when building a bed for the bedford what not to do

[Lyndon]

ive been getting the stuff together for the bed build & i went to the hardware store with this idea in my head of how its to be, all good so far & i pick out the angle iron & got it cut to the 190 lengths later to find out the price as from september the 1st metal has gone up 20% & the iron i bought was the very same as an old bed frame & i could have gone to the local salvo's & bought a frame for like $10.00 instead of paying like $80.00, theres a tip for you people looking to save & built a bed, next comes the wood slats more $$$

[eddy]

funny you should mention that, I built a camping/windsurfing trailer and used the angle iron off an old bed frame, worked a treat, pre painted frame and only had to touch up areas that were cut or drilled ...... 

[Marishka]

yeah the old bed frames are great,ive used them for 20 years.
great for making benches, fishtank stands just about anything u can think of.
lyndon for your slats try finding someone replacing their house fence with a colourbond, from a good cond hard wood, too bad u live in SA i coulda put the payllings through my thicknesser/planner for u. i used to collect the old fences for fire wood, and made a mad looking fishtank stand with 60 year old weathered stuff,
marty

[eddy]

orh Marty, ya got me referring to my creativeness, I use old hardwood fence palings too, I don't have a thicknesser just use the electric planer, aged wood makes great pic frames, coffee tables, wall linings,etc etc ... the palings in Vic start as 15 - 20 mm thickness and after 10 years in the Oz weather dry out to 12 mm thickness, too thin for bed slats. Do you do any wood carving, I carved my own toki (traditional Maori adze), have also carved tiahas and meres (those kiwi bros will know what I'm talking about) and a great tekoteko on our letterbox slap bang in Ringwood North! Now carving a hoe (paddle) as a trophy for a youth rugby project I am involved in. Traditional carving using traditional methods ... keep ones culture alive I say, no matter where you live ....     

[Lyndon]

well it took a while to do the job drilling & redrilling lol, new pine slats 14 all up & it looks great, im no handyman but to be honest it was simple if anyone wants pics or advice just ask. heck i even installed a 19 inch dvd lcd tv at the same time, black curtains for privacy its great.

[arron]

im in the middle of building my bed ..because iv got kids i needed to seat them as well as fold down fore a bed couldnt find anything to fit acrosss the bedford (all to short)and the ones that did were were not worth $1500-$2000..so i got an old hi ace seat that folded perfectly flat for the bed ..striped it back cut it in half and added 470 mm in the guts of it made upa 25mm x 25mm stell frame mounted the seat to it and it looks great and has only cost me $140 a friend is going to apolster it 4 me and all up itll be about $500 for the seat.. like lyndon i hadnt done this before and i guess if you cant find it then make it......

[Warren]

Aaron

Well it's to late to do THIS then

Warren

[arron]

Aaron

Well it's to late to do THIS then

Warren

hey warren i looked at that to mate haha but i didnt want to fill the van up with seats..i wanted the bed at the back and having a long wheelbase want all the room in between but thanks for the link...

[Lyndon]

No Warren im still after one of those seats to go side ways behind drivers seat & to double as a table for the laptop etc

[Warren]

Aaron

Well it's to late to do THIS then

Warren

hey warren i looked at that to mate haha but i didnt want to fill the van up with seats..i wanted the bed at the back and having a long wheelbase want all the room in between but thanks for the link...

So you dont have four kids plus hangers on like I do

Warren