I’m starting to feel better from my bout with Covid, but I’m still taking it easy on the van build. Today, I began by drilling the last of the holes in the boards that will be the cushions for the lower bunk bed. I had 50 more holes to drill. I then sanded the top and bottom of both boards to make sure there were no rough edges. Fortunately, I have an electric orbital sander which made this step very easy. I think the boards came out very good.
I made a lot of sawdust drilling all those holes, so I spent some time sweeping the garage to prepare for the next step with these two cushions. I opened up the package with the 6″ memory foam mattress and let it breath for a while before working with it.
The mattress is a full size, which is a lot bigger than I need. But, it cost less than the twin size and it allows me to make a mistake cutting it and still recover (hopefully). I removed the plastic it was wrapped in and it immediately started to expand. I also cut off the outer mattress cover. But, I left the thin cotton fabric that is next to the foam itself. I think I will use this to wrap the foam that I cut before upholstering the cushion with the vinyl fabric. So, I marked and cut off a section of the gray fabric, which exposed the memory foam itself.
I decided to start with the narrower back board. That way, if I totally mess up, there will be enough foam to start over. I marked a line in the foam for the cut. I made the first three passes of the cut with my utility knife, but that only cut about an inch and a half into the foam. So, I pulled out my big backpacking knife and finished the job with three more passes. It cut rather clean, but there was some small pieces floating around the table.
I then got out my vinyl fabric, measured and cut an oversized piece for this cushion.
Then it was time to upholster the cushion. I put the vinyl fabric down on the table and centered the foam block on it. Then I placed the plywood board on top. I used my staple gun to secure the vinyl to the back of the board. I started with the long sides, as they were the easiest.
Then it was time for a break, and during my break I re-watched the process video I had saved on how to upholster a cushion. I focused on how to upholster the corners. Then, I came back and finished the cushion. I think it looked good. Functional at least.
I then tackled the larger bottom cushion. It was the same process as before. Here is what that cushion looked like.
I’m not going to attach these two cushions to the bed frame, yet. Because, I still have some other work to do with and around the bed frame. So, for now I’ll set these cushions aside until they are needed. I also packaged up the left over foam material and vinyl fabric. I’m done with these, but will save them in case they are needed in the future.
That was the end of my work today. I put in just under four hours of work today.