Lift Bed project inspired by a fellow GJ member

I always enjoy the work and creativity I see in people here. Last fall I saw this post by Acer66 and it got me thinking. I really liked his simple design, but we have a small house and my wife would not want to loose storage under the bed. After doing some research, I found a company that sells lift bed mechanisms Selby Wall Bed Systems. It seemed like just the ticket.

This is what I came up with:

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Here it is opened.

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The frame is 1x2 14ga tubing. The mattress itself is supported on some 2"x1.5"x 3/16" angle. Each section is welded, and the sections are then bolted together using brackets I fabricated. The largest single piece is only 82" x 14", making it pretty easy to move. All of the steel is powder coated, and the inset wood is red birch plywood with cherry stain.

It gives us almost 50 ft^3 of storage, and is pretty easily accessed. The only downside is that it is slightly too heavy for the lift mechanism to hold up. I have been playing around with some linear actuators, but I haven't come up with anything workable yet, so I use a piece of steel rod to hold it open.

Thanks again to Acer66 for the inspiration for this project.

Lee

Looks awesome. Thanks for sharing!

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Great idea and awesome execution of a plan!!

Oh, I thought it was going to be a pickup bed.

Cool none the less.

That's a lot of useable space, nice job

Jay

Looks good. For those that do not know, this is a standard thing for beds in large travel trailers and fifth wheel style RVs. It's certainly a good way to get some extra storage.

Hmmm, looks like a heck of a place to stash your ****.. . . considering there's a few things already blurred out.


Cool project though. Will changing the struts out allow them to hold it up ?

NUTTSGT said:

Hmmm, looks like a heck of a place to stash your ****.. . . considering there's a few things already blurred out.

Cool project though. Will changing the struts out allow them to hold it up ?

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No ****, just some of my wife's high school stuff. As for the struts, I am using the strongest ones the supplier makes. I am working on a scissors type lift assembly that will utilize a linear actuator. This will allow easy access for my wife, and take care of keeping it open as a bonus.

LeeG said:

No ****, just some of my wife's high school stuff. As for the struts, I am using the strongest ones the supplier makes. I am working on a scissors type lift assembly that will utilize a linear actuator. This will allow easy access for my wife, and take care of keeping it open as a bonus.

Click to expand...

wait your going to stash your wife in there? this perhaps is more genius then it originally looked like at first!