Chopped, channeled and sectional.
Here I cut down my metal framed futon so that the mattress fits the narrow way side to side. This makes it much smaller and yet still usable as a bed.
Here is the unaltered frame, about 6′6″ long.
First cuts with the sawsall.
Now I slide the two halves together, leaving the main rails attached to one side.
With the two sides butted it is easy to measure the new length for the rails.
Now I just mark and cut.
The rails hook the frames on the end with wedge shaped tabs that fit into pockets. I ground off the old welds and snapped them off with an adjustable wrench. With the rails flipped over I welded them back on in the new spot.
With rails re-attached, the two halves meet nicely.
A cut off piece of one of the rails is used as a straight edge to clamp the frame for welding.
Now it’s just welding and grinding.
A shot of satin black krylon from a rattlecan blends in nicely.
Back in the (more spacious) living room. The end of the mattess will have to be supported when used as a bed. I will probably just use a couple boxes of books, but I could use some of the cut out frame and make a fold out support.
Futon modding…
Gas, Tires, Oil writes “A blog entry about cutting 2′ section out of the middle a metal futon frame and welding the halves back together. The original mattress still fits, but now the short way is side to side and the futon takes up much less room…
Trackback by MAKE: Blog — September 16, 2005 @ 10:10 am
As I own a futon shop I found this great! Not sure if i would recommend it to a customer, Health and Safety!
www.futonsfirst.co.uk
Comment by Glenn Khan — May 9, 2007 @ 12:32 am