Between the kitchen and the cab is space for the living room. I want to have as much seating and sleeping space as possible, so this is what I came up with.
First, like the cabinets, I cut pieces of plywood to act as the frame. The wire that is run to the secret compartment had to be accommodated, so they each have little notches in them for the wire to run through. 2x4s of equal length went between these so the plywood had something to anchor into, and so the spaces between them were even.With the skeleton in place in the bus, Eric and I measured out and started building drawers to go between each section of plywood. I had recently acquired a pneumatic nail gun, so this was pretty simple.We brought the drawer boxes out to the bus and started attaching the slides to the plywood and the drawers.This is the base. 3 drawers separated by 2 pieces of plywood. the piece of wood sitting diagonally across is the piece that will slide under the slats of wood that make up the pull-out bed. Half of the slats will be attached to the 2×4 in front and the 2×2 in back. The other half will be attached, in an alternating pattern, to this slide piece, and the front face of the drawer section.The slide piece is only resting on the plywood between the drawers, and the two pieces of 2×4 on the ends. It is thinner than a 2×2 so there will be clearance to allow it to slide freely.We start with the anchored slats that will not pull out. The piece under them will need to be enclosed underneath to act as the slide.I used a spacer made out of one of the slats, and two 1/4 inch thick pieces of wood that are attached on both sides. This assures even spacing between the slats, and plenty of room for the moving slats to fit between.First test. It’s sturdy, and this is only half the support that is going in.I clamped a straight edge to the front so the boards were even.First row in. I should also mention that we glued each piece with liquid nails, as well as securing with the nail gun.Testing to make sure the slide piece slides freely under the slats.The sliding slats are installed in a similar way, only with a 1/4 inch spacer between them and the fixed slats. The slide piece is pushed all the way to the back, then the slats are attached to it. They are cut to be just long enough to also sit flush with the front, and still reach the far side of the slide piece. These required screws to secure, since they will take more abuse from the pull-out action. Note, the front side of the slide slats is not yet secured. That will come later, when the front face is attached directly to them.Here’s half of the bed in the pull-out position.And pushed in.Here is the front piece that will also be part of the front face of the drawers. Only the sliding slats are attached to this piece, from underneath, to hide the screw holes.Open Position.I cut the ends of a few slats to 10 degree angles, so that the back boards of the bench seats would be angled slightly.I forgot to take pictures of the work in progress, but I installed back boards that fold down.In the down position you can see that there are two hinges per section, that are screwed into the ends of two slats. The hinge is connected directly to the 10 degree cut I mentioned earlier, which lets the back board angle extend to 10 degrees off vertical, when the hinge is closed. I used 1/2 inch plywood for the back pieces, and installed 1/2 inch plywood behind it for the hinges to anchor into. The 1/2 inch plywood also lets me put things like tools or blankets behind the back board. It is only secured to the fixed slats, so the slide slats slide right under it.This end piece had to have a notch taken out of it to make clearance for the countertop overhang. Same on the other side.An example of how much storage is back there.Eric helped me install faces for the drawers and drawer pulls, as well as the rest of the face frame. Notice the piece of flooring in front of it. That was used as a spacer to elevate the face frame so that when the floor is installed, the frame will sit on top of it. The thickness of the bottom piece of face frame was decided by how much clearance I needed to allow the slide to pull out.This is pine, finished with shellac. Each face is made of two boards that were married together and sanded smooth.Julene brought in some loose cushions from our lawn chairs, and we ordered lunch.This unflattering photo shows off how the couch could look.Ralphie approved.The next bench seat was built a little differently. In the first one, we had to create spacers for the drawer slides to slide freely without hitting the face frame. Rather than go through that again, I opted to use thicker wood between each drawer. 2x4s match the thickness of the face frame exactly, so this was the easiest way to go. Also, this bench is built with about 2 inches of extra space behind it. In other words, it is not attached to the back wall, and therefore must be able to stand on its own. This is to create a space where a foldable table, or removable table-top can be stowed without getting in the way of the slide, or blocking windows. The backs are also built with this in mind.Other than that, construction was mostly the same.From this angle you can see the gap in the back a little better.Fixed slats on top. The same spacer is used to keep their distance from each other uniform.You can see the glue spots on some of the slats, ready to be installed. The spacer is propped against the last fixed slat in the line. The drawers are just slightly below the top of the 2×4, and the slide bar is tucked under them. Jump ahead to all of the slats installed, and the front face board attached to the end of the sliding slats.The seat on the right is complete and has a face frame, which is resting on a piece of flooring. The one on the right doesn’t yet have a face frame, so it is just hanging out, fully extended. When the face frame is installed, they will be even.The back board for the second bench is pretty different. I cut triangles with 10 degree angles that are held together between staggered 2×4. The hinges are more heavy-duty than the ones on the other side. There is still a half-inch anchor piece so the back can fold all the way down. It folds down in only 1 section, so that each triangle is helping to distribute the pressure across the back, to the other triangles. Again, this is so that the back board is free-standing and allows space behind it to stow a table.The up position.This is a view of the back of the seat with the back board in the up position. The triangles have a 90 degree angle for the back so the gap is straight all the way down. It’s surprisingly sturdy.Another view illustrating the gap and one of the 2 latches that lock the back in place on either end.You can see the triangles lifting off the rear spacer as the back board is half- deployed. Also, on the far side, you can see a stopper board that I put in place for more stability, and to take pressure off the latch on that end.
