MetalworkingFun Forum

Remember when you could make a trailer from "bed iron"

My 29 year old son brought me part of his bed frame to repair
The material was more suitable for a dolls pram than a bed
My son is a big bloke but even so
I welded a couple of lengths of 3/4 angle around the bent remains
Thinking that "nothing to strong ever broke"

I've heard bed frames are made from some of the worst steel available.

Nice fix John.

Ed

My neighbor built a trailer out of bed frame, dulled a few drill bits many times over.

You are right there Vinny, I have built many things from bed iron over the years, including a chassis for an Austin mini grass track car. Very springy and strong, welds good, but an absolute B*st*rd to drill. Some areas of it (its patchy) were so hard that brand new Dormer drills glow up and turn to cheese!
Phil
UK

The modern day stuff drills ok
With a wood drill

I made our bed from 40 / 40  mill box section
34 years & 2 Kids with loads of practice runs
Still solid
John

(03-23-2015, 05:01 PM)doubleboost Wrote: [ -> ]The modern day stuff drills ok
With a wood drill

I made our bed from 40 / 40  mill box section
34 years & 2 Kids with loads of practice runs
Still solid
John

we didn't need the gritty details John.

Ed

The dump is a ready supply of angle iron bed frames, like you say they seam to weld fine but a bugger to drill. Made my sandblast cabinet frame out of them, had to drill it with a carbide bit to attach the puck board walls.

Proper Vintage bed frames - a lot of 'em were made from torn-up tram rails, it's serious steel - look up "Maraging steel"!

Made plenty of go karts out old bed frames and yes they used to eat drill bits and hacksaw blades wish I had a plasma cutter all those years ago 

Just a little point to be made here. It would seem that the steel for bedframes in the north American continent is very much different from the steel in bed frames elsewhere.Indeed steel bed frames in my own country Australia drill and weld just like ordinary mild steel.

I understand the the American bed frames are from reject railway iron.

Ozwelder