Dinette Redesign

Sometimes you just have to start over.....and since I wasn't happy with the way the dinette was turning out, I did just that.  The benches were scraping on their mid-cabin supports (this week's rain made this rather obvious) and due to their width, they couldn't be opened more than about half way before they'd run into the front wall of the trailer.  These problems along with the need to fit out the table resulted in Friday night's "dinette demolition"!

Out came both benches.....

....and the front wall support sturcture

Prior to this much measuring took place, both for clearances and for redesign.  I found if I were to decrease the width of the bench from 36 inches to 32 inches and then placed a 4-inch trimmer the width of the trailer at the front wall, this would allow me to use the current table material I had for the bed platform.  The only real change was the size of the support piece which changed from a 2x2 to a 2x6.  The following photos tell the story...

New bench configuration

The cushions will still be 36 inches wide

The benches can now open all the way up, even with the table in place!

The table came next.  After carefully trimming it to accommodate the edging and cutting the chamfer relief for easier access to the streetside bench, the initial test fitting revealed things were going to turn out alright.

The corner  was retained will be attached to the table with piano hinge

The bed was also tested and will easily support an adult

Removing the platform and rotating it 180 degrees allows it to be converted into the dinette table.  The rotation is necessary to allow a stiffener to be placed under the platform.  This also locates the "triangle" to  an orientation which gives it much more support and less stress when in the bed position.  Additionally, the hardware necessary to connect the table to the front wall of the trailer requires this rotation (refer to the preceding photos and the ones below).

The trailer only came with the wall channel, the table channel was missing

Hinges and 5/16" rod will duplicate the function of the missing channel

A single support leg holds things up adequately

I still need to get the rod welded into the hinge plates and then trim to length.  I plan on glass bead blasting the support channel and the bench trim pieces next week to remove old paint and scale.  I also will be attaching the triangle with piano hinge and locking it into either the retracted or extended positions with a drawbolt.  The support leg gets a drawbolt, too, to secure it out of the way when necessary.  All in all, I think today's efforts will pay off handsomely in the end.

It's beginning to look like fall might be near....but I'm not ready!