My new (old) '75 Franklin.

[Deleted]

The beds in the Franklin Arrow are made of 1'1/4 angle steel and the 4 legs with 1" 1/2 flat bars.
I have 15cm foam mattress.
Have no idea about the weight of the removed top bunks and cushions.

[snoops]

Apr 7, 2016 10:28:38 GMT 10 doublechevron said:

Hang on a sec .... Someone used 67kg of chipboard to make the bed .... With an innerspring mattress on that you would have HUGE weight at the very back of the caravan too. The bed frames I've removed would struggle to be 10kg all up!

seeya,
Shane L.

Yeah, I'm not kidding.  I haven't weighed the mattress but around 30kg I would think.  I believe I can save around 50kg while rebuilding it which partly covers the battery weight.

my van fully loaded was around 70kg over its GVM so this alone will almost fix that.

[atefooterz]

Learning boat stuff in the early 1970s one soon discovered that (old school measurements) panel stiffness of 3/16 ply surrounded by 1/2"x 1/2" timber with possibly a central stringer, is really good for 24" approx, 40"if feeling lucky, unless you need to stand on it or it gets structural loads also seeing much of that construction style still kicking along today, kind of mirrors what the caravan makers did for both price and weight. Nowdays reading projects where small barrier fabrications get upped from 10mm to "maybe go 12 or 16mm ply, just in case", after a bit of banter and insecurity with a few posts on "somewhere" ( not often seen/read at this forum thankfully) just makes me want to go mmmmmm glad i do not have to tow that!

[snoops]

So, a bit more done. The new 3 seater couch is finished - well, almost - still need to make the cusions yet, but structurally finished. As per the light weight construction methods mentioned I have built it out of 40 x 19 pine - but not as much as you would think - it is reinforced with 3mm ply in sections along its length and at the front, so it is very light and turned out incredibly strong. With me and SWMBO sitting on it, it hardly even flexes.  There is space under the end for storage and the batteries and inverter are in there too.  I'll be building the bed frame in a similar style, I've got 2 sets of plans for that, and not sure which way I'll go yet.

Anyway, onto some pics. The ends you can see that stick up will have a piece of hardwood attached to them as armrests - stained and lacquered in contrast to the cream paint this will all get. The open bit down the bottom at the door end will get a 3 ply panel painted in the contrasting brown I'm using in the van and glued into the back. This will give it some contrast and depth, and also saves weight as the ends are 9mm ply to make the arm rests strong enough. The last pic shows the extra depth of the new setup with the old cusion on it.

[Deleted]

Nice job and will comfy as well.

[fnqfranklin]

Looks great, customising your table as well?

[snoops]

Apr 14, 2016 13:34:29 GMT 10 fnqfranklin said:

Looks great, customising your table as well?

Probably, but not sure yet.  We currently use a small blow moulded table from Bunnings anyway - it's easy to put away once you're done with it to keep the main area open - that will be even more important now as I've encroached on it by another 100mm.

I may make up a custom narrow table as we only ever use it when eating inside - which isn't often anyway, we usually sit under the awning at the bigger table we have out there.

[Mustang]

Nice work snoops, fussy on the edges.

[snoops]

Well, almost there with the seating area. Painted, Harwood armrests cut, sanded and 3 coats of urethane then fitted, foam cut from what I had lying around - still needs new covers making, some LED down lights (4 x 1 watt) and a picture to break up the starkness of the new paint - it's very light and airy now compared to before - and the seat is much more comfortable.

Still got hot the cupboard doors to remake and fit and some trims to install - I've got some of the gold angle intact that will highlight a few ares.

[Deleted]

Looks good, very good, time to stop working on it and enjoying the van on the long weekend.

[snoops]

Unfortunately not - heading to Mums on the Long weekend to help her with a few things around the house - time to get spoilt for the weekend.

Next outing is the 15th May I hope, then the 21st - have a lot to do before then if I don't want to sleep on the floor.

[snoops]

Well, I lashed out on a new bit of foam for the seat base - the old bit shown in the other pic is so soft your bum just hits the timber underneath.  I bought a bit of very firm foam, then covered it in 2 layers of polyester batting before making a cover up for it.  Fabric choice has changed - I got a heap of suitable fabric off Mum on the weekend and it matches well, but a little bit flowery but we both like it.  Good old YouTube gave me some pointers on making a bix cusion cover, complete with piping - it can out well and I'm happy with it, but it's not what you'd call professional.

I'll post pics tomorrow with the curtains I've also run up out of the same material.

[Deleted]

Nice to see that you are progressing well.
Last long weekend was out for you but I guess that Queen's birthday will be on the cards.

[snoops]

Yep, got several weekend away planned so I am pedalling hard to get this done in time. In 2 weeks we will be going up to Skipworth for the weekend then the weekend after that, just up to Wombat State Forrest. Queens Birtyday weekend is unknown yet but we will go somewhere.

On to today's efforts. Got the bed base mostly done, with just the side and end to do - these will be angled in so I don't hit my toes on the edge of the bed and it also made the most of the sheet of ply I bought to do it.

So, 67kg of chipboard out, under 10kg of timber back in so far - by the time I do the sides and the top, well under 15kg. A massive weight saving, as will be the new foam mattress we will buy soon, ditching the inner spring and saving another 20 or 30kg. We just have to find one that is comfortable enough - Clark Rubber do a range of them, so I'll go have a chat to them when I get the funds to sort this.

Pictures...

My helper for the day.


Well, not much help as it turned out...


The bed base - the front rail that's just floating at the moment will be joined up in the next few days - I'll post more pics when it's done.

[Deleted]

Looks good mate, perhaps cutting a big hole on some of the plywood divisions will give you more storage options without making weak the structure.

[snoops]

Was going to do that, but there's more than enough room in each 'slot' for what I plan to keep in there - will only be bedding, blankets, etc. most of the top panel that will cover all this up will lift up so all slots will be available for use.

and it's way too late now anyway - those uprights are glued into position with polyurethane - they aren't going anywhere now.

[Mustang]

You have cleverly designed a product with minimum weight, well done.

[snoops]

Thanks, yes weight was the primary focus as the van is a bit heavy at the moment. Apart from a 3 ply top and the 3 ply sides, what you see is all there will be. By using the polyurethane I eliminated the need for more timber at the bottom and it also is far more rigid and stronger than mechanical fasteners. I've used this extensively throughout the van - all the cupboards have been reinforced with it and none now wobble around because 40 year old screws and nails have worked loose. The other big benefit is that nothing squeaks any more when you walk around inside it - it sounded like a rusty gate when I first got it, every step you took made something squeak.

With this now done, and the new foam mattress I think I'll be back under its gross mass when fully loaded - I was about 50Kg over with 2 full gas bottles, full water tank, spare and all our clothes, food and grog. Also it should behave a bit better with all that we it gone out of the back, not that it was a problem, but it will be less so now.

[snoops]

Well, a couple of nights after work this week sees the bed almost complete. Just needs a couple of trim pieces and a coat of paint. I may paint the edge bit brown like the doors to break things up a bit.

Anyway, onto some pics...

The seat base has a new cover - the material changed from what I had planned, while helping Mum clean up the other weekend she found a roll of material she was going to make curtains out of. The mustard colour is similar to the oven colour so I thought why not. Pretty happy with it, and with the cover itself which was the first time I've done something like this - zipper, piping and all. When I recover from the mental scars of making it, I'll do the back one... . You can see I've hung one of the new curtains too - I still have a couple to go, but they're a snap compared to a box cusion cover that size. The bed will take a standard double, with a bit cut out the corner. It looks heaps bigger inside now that you can walk down the end of the bed - I'll be putting a small bench down the end to charge mobiles on, etc as right at the end is dead space.


And the bed - very solid and well under 20kg all up, so about a third the weight of the original.


And a shot showing the lid open - soooo many screws in that bit of piano hinge...

[78466noM]

excellent work and a great story kept me reading from post one to the last post cant wait until we are able to use ours :-D

[snoops]

Thanks - keep at it. I've been working on mine for nearly 2 years but at least I've been enjoying using it for the last 12 months while continuing to renovate it.

[tasmillard]

Damn snoops, bashing away at it and great workmanship!!

[Mustang]

Jealous of your corner... I should have done that.  Didn't occur to me.
(But I'am a little guy )

[snoops]

SWMBO is short and that's her side of the bed, so losing a bit off the corner won't matter to her. It's quite narrow between the bed and the couch, and it would have been a squeeze if I hadn't put that there. Also note that both the side and end of the bed are sloped in so your toes won't hit the base while shuffling past it - this makes walking around it much easier too.

Should have a better idea tomorrow of how easy or hard climbing in and out the end of the bed will be as I've just about finished cutting the old mattress down to size - I won't be buying a new foam mattress until I'm sure ive found the right one, so cutting down the old innerspring will have to do for the time being.

[snoops]

Cut the mattress down to a double with a corner out of it - quite a big job on an inner spring but it is fine for what we need at the moment. Fits well. Now, onto paint...