Need to replace gaucho with U-shaped dinette

[gettysburg]

I love the factory dinette. Thanks for posting. If you ever hear of anyone parting out an airstream that has a u shaped dinette, I'd love to know about it. I'm handy with a hammer, but I've got way to many projects to tackle building a dinette. (at least in the near future)

[jcb466]

I did mine in a very strange fashion after starring at the front gaucho for an hour. I have 66 globetrotter and as you probably know, space is limited . The factory design looks great but only one problem. They make into small twins.after taking measurements ,I realized that the gaucho was exactly the same size as the diner booths if you put them together and so was the sofa cushion. So I double checked my measurement and made a cut right down the middle.it worked out great because underneath the sofa ,I have 2 access doors for the 4 bins. The cut was made right between them. Same with the sliders. I did spread them out a bit . After adding plywood to the ends that I cut, I turned the cut ends to the wall my water tank is up front so I used 1/4 " birch to cover it and places the two half guachos(lol)facing each other . I sent the sofa cushion to the upholstery guy to split the cushion in half and re upholster the end caps.should get them back tomorrow then I'll configure the end pieces of the booths.i know it sounds crazy,but all and all ,it's cost me a grand total of 150.00 and I will soon have a front diner that turns into a full size bed.i also designed a hinge that fits under the hitch side window so I can still use the original table and store it in its original location.pictures to follow soon.

[chromis]

I replaced our 2 front beds with a u shaped dinette.

Works pretty well except the refer "wall" is too close to the table so we have to swivel the table to get in/out.

[Skatiero]

Jcb466, Post pics! That sounds great! Chromis, yours looks really good, what do you mean by swiveling the table? We ended up replacing our gaucho with a u-shaped sectional which becomes both a bed and a u-shaped dinette. It can seat all nine of us (husban and me plus seven kids ages nine-fifteen). Ours is a modified ikea l-shaped corner sofa with tins of and a popup trundle, plus an ikea chaise (also modified) to fill in the rest if the u. The table fits under the chaise when not in use.

[jcb466]

here are the pix of my almost completed dinette.i am now making the booth end pieces and on monday i'll add the extension to the floor covering where the guacho used to be.

[jcb466]

anyone know where i can find aluminum 3/8 width channel edge trim to go around the booth end caps?

[chromis]

Here are some more pictures of my completed dinette.

The swivel I was talking in my previous post was about moving the table to the right to slide past the fridge "partition" to sit on the left side of the table..

The table base sat on top of a metal "rib" running fore/aft so I had to make a wooden base for it sit on top of..

[SL4BLLT]

Great job on building those dinettes. My hat is off to you all for doing a great job. We went the path of least resistance after trying to fabricate the front of our 31' International, by purchasing a U-Shape this last Spring. I was reluctant as with RV furniture you always wonder, will it fit although the dimensions taken, you think it will, but until it does the stress is there.
We bought this from Bradd and Hall on their clearance site. The table and ottoman was made to fit the area for a almost double bed. We love sitting, reading, and looking through the vista windows as this is very comfortable.

I like the single leg table concept, but they felt that two legs were required to support the table while in transit.

Keep building away!

SL4BLLT

[Skatiero]

Nice!!!! Looks wonderful!!

[Garretsonm]

That was a fabulous idea! I'm running out to measure. One right now and see if this would work for us!

[ddruker]

I'm closed to completing this project - have attached some pictures.

I decided to go with a U shaped seating area to replace the ugly convertible sofa in my 1999 Safari. I also removed the useless side table and spice cabinet - so my U starts from the pantry cabinet on the street side, runs for about seven feet to the front of the trailer, wraps around the front, and then runs five feet to the door on the curb side.

The benches are all 14 inches high, and they are 24 inches deep at the top. The tops are hinged so they can all be used for storage. I'm planning for 5 or 6 inch thick cushions all around - both as seatbacks and to sit on.

I used stick construction to keep things light weight. The exposed wood is cherry, the rest of the wood is alder. As you can see, I used 24 gauge stainless steel sheeting for highlights. All of the joints are either screwed or biscuited for strength. I couldn't resist adding a curve on the streetside bench - it took a ton of work, but adds some extra bling.

I also decided to use rubberized upholstery webbing to support the cushions - it's both lightweight and should be more comfortable than just using plywood. My next steps are to install the webbing and then go get the cushions made.

Probably tomorrow I will start building a drop down table that will convert the whole arrangement to a bed. I'm on the fence whether to make the surface of the table cherry with brushed aluminum edge banding, or to make the table surface stainless steel with cherry edge banding. I'm waiting for a quote from my local sheet metal place about cutting the stainless for me - if it's not horribly expensive I'll go that direction.

The table will drop down onto the cleats you can see running across the top of the two side benches - I will install the cleat on the back bench once I get everything laid out in the trailer.

I think it's coming along pretty well. Lots of work... Total cost so far is about $350 in materials - $250 in wood and $100 in stainless sheet, hinges and fasteners. I expect the cushions to be expensive - planning on high end fake leather.

[ddruker]

Spent the last two hours installing upholstery webbing. This serves as the top of the bench and the base for the cushions.

I used 3" Elasbelt, which is a brand of synthetic elastic upholstery webbing specifically made for couch bottoms. A full 160 foot roll was about $40, and I used maybe half of it.

To install, an air powered staple gun is a must. I probably put in about 1000 half inch staples. You can find videos showing how to install elastic webbing on you tube.

It was hard work - you have to stretch every piece by pulling with a lot of pressure, and then hold steady with one hand while you staple with the other. Of course there are tools for this too, but I don't have one.

I did pass the first big test - Maddy and Sport both give it a big thumbs up for comfort.

Now I'm ready to install in the trailer, re-measure, order cushions and start on the table top.

[ASIcons]

I have had the same thought when redoing my 62 GT, will post pic if I can, it will be an old one though. My solution was to have gatelegs made of cherry and fir (the rest of the interior is cherry, fir, walnut and birch ply) that swing out to support the plywood that unfolds to make a queen sized bed and provides two sofas (with storage for bed linens etc) when not in use. A word of warning - the 6 " high density foam is hard sleeping so you may want to consider 4" with a memory foam as an alternative. My dinette is two quarter pie seats (also storage underneath) with a copper topped table that drops down to make a single bed. I love your design and think the curve was well worth it, though I know what it takes! Taking mine out for the first time Labor Day, which seems appropriate. I hope you will post the finished project!

[ddruker]

Made a ton of progress today.

It was a bit of pain to get everything square and level - Airstream just doesn't seem to believe in straight or plumb lines anywhere.

Next steps:

Fabricate gap fillers and trim - I need to make some small pieces to fill in where there are still visible gaps between the benches and walls.

Finish the drop down table - it's going to end up being 48" x 30" with 3" radiused corners. At least initially I'm going to build a stand for it, perhaps later I'll buy a permanent mount that fits flush with the floor. The quote from the sheet metal shop came back kind of high, so I'm going to build it out of cherry leftovers to start, and use aluminum bar for edge banding. This may be too much wood; if so I'll go back to my original plan of making the table top out of stainless.

Get quotes for cushions. Planning on six inch cushions, probably four inches of high density foam topped by two inches of memory foam.

[ddruker]

First Stanford Football Game is tomorrow,the Airstream is parked at the stadium all ready for the tailgater. I bought some cheap 2" foam at home depot and laid blankets across it so there is seating for tomorrow and I should be done with the drop down table in time for happy hour... I went the easy route and made the table out of cherry hardwood instead of trying for a stainless steel top. The table be edged in aluminum molding when done so I keep within the wood and metallic theme.

I'm pleased to report even with cheapo $20 home depot foam the benches are quite comfortable - going with rubberized upholstery webbing instead of plywood for the seating surface seems to have been a good choice.

Next week I will order the real cushions - the end is in sight.

[rcberger]

Just completed a U-shaped Dinette to our 25 ft safari. It turned out very well.

[Hittenstiehl]

Another nice job. Like the substantial supports under the table.

[ehodg66]

Great looking dinette Rcberger!

I'm looking to do the same in my 72 tradewind. Do you have any dimensioned drawings of your dinette?

thanks

[rcberger]

Originally Posted by ehodg66

Great looking dinette Rcberger!

I'm looking to do the same in my 72 tradewind. Do you have any dimensioned drawings of your dinette?

thanks

Your 72 tradewind may be narrower than my 2006 Safari. I just started making patters out of cardboard for the structural support. If you are interested give me an e-mail address and I can send you a power point presentation with photos and explanations of what had to be accomplished. The height of the solid bench is 15" and the seating surface is 18". Rounding the bench to the contour of the inner corner takes time. Cardboard is inexpensive for patterning and once you get the pattern right you can start working with the wood.

Roger Berger

[ehodg66]

Thank you Roger,

I just sent you a PM.

Eric