Cots and Bunks Question

[LDK]

Just a thought but maybe you could use a 2x4 hanger and a 2x4 or maybe you could make a wall attachment that would accept a 2x4. She wouldn't break that and neither would you.

[StandUpGuy]

[quote="S. Heisley"]I made this picture small; but, this is my closet pole with its summer load. It is just a couple inches shy of 5' long. The diameter of that pole is 1 ¼â€

[J.Heyboer]

Thanks for all the feed back guys! I really appreciate all the thoughtful responses.

My brackets are plenty thick, so I am not too worried about sagging so much that the pole will pop out. More that it will break. Also, I cut the slots for the poles bigger than the actual diameter of the poles so I could go all the way up to a 2" pole without too much of an issue. The closet pole was all I could find locally at the time.

I will do a 100 lb test and get back to you.

John

[dh]

Sharon, are you shure your closit pole is pine, and not ash, oak, or some other hard wood?

In the house I grew up in, I had a +/- 8' long closit in my room, had a rod support every 32'', we had a coat closit that was 4' wide, no rod support, steel hanger rod. (its funny some of the crap from your childhood you remember)

[urban5]

I would go to a box store and have some 1 in gas pipe cut to fit. That would defiantly hold the weight. It is heavier, but wouldn't flex at all.

[bobhenry]

Thanks for all the feed back guys! I really appreciate all the thoughtful responses.

My brackets are plenty thick, so I am not too worried about sagging so much that the pole will pop out. More that it will break. Also, I cut the slots for the poles bigger than the actual diameter of the poles so I could go all the way up to a 2" pole without too much of an issue. The closet pole was all I could find locally at the time.

I will do a 100 lb test and get back to you.

John

You might concider a over sleve of schedule 40 or 80 PVC pipe slid over the closet pole. The schedule 80 is rather beefy and will just slip over the pole. the pvc girdle will not let the pole split and spear any one or any thing The pipe size is the inside diameter therefore an 1 1/4 schedule 40 pvc is actually 1.278" and 1 1/2 pipe is tighht at 1.5" I.D.

[jtsarby]

Also remember the clothes pole has static weight, the clothes don't move. As the occupant moves it increases the weight load quite a bit. Stand on a scale and bounce up and down and the needle will go crazy.

[S. Heisley]

I would go to a box store and have some 1 in gas pipe cut to fit. That would defiantly hold the weight. It is heavier, but wouldn't flex at all.

I thought about that one, too, but deleted my same suggestion because of the damage that metal pipe can do to a body, etc, if it falls.

BobHenry wrote:

You might concider a over sleve of schedule 40 or 80 PVC pipe slid over the closet pole. The schedule 80 is rather beefy and will just slip over the pole. the pvc girdle will not let the pole split and spear any one or any thing The pipe size is the inside diameter therefore an 1 1/4 schedule 40 pvc is actually 1.278" and 1 1/2 pipe is tighht at 1.5" I.D.

BobHenry, that sounds like an excellent way to beef up a pole!

dh wrote:

Sharon, are you shure your closit pole is pine, and not ash, oak, or some other hard wood?

Oh, huney, it ain't a rich man's house.

A conversation with a friend adds this:

In a teardrop, bouncing is limited by how close the noggin is to the ceiling.

However, a child needs to be warned not to invite two legged or four legged friends to sit or lay up there with him/her. Also, there's the climb-up-on-one-knee or the sit-in-the-middle-with-legs-dangling-over factors...(if there's room to sit up, up there.)


...My, we're having a lively, entertaining discussion. By the time we're through, nobody will ever have to ask this same question again!

[len19070]

I used a piece of 1 3/8" fencing top rail....then I put 3 pieces of diminishing diameters of EMT into that.

That makes almost a solid bar.

The entire tubing costs less than $35.

I tested it with my 220lbs, but the average occasional occupant is about 100lbs.

On some things Over Kill is a good thing!

Happy Trails

Len

[CarlLaFong]

Here's a simple fix. Drill a vertical hole at the bottom of the cradles and insert a pin. Leave about an inch protruding. A steel pin would be fine. Drill corresponding holes in the ends of the poles that register with the pins. Drop the poles into the pins and voila, no sag. The PVC sleeve is a good idea. I make shower curtain rods that way. A bit of acetone on a rag will remove the printing on the PVC and leave it looking real nice.

[dh]

A bit of acetone on a rag will remove the printing on the PVC and leave it looking real nice.

Don't try citrus cleaners, I made a PVC pipe holder for the filler rods to fit on the TIG welder cart at work. I decided to clean up the pipes with some indusrial citrus mold cleaner we had. Big mistake, it messed up the pipe

[J.Heyboer]

Thanks again guys, I am totally blown away the helpfulness of the guys/gals on this forum.

I like the idea of a PVC outer sleeve I think that would definitely give me the strength I need.

I did a little test when I got home from work today and it set my mind a at ease a little more.

0lbs



35lbs



70lbs



95lbs



I had another 25 lb weight that I could have added, but I was worried about what 130lbs of steel would do if the poles actually broke.

Based on this I am not to0 worried about the poles breaking. I will probably upgrade them the future but I think they are plenty strong for now.

Thanks Again!

John

[StandUpGuy]

That 70 lbs you have on there is placed evenly on two poles not one. So that is only 35 lbs static weight on one pole and you have a tremendous amount of flex. A child (or two) is going to sit on the edge or climb on the center point of one pole and it will be much more strain on the it than you have shown here. The amount of flex you have on the 70 lbs pole is very similar to what I had in a closet once. One day it just flexed more and the rod slipped the mounts and it all came down.

[StandUpGuy]

what if you have an eye bolt in the ceiling over this cot deal. Then if you took some heavy nylon cord or rope you could attach it to the center of the outer pole. The eye bolt in the ceiling could be placed exactlly in between the "open" cot pole position and the "closed" cot pole position. This way the length of cord attaching to the outer pole could stay fixed and reach the same lenth in either pole position.

This rope would even perform some "hold child in cot" function.

[CarlLaFong]

Not to be pushy, but I think my idea with the pins is perfect. No straps, hooks, eye bolts, cantilevered supports, sky hooks, anti gravity devices, etc.
Four pins, eight holes and yer done