Here Goes - Bunkbeds

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Ok, This was my second ever project, and my first ever project without my buddy watching what I was doing.  Unfortunately, not a lot of pictures of the welds (didn't think about that aspect of it at the time) to critique, but I thought it was a fun project and wanted to share.At the time, my boys were 7 and 9 (now 10 and 12) and we had them on two mattresses on the floor which turned out to be their gymnastics, monkeys jumping on the bed area.  So, while I was deployed, I came up with this design.  It basically will convert into two single beds with very little effort since I made it modular enough.First, here's the ONE picture I took of any of my welds.  I'm using a 110v Lincoln Weldpak 140HD with 75/25 Ar mix (not too savvy here, I think that's how you all list it).I first made the frame.  The basic design is there are two sets of headboards and footboards, with four rails between to hold them in place.  I used a nested piece of tubing on each corner to hold the pieces together and dropped pieces of plywood between the runners for the mattresses to sit on to keep it from getting jacked at an angle.  Overall very happy with the way the design worked out, although I think I will be less happy if I ever decide to convert them to single beds (due to some warping).  It was just an option when I made them.Once I got the frame done, I added in the web design to the headboards.  I figured the footboards would look kinda silly with a similarly sized web so I just left them open which turned out fine.This one is the entire thing before painting.  You can see where I screwed up the rails.  I welded a piece of angle iron inside the rails to hold the plywood for the mattresses and warped it.  I wanted a solid weld all the way down so pieces of goldfish and cheetos wouldn't get stuck in that gap and start science projects.  I welded each one in about 3 inch sections then moved to another rails.  Didn't really notice the warping too much until I tried to take the whole thing apart again and it was a bit tighter than I'd hoped.  The warping wasn't enough to scrap those pieces and start over, but enough to notice.And the final pic, you can really see the warping here.  Please note I never made a ladder for the thing, the kids didn't want one, and they like climbing up the web at the foot to get up top, and I strung some cool rope with knots across the top as a safety barrier to keep the top kid from rolling out.So, there you go.  I know not much to critique, but I had fun with it.Thanks,DennisRetired in Omaha, NE
Reply:Ill bet the kids love it!Regards,RobGreat Basin WeldingInstagramBlue weldersRed weldersMy luscious Table DIY TIG Torch cooler
Reply:Ahoy Bubbles,Nice look'n build.   What's your rating?
Reply:cough'Officer'cough... Not ashamed to say that or anything, just a lot of people have a thing against 'Os'... when I was in OCS, they told me I should give up my commission and become a Chief...  probably would have had a lot more fun, but driving a Submarine is pretty fun.Retired in Omaha, NE
Reply:Just think, you could have become an HT like I was a decade ago. On the plus side, you would have gotten to do plenty of welding. On the negative side, you also would have had to fix the toilets and pull gerbil sized hair clogs out of the showers.
Reply:allenidaho,Welcome aboard shipmate.   Seems like there's getting to be quite a few of us former (and current) HTs on the forums.   As to the turd chase'n aspect of being an HT well, some of my best sea stories involve the creative use of multiple wooden DC plugs and 140 psi fire main pressure.   Oh boy did we ever have some huge train wrecks at times.   You could always tell when you were having fun by the fact that there were little globs of sh!t and toilet paper stuck all over all 4 bulkheads and the overhead.