DIY clamshell

An extra bed in an apartment has never harmed anyone. However, not every resident of a city high-rise building has the opportunity to allocate a separate room or even a stationary bed to an accidentally visiting guest. In this situation, a clamshell will be very helpful, which, if necessary, can become a camping bed. A clamshell with your own hands is quite possible. You will learn about how to construct it and what is needed for this from the article.

to contents ↑

Folding and folding

Rollaway beds are a broad concept. Among them are:

• folding;
• folding;
• transformers.

With your own hands you can make a cot of any type, and materials for it can be found in stores selling construction goods and furniture accessories.

Folding bed

This is a very convenient option! At night, someone sleeps in a cot, during the day she rises up and fixes herself - about the same as it happens in a train with upper shelves. When there is no passenger on the shelf, it is fastened with the help of special devices. Before you make a clamshell with your own hands, select its type.

Folding model can be:

• vertical
• horizontal.

Vertical fastens to a wall on a short edge. This option is suitable for adult single and double beds. But if you need to make a berth for a child, a horizontal model is more suitable - it reclines very easily, even a preschooler can cope with the procedure.

Transformer

Such a bed at night serves as a bed, during the day turns into a closet or table. If you need a similar clamshell with your own hands, drawings are best looked for in specialized publications. The option is convenient, compact, versatile, but requires a good ability to work with wood and a large number of all kinds of accessories. For example, in a bed kit you can do:

• bookshelves;
• wardrobe for bedding.

Important! If the transformer turns into a cabinet, it is best to put next to the second one exactly the same, but not folding. You can also make it yourself.

Folding models

Do-it-yourself folding bed can be folding - this is the simplest and most popular model. If you decide to start manufacturing furniture, but have not yet acquired sufficient skills, you can start with it. There are several types of clamshells:

• folding two and a half times - that is, with a folding headrest;
• direct on folding legs;
• straight on removable legs.

The first option is the most classic clamshell. Most often done on a metal frame. With the help of springs, fabric is stretched over it.

Important! You can do something similar from wood, abandon the springs, and simply fabric the sides of the frame with a cloth. It will turn out to be an excellent camping bed, which will be good both on fishing, and on a long picnic, and on the balcony or in the room.

to contents ↑

Camp bed

How to make a folding bed on folding legs? It consists of three parts:

• two identical crosses forming goats;
• actually the bed on which the fabric is stretched.

To make goats, you will need:

• pine blocks of rectangular cross section 50x70 mm;
• metal bolts with a diameter of 8-10 mm;
• nuts
• nails
• screws;
• drying oil;
• furniture lacquer.

the cloth

For the bed you need a very dense fabric that holds mechanical loads well. It could be:

• tarpaulin;
• technical nylon;
• technical lavsan.

Important! Tarpaulin is hygienic, but rather heavy and absorbs moisture. It is suitable for a folding bed in a room, but not for fishing. Kapron and Dacron are durable, but do not allow air to pass through. But they dry quickly and are more suitable for use in the open.

In addition to the material, you will need threads:

• nylon for polymer fabrics;
• durable cotton - for canvas.

Where to begin?

A do-it-yourself camping bed begins with making a bed. You can make it for a specific person (for example, a child) or make it universal. Anyway:

• The width of the bed should be 60-80 cm for a single bed and 160 cm for a double.
• The standard length of an adult bed is 190 cm.

But, of course, if you make a bed for a two-meter guest - the length will need to be increased.

Farther:

1. Choose 2 bars without knots, chips or cracks.
2. Cut off with a margin of 15 cm on each side (that is, for a bed 190 cm long, you will need bars 220 cm long).
3. Sand them with sandpaper.
4. Lightly round the ends so that there is no splinter, burrs.
5. From the fabric, cut out a rectangle whose length is 190 cm plus allowances for the bend, and the width is twice the width of the bed, plus allowances, plus about 15 cm for natural sagging.
6. Trim the edges in width.
7. Fold the fabric in half across and sew it into the cylinder.
8. Turn out - the seam should be inside the bottom of the bed.

Important! If you do not have a single piece of fabric of such a large size, you can make a bed of individual rags, but first you need to sew them into a rectangle, and only then cut the part for a clamshell.

Make goats

They are not much different from the goat, on which the log is placed when sawing, well, except that the size is smaller:

1. From the timber of the same section that was used for the supporting structures of the bed, we make 4 identical legs 70 cm long.
2. On the wide side, find the middle of each of them.
3. Drill bolt holes.
4. Connect the legs in pairs with bolts, temporarily securing to 1 nut.
5. Cut 2 bars 190 cm long.
6. Attach them in pairs to the lower parts of the legs of the crosses, 1 on each side, 20 cm away from the ends - the bars should go parallel to the bed and connect the legs in pairs: they must be fastened with screws.

Assembly preparation

The next step is to connect the parts together. To do this, you need a fairly large space:

1. Lay the bed on a flat surface.
2. Insert the longitudinal slats of the bed into it.
3. Spread the fabric and spread the slats apart.
4. Lock them temporarily in any convenient way.
5. Take the crosses with the rails screwed to them.
6. Install them so that the rails connecting the crosses are parallel to the longitudinal rails of the bed, and the angle formed by the legs of the crosses facing the bed is slightly more than 90 °.
7. Using a ruler and a square, determine the length of the crosspiece elements facing the bed so that they connect with the slats of the bed end-to-end.
8. Mark on the legs the lines along which they need to be sawed to ensure fit to the rails of the bed.

Assembly

Do-it-yourself wooden clamshell is almost ready - it's time to proceed to the final assembly. Before the final stage, the fabric should be stretched over the longitudinal bars of the bed:

1. Attach the crosses to the longitudinal elements of the bed, first on one side, then on the other with screws.
2. Place the structure on the legs that should be apart.
3. Fasten the fabric so that it does not slip on the structure, on the longitudinal rails, for which it is best to use wallpaper nails or screws with washers.
4. The lower parts of the legs can be filed so that they are parallel to the floor.
5. Check the strength of the structure - when a person lies on it, the bed should be level, without swinging.

Important! Under the weight of a person lying on a bed, the crosses should try to move apart - then everything is assembled correctly.

to contents ↑

With removable legs

The described model simply folds in half. But if necessary, you can make the bed removable. The design does not change.Just the bars connecting the crosses, in this case we fix by inserting the U-shaped metal staples screwed to the legs of the crosses with screws.

To prevent the slats from slipping out of the mount, you can make through holes passing through the brackets and through both rails. For example, thick nails are inserted into these holes.

In order for the bed to be removable, the crosses are attached to it with metal brackets mounted on the rails of the bed from the outside. In this case, the bars of the bed rest on the stops in the form of wooden bars fixed with screws on the inside of the legs of the crosses.

Important! In order not to confuse the legs when assembling or disassembling, you can use color coding.

to contents ↑

Wooden bed

You can make a folding bed and from a single piece of wood or chipboard, and with a headrest. For this you need:

• bars of the same section as in the previous case;
• thick plywood, wooden board or chipboard in the size of the bed;
• lifting mechanism (stepper);
• door hinges for cabinets.

The main stages of manufacturing will be the same as in the previous case, only, of course, no fabric needs to be pulled anywhere. First you need to saw off a piece of chipboard for the headrest:

1. Sand all details.
2. Saturate the bars with stain and varnish - this is not necessary with the bed.
3. Make goats, as described in the previous case, and fasten a bed on them.
4. Attach the headrest with a few door hinges (you need at least two, but preferably 3 or 4).
5. Attach a stepping lifting mechanism to the side bars of the bed and head restraint (a strip or half ring with recesses is attached to the head restraint, a pin is attached to the bed).

Mattress

For a clamshell made of fabric, a mattress is not needed, but a pillow is needed, since the described design does not have a headrest. However, the bed slightly sags, taking on the shape of the body, so it is possible that putting under the head will not be necessary. But not everyone can fall asleep on a wooden bed without a mattress.

You can buy a standard mattress or make it yourself. As a cover fabric are suitable:

• leather and leatherette;
• calico;
• curtain fabric of medium hardness;
• upholstery fabric;
• microfiber.

As for the filler, different options are possible. Mattresses made of sheet foam rubber are popular, but they do not last long, and sleeping on them every day is not particularly useful. You can use sea grass, polyurethane and other materials that are now found in large quantities in stores.

to contents ↑

Stock footage

In a word, a clamshell with one's own hands, as well as all the necessary accessories, is quite affordable and even interesting. There are many clamshell designs, and you can invent your own if you wish.