Thanks for more visual explanation. Now it all make sense.

A couple of things to consider:

I do see you have a great idea how to utilize space properly but I see a potential problem. You (or somebody) will have to fold/unfold beds every time somebody wants to sleep/have a nap etc. This will be a fun at the beginning but later.... you know.... So you have to make it almost automatic.

1. I would fasten mattresses to bed's frames (velcro, nails, screws, superglue, etc)

2. I would use bed sheets with elastic bands (like toddlers sheets).

3. I would have a bed cover with elastic bands attached on the inside side of the mattress(the wall side). You will have to pull it toward you and cover the bed in one move, then you can lift the bed.

The other thing is your chairs. I think regular 3/4" plywood won't hold. You will have to reinforce it with some crazy epoxy/fiber mix. We have very nice very strong very compact foldable chairs from Costco:
http://www.irv2.com/forums/attachmen...1&d=1254881802

They don't fold to nothing like yours(3/4") but you have enough room under lower bank bed when it is down and when bed is up you will need chairs anyways. This will also give some head room and you won't need to lift chairs up and attach them every time.....
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Old 01-06-2015, 10:23 PM   #293
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Great job on your build progress so far. I appreciate your craftsmanship and attention to detail. I have wanted to do a roof raise on my bus from the beginning and at first was thinking of going 3 feet. After contemplating for about 2 years now and seeing the way you did yours.....I think now I have my mind set on doing something very similar to yours. I truly like the aesthetic look of it from the outside and the added space it provides inside. Thank you for your inspiration!
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Old 01-07-2015, 07:29 AM   #294
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This conversation makes me think about the old VW pop top conversion vans. The roof was separated and had folding support arms that raised/tilted the top up for headroom when parked.
Don't mean to highjack this thread but MuddaEarth got me thinking. Why not do the same to a full size bus?
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Old 01-07-2015, 07:40 AM   #295
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Quote:
Originally Posted by HolyBus View Post
This conversation makes me think about the old VW pop top conversion vans. The roof was separated and had folding support arms that raised/tilted the top up for headroom when parked.
Don't mean to highjack this thread but MuddaEarth got me thinking. Why not do the same to a full size bus?
Someone on here has done something like this. Ive forgotten who.
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Old 01-07-2015, 11:13 AM   #296
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At the risk of further hyjacking, I did a VW like top on my bus.

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Old 01-07-2015, 12:35 PM   #297
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At the risk of further hyjacking, I did a VW like top on my bus.

There ya go!
I knew I'd just seen one!
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Old 01-07-2015, 01:21 PM   #298
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I agree with Vlad that you are overthinking your gen set needs.

Several of the Onan RV gen sets can be run on LPG.

There are a few for sale on craigslist currently that have very attractive pricing.

http://seattle.craigslist.org/search...=&autoMilesMax=
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Old 01-08-2015, 11:24 PM   #299
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Generator mounting

If you go to this address on the Wanderlodge Owners Group they have
a great way of mounting a generator on a tray that slides in and out of the
front of the Bus. The first pictures are of the tray and generator out and
further down the bus with the center section of the bumper out and the space behind where the tray came out. Also if you find a fresh water tank
that has fittings in the wrong place you can go to Inca Plastics and get a
spin-welding kit and fittings for less than $30 for the adapter for a 4"grinder
or more for the router adapter they also have a video to show you how it
is done. Some more things to clutter up the mind and your spare time lol.
forgot the address http://www.wanderlodgeownersgroup.co...ead.php?t=6803
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Old 01-09-2015, 07:48 PM   #300
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Quote:
Originally Posted by ol trunt View Post
At the risk of further hyjacking, I did a VW like top on my bus.
Yes! That is what I was thinking of. It looks great! Nice job!
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