Projects Any uses for metal bedframes in the garage?

Does anyone use old metal bed (the kind you sleep in) frames in the garage?

The 6' lengths of L-shaped angle look like they'd make great shelves, engine dollys, etc. ... and people are giving them away on Craigslist.

 

Old sleeper sofas are a good source of different sizes of steel tubing too.

 

I made an engine dolly for my 2.3 ford/t5 out of this stuff. The metal seems a little low grade, so I wouldn't use it for anything structural or that would hold a lot of weight.

 

Doesnt weld good .Bad metal Good for making jigs up .Thats about it.

 

We usta beef up derby cars with it. I wish I had some of those 60"s Imperials now. Its also great for brackets that arent subject to alot of vibration.
I use it for mock ups of alot of things. It is pretty "soft" though.

 

I've used bed frame angle iron for temporary inner body bracing when doing major mods such as flooring, chops, etc. It also is good for temporarily tacking side frame rails in place while you istall crossmembers.

 

A guy I used to work with cut some of the angled side rails into foot long sections and welded several of them upside-down across the ramps for his car trailer. He said it helped give the cars a little more traction as they went up the ramps onto the trailer.

Jay

 

I've seen wall-mounted tire racks made from the stuff. It looked like it had a lot of lateral supports added, though.

 

Good enough for misc. things. Metal seems brittle, crack easy. Cut into some of that stuff with a hack saw and seems soft then a hard spot , almost tempered then soft. No consistancy. Cheap junk but handy and free.

 

I wonder if the old ones are made out of low quality steel too.I've saved some that had to be 40 years old or more,and the angle looked pretty beefy.Hven't used any of it yet,but they're in the metal pile

 

Ditto on all of the above. I'm using some for supports on a bed cover.

 

The stuff I got seems to weld pretty good. I have used it for bracing and used some to fix my friend's frame rail on his Eagle.

 

added to my list.... Free rails+free wood= project #649
....now I know why I kept that stuff...

 

they hold bed's up great, also.

 

I never throw bed frames out. Tons of uses for them. I built my welding cart out of them and braced up my Metropolitan with them before mounting it on a rotisseri. I always have bed frames on hand for stuff I need to build.

 

I used it to make the battery box in a "T" bucket I made in the mid '60's and it held up for me for 15 or so years. Don't know what happened since then, but I was satisfied.

 

Some old throw cusions ahd a frame build from bed frame angle makes a pretty good shop couch.

 

that stuff is crap. it welds a lot like rebar. really it just tacks like crap, once you sink some heat into it, welds fine. it drills like crap too. gotta have some good bits. with that out of the way, i used to have a huge pile of them and it seemed like i always had or or 2 in the bed of my truck. welding carts, small tables, fish tank stands, brackets... around here the scrap guys must snatch them up on trash nite, i havent seen a bed frame in the trash in years.

 

Bed rails are made out of old rail road track. Tjhe manufactures pay a premium price for it. Very hard. I have had problems with it cracking next to the welds.

 

Its not bed frames but still a good story nonetheless. I scarfed up a pile of discarded Autozone shelf bars. the metal is decent as they do have to hold some heavy things the plus side of this is autozone is always redoing / fucking up there shelving so they toss a lot of there materials because they don't look presentable on the sales floor. I'm using most of the material i got to make seat brackets for my 50. so far thats the only thing I've needed them for.

 

I used some to make bars over the window in my garage, spaced far enough so no one could squeeze between them.

 

Engine dolly. Wheels too. They roll crappy (kinda like a bed) but free is free and I'm not moving engines often. Pretty much one frame equals one dolly. Wheels are somewhat interchangeable if one breaks on ya, or just pop them all out.

 

I've used old bed frames and cheap casters to make mobile bases for saws, tables, whatever in the garage.

 

I use them for my Brew Tables! They make a great edge for the tables I make.

You gotta be careful though, some of the frames are bowed. People get rowdy on them things!

EDIT- I have resized the image, but Photobucket is taking a while to kick in.

 

I have used a bed frame as a sheet metal brake to bend inner panels for my old chevy. I just clamped them to my deck rail and slid the sheet metal in between them, worked fine. ok so it's kind of red neck. Carlg

 

I used some to make a stand for my gas tank in the back of my '33 truck, which seconds as a support for the (truck) bed front. It worked out well & the welding was fine. It was an old bed, if that has anything to do with the steel quality.

 

Way back when I was a kid I built a little Briggs and Straton powered go cart out of old bed frames. It was a bitch to cut and drill. The guy who welded it up for me, a pro, told me bed frames were smelted and rolled out of the lowest, cheapest grade of scrap and not suitable for much anything. That was at least 50 years ago and from the above posts it looks like nothing has changed.

 

The last top I chopped was on a three window 35 Chevy.I didn't have any metal so I used bed frames to cross support the inside of the cab.

 

In the early 80's I ended up with the metal from a bunch of 1940's hospital beds.

Here's the sand buggy built from head and footboards.
I sold it but it's still cruising the desert 25 years later.

The angle iron from the beds was tempered to nearly spring steel.
A hacksaw would barely touch it.

 

I always save bed frames if possible. Heck its free angle iron! I hacked up a bunk bed frame and made it into a tire rack for my trailer, worked great. People sometimes laugh and say "that looks like a bunkbed" and I can honestly say "yes it is"