I chose to save alot of money and rather than using T metal I used 1 inch angle iron and welded the frame together with my trusty harbor freight core welder.
Here is a view of the back side
Here is a close up of a rear weld prior to doing some flapper wheel action
And a closer look at the front after the welds were ground flush
I did alot of math and did it about 12 times then cut the piece of plywood to use as my jig/guide. To make sure everything fit tight I used a router on the edge of the plywood because the inside corner of angle iron has a hell of a radius.
Tomorrow I will be fitting the bed door and attaching the piano hinge. When all is said and done I will Bondo the face so that it will look like one smooth piece.
A pro tip if you are ever welding 1/8 inch angle. Always strike your arch from the outside of your corner first. My first corner I went from inside out and melted out the outside edge about 5/16. I was able to attach some backing metal then do a fill in weld to fix my mistake but it was alot of extra cutting and grinding to get it looking right.
I hope to do my big update late this coming weekend so stay tuned
