Intromission: DIY Metal Bed Frame

We are currently renovating our bonus room into a combination office/playroom (aka Ploffice...;). We required more seating besides equally additional beds for guests when they came over. What we landed on was a elementary metal bed frame design that could function as both depending on the plac.
I of late picked up a MIG welder and wanted to springiness a nerve framing a taste. Overall I loved how quickly this thing went together, only I learned few things non to repeat in the future. On to the build.

Supplies

Step 1: Make up the Purpose in Fusion 360

All of my big/labyrinthian projects start with a design in Fusion 360. This one was no different. We went with a basic thermionic vacuum tube brand underframe with plywood to sate in the back and sides.

To get the screw in the room it has to fit in a selfsame narrow door. I knew that the design needful to be modular and I made the bottom frame completely dismissible.
Looking back at the design there are a couple of things I should have changed, likewise as recommendations if you are going to do something similar. 1. The sides should have been lower. Since this is being misused as a large couch in addition to a sleep with it's hard to see all over the sides when you are sitting at it. This would have been pretty easy to fix from the start. 2. You will see it at the end but I didn't have nearly enough bottom supports. In addition to non having anything to support the mattress at the same top and bottom, they were likewise not spaced close enough together. I hurt up placing a scrap piece of music of plywood on top of the supports to give the mattress a secure foundation. If you were using a box spring you mightiness exist ok, but make a point and call back through how much support you will need in the base before you build it (I sure didn't....)

Step 2: Cut the Bronze Stock

The frame was made from 1in 16 gauge guileless steel tubing I got from my local anaesthetic steelyard. The pieces initially came in 24 ft sections which they prune in fractional for me.

Indorse at the sponsor, I utilized a Dewalt Portaband to cut the pieces to their final sizes. The tricky part was to keep all of the cuts square. If you are victimization a fixed metal band saw or an disagreeable saw then this leave be pretty easy. Just make sure you are taking your time with any hopped-up hand tools.

To prep the metal for welding hit complete the edges and sides with an angle grinder. This gives a great dry-cleaned surface for the welding.

Since I don't birth a deep metal table to weld besides I went with the largest operate surface in my shop...the shock. My level is entirely underdeveloped so had to be pretty careful to keep whol pieces square.
These magnetic corner pieces were a huge serve. Merely whatever type of square/clamp combo will lic.

Step 3: Weld the Metal Frame Together

For welding, I used a brand untested Lincoln Electric 140 Pro Mig. This was exclusive my second time welding with the machine sol it took a slim bite to get my settings dialed in. I wound up at the lowest wattage and virtually the slowest belt along setting to get a unspoilt seamless arc/Weld.

Make sure and test your settings dead on a scrap piece of metal before starting to keep open grinding aside lots of mistakes advanced.

I'm no expert by any means, but I did air current raised getting some pretty good welds. I would take the frame into place first. And so after checking for square I went endorse and welded all the joints, making trusty to alternate sides to (hopefully) account for the metal warping from the oestrus.

Measure 4: Break It and RE-Make It

So even though this was one of my very first welding projects, the biggest mistake of this human body wasn't from welding. It was measuring... or want of it.

I wound ascending replacing 76 in with 67 in for the long supports. Which made them WAY besides short.

The best workaround I came up with was stinging the frame in half and and so welding the frame back together with a 9 in piece inserted betwixt the sides.
I didn't act the best job keeping it exactly parallel to the other pieces, and on that point were in all likelihood about better ways I could have held everything in place. But once everything was ground down and multi-coloured you don't really notice IT (unless you really looking for it).

Step 5: Create Gold Brackets

The entire bottom will make up attached with corner brackets that will be welded at the bottom and and then bolted into the frame up.

To build the bracket I used some 1 in wide-eyed 1/8 in thick stock. Deuce pieces were gashed out and welded together at a 90-degree lean against to make a simple bracket that would attach the front of the framework to the two legs.

I drilled a 1/4 in hole with a drill press to expend nuts and bolts to attach everything collectively.

Step 6: Dyer's mignonette the Bracket Into Place

With the brackets made and one side trained out I welded them into place.

Step 7: Attach the Bottom Supports

I attached 4 supports to the bottom frame. Again this should have been way more with how the mattress would sit down on top.

The supports were pledged to the back draw up with another bracket. This was probably pretty overkill but I still rich person left over stock and it was pretty easy to weld these into place.

Ill-trea 8: Trim down the Plywood Inserts

The majority of the bed is taken over high past simple rectangular inserts of 3/4 in plywood. These were ripped pull down to size with a circular saw with the Kreg Rip Cut. I used a hand saw to cut them to length since I couldn't fit the put together (safely) on my table saw.

Gradation 9: Sheared Small Metal Supports

To tie the wooden inserts into the frame I victimised pieces of angle iron that were cut to about fractional an inch. I could then insert a screw through with the metal support into the forest to keep everything in situ.

Sounding back again this was overkill. I could have right drilled directly through the frame into the side of the plywood and it would have held fine enough. I was worried that I would divided the plywood and the screw connection wouldn't be strong enough for what I needed.

Step out 10: Clean and Paint the Frame

To prep the frame for paint I first of all used Acetone to clean off any grease.

Then I used a self-etching primer over the entire border earlier applying several coats of an enamel black spray paint.

Step 11: Sequester Wooden Inserts

With the frame dry, I drilled holes into all the inserts and then screwed the panels into place.

Step 12: Mess the (Lack) of Supports

Even though the twin mattress has some support and spring shapely into information technology, you can attend how it's easy to push it between the supports. I flat this with a rubbish firearm of plyboard that works kind of like a midget box spring. Make a point to add more supports to your build!

Step 13: That's It

I noninheritable a short ton from this build. Working with metal was a blast, the pure speed of putt things like this together is crazy compared to woodworking with traditional joinery. I'm looking low to building more furniture with metal frames in the rattling near future!

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