Great progress on new U-shaped dinette

[HiHoAgRV]

That does look great. We are in the final stages of our U shaped dinette build. Today Mrs HiHo had the cushons quoted, they expect to start on them in a month or so.

[outofcontrol]

ddruker,
I'd love to see what you came up with for a table stand. I'm pretty much going to copy your whole design from the pictures. I have it in my head that the table needs to be secured to the floor, but it makes a lot of sense to stow it away for travel and use a normal, but removable, stand for it.

Having learned from doing this once, what would you do differently?

I was thinking to save money I would buy prefabricated cushions for cheap, in the right color, and build the benches to match those dimensions. I thought I read that you paid $2000 for upholstery. It had to be way less than that for the wood frame bench? If I found a set or two of cushions for $250-500 I could save some money?

My wife likes to just write checks. I am always penny pinching. But on this project, we both agree that it needs to look and perform well. As it's almost the focal point of the interior. I work great with metal, but I (suck) have little experience working with wood.

Yours is just beautiful, and very inspirational.

How do you make those curved bends? just inside the door.

Thanks for posting, and thanks for any advice.

-Kevin

[Mixter]

Hey ddruker!

I just PM'd you too- I see this thread has been left since March, so just wanted to hit you up from both sides to make sure you get my message (sorry think I double PM'd you too!!!)


I've saved your pics for ideas and really LOVE your design. I've gotten into woodworking over the past few years out of necessity to complete my home renovation affordably because of the amount of cabinets needed.

I'm doing a shell of renovation on my '76 Overlander and in planning stages of interior build out now. I'd like to do the same U-Shaped Dinette you did, and hoping you can give me some tips after your experience.

#1- Curves: I am totally stumped on your curves.... How in the heck did you do that??? It does not look to be glued, layered bending ply- right?? If it's solid, then how??? Can you share your secret?

#2- Upholstery: Any tips on getting this done? Or is it just expensive no matter what- nature of the beast.

Any help is appreciated!
Thanks!
Micky

[ddruker]

Hi Folks,

On the curves. I know of two ways to do this using solid hardwood. You can also do this with steaming and bending thin strips and then laminating them together. I used the solid hardwood method.

For the solid hardwood methods - start by gluing up a solid cube of the hardwood you are using. The height of the cube is the same as the height of the rails on your bench. The width and depth of the cube need to match the radius of the curved piece you are building.

If you have a bandsaw - use a compass to draw out the finished curves on the block of wood - and use your bandsaw to cut a curved piece out.

If you have a tablesaw - create a pivot point on the block of wood at the center of where you want the curve to be. Attach the pivot point to a sled on your table saw. Then slowly carve out the curve using multiple passes through the blade on your saw. This technique is kind of hard to explain without pictures - you can find this technique about how to create curves in most table saw technique books.

Since I don't have a bandsaw - I used the table saw method to cut the outer radius, and used a sanding drum to grind down the inner radius.

If you have neither - use the lamination method..

On the cushions - I sure could not find a cheap way to get this done and I really tried, but I wasn't willing to dry doing it myself. If you do the labor yourself you will save a ton of money...

[outofcontrol]

Cool. I was curious about the curved sections too. Your description makes complete sense without pictures.

I too was shocked with Dan's estimate and cost of cushions and I was determined to find a cheaper method... and my exhaustive efforts only slightly lowered the bill. It's easily the most expensive portion of the remodel. Our cushions broke down to about $500 for foam, $600 for automotive/commercial grade material, and $500 for labor. And it took a little over a week for the upholsterer to do all the work...
The price of the foam was better than any online method I could find, plus it was laser cut exactly to our specifications which really made a difference on the curved sections. And seeing the work that goes into making cushions, there's no way I could do it myself, and $500 looked like a smoking deal. And I'm the tightest tightwad do-it-yourself (even if it costs more) stubborn mule out there.

-Kevin

[outofcontrol]

Oh, BTW, not to hijack this thread, but this is my nearly finished "J-lounge". It's not a hijack, but more of a Tribute.

Completely inspired by Dan's work:



-Kevin

[Aage]

Originally Posted by ddruker

Hi Folks,

On the curves. I know of two ways to do this using solid hardwood. You can also do this with steaming and bending thin strips and then laminating them together. I used the solid hardwood method.

And again, you did a wonderful job at it Dan. A third method that I have heard of it and seen it demonstrated (but never done myself) is using a method to thin the wood without disturbing the "show" side of the wood.

This was popular with our foreflushers, as it could be done even with simple hand tools, like a hand saw.

Here's a visual on it.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TYfRyt6OQkY

Assuming a radial saw:

Cut a series of grooves on the back of the piece you are going to use for the corner to a depth along the lines of 3/4" to perhaps 7/8", depending on the wood you are using. The next step is to "bend" the wood to the curve you want, by soaking it in water, or steaming it, then wrapping it around a solid shape that gives the curve you want.

By removing a good deal of the back half of the wood, it is weakened enough to become more pliable. Of course, this would take a bit of experimentation with the actual wood (or one near its qualities, but perhaps cheaper) to see just how deep to cut, and how far apart to cut the "grooves". I can tell you from seeing it done on TV, it gives beautiful results, too, but it takes time.

I don't have a table saw any more (no space for it) or a bandsaw, so this method is one I will investigate if SWMBO ever allows me to build a nice U-shaped setup close to yours, Dan.

Love it!

[chromis]

My local yard has bendable/flexible plywood.

Looked like it was layed up to bend 4x8 or 8x4.

Could veneer after..

[HiHoAgRV]

We are very happy with our U dinette, its great for eating, reading and just lounging. Our's has 13 individual cushions and allow us to move them around to create a couple of awesome lounging places for watching TV.

[desertair27]

Originally Posted by HiHoAgRV

We are very happy with our U dinette, its great for eating, reading and just lounging. Our's has 13 individual cushions and allow us to move them around to create a couple of awesome lounging places for watching TV.

Hey Vern
Did you post pictures on your dinette build?

[HiHoAgRV]

Originally Posted by desertair27

Hey Vern
Did you post pictures on your dinette build?

This darn android device. Yeah, photos are somewhere on our A 63 over lander followed us home thread.