Jacknife sofa question

I would like to build the small sofa table that someone on the forum built for themselves and posted some time ago.  It has a  base that slides under the sofa for stability,  is mobile, and
can be placed free-standing between the front seats also.    It was great and many others loved the idea.
The sofa used in the forum was the leather type and appeared to have a larger gap at the floor than our jackknife.    Not having access to it in storage, i'm wondering if there's enough room under the bottom
of the sofa to slip a  1/4  inch base underneath ?    Judging from pictures of ours,  it's kind of tight.   Also have the carpet under the couch.

Does anyone have access to their jackknife sofa and be willing to  measure or try slipping a  1 foot by 1 foot piece of 1/4 inch plywood underneath for me to verify if it's possible ?
Would like to getter-done before camping season starts if possible.
Also,   what is the height of the front of the sofa to the floor for that dimension ?

Thanks for your help
Jim

Jim,

We were the ones that built the table.  Here is the original post
http://forum.phoenixusarv.com/index.php/topic,732.msg5027.html#msg5027

Not sure what kind of sofa you have in your 2006.  We have since replaced the sofa that is seen on the original post.  When we added the drawer to our new sofa we made sure there was enough room for the table to slide under.  The base of our table is 3/4 inch.

Barry-Sue,  thanks for re-posting the original pictures.        I was obviously wrong about the leather sofa,  is the one pictured a jackknife sofa ?
It has a larger gap at the floor,  but maybe it's due to your flooring being linoleum and not carpet ?     If  PC  laid the carpet over the linoleum
in ours,  plus pad ?    It could close that gap quickly.         Maybe someone out there has  an answer to my original question.

Jim

Jim,

No, this was not a jackknife sofa.  It was the one that had the air bed in it.  I would check with Phoenix to find out if the carpet was laid over the linoleum.  I know when we visited the factory many, many years ago (2003) we were impressed that they lined the whole floor with linoleum.  I do not know if they continued that practice through the years.

Barry and Sue,    really appreciate your help on this.     Would it be violating your  patent on the item  to  post the dimensions ?
I promise not to mass produce !

jim

Jim

Here are the dimensions for our sofa table.  The exact size can be modified to meet your requirements.

Base
10" x 8 1/2" x 3/4
Radius on four corners is 1"
Top edge has 1/2" round over
I screwed the legs (center legs on screw holes) to the base with two screws.  The first screw is located 1 3/4" from the back of the base and 1 3/16" from the side of the base.  The other screw is located 2 3/4" from the back of the base and 1 3/16" from the side of the base.

Top
14" x 12 1/4" x 1"
Radius on front corners is 3"
Radius on rear corners is 2"
Top edge has 1/2" round over

Mounting Cleat
1 1/2" x 1" x 8 1/4"
I screwed the cleats to the legs with two screws each.  One is 1' from the back of the cleat and the other is 2' from the back of the cleat.

Cleat is located 3 3/8" from the back of the top.  I screwed the two cleats to the top with two screws each.  One is 3 1/2" from the back of the cleat and the other is 6' from the back of the cleat.

Legs
2 5/8" x 3/4" x approximately 22"
Overall length of legs are determined by thickness of Base, top and mounting cleat.
Side edges 1/4" round over

Attached is a picture of the table showing the underside with mounting cleats.

Barry

Very nice !    Thanks for the detailed instructions and photo of the underside.
jim

Yes, 1/4 of an inch will fit with some room for play. Also tried 3/4 inch - which does not fit. I wondered if 1/2 might fit - but didn't have that with me to try. I slid a 14 inch long piece of wood underneath the length of the sofa. The stopping point at each end is just to the inside the buttons that cover the screws that hold on the upholstered board that runs next to the floor. Our PC also has carpet on the floor that extends under the sofa to the wall. Hope this helps!

Thanks PC,  that's a huge help.         Now the fun begins !    If you happen to try 1/2 inch,  let me know.
jim

The 1/2 is IMHO a no-go. While I could start get a 1/2 board under - it displaced the face board of the sofa upward and was very difficult to move. It had to be forced under. After the first 4 inches or so it became even more difficult to move... Sorry - what we were hoping for also!

OK,  PC,  thanks for the update.        If you don't mind,  what is the distance from floor to the top of the  seat  ?

Sorry - meant to check that also... it's just under 19 3/4 inches. As an FYI took the face board off and found a power supply for the sofa  located in the middle and heading off to the right side encased in tubing - most likely best not to disturb   Took a couple photos will try to figure out how to post later tonight.

Good job with the photos, PC.        It looks like as long as something flat is slid along the carpet under the sofa snagging  the power supply wires wouldn't be an issue  ?
As in moving the table from side to side within reason ?   

There appears to be two parts of the wiring system. Part of it lies on top of a raised area that is covered with carpet. There's significant play in this wire - in the picture below it is draped over the raised area and near the floor - I wouldn't want to catch the wiring on the side of a table. I wonder if the play in the wire might be present to accommodate for the re-positioning of the slide when it's extended...? Then I'm assuming there are more wires that go into the black tubing that goes down on the floor and back towards the outside... I think the wood would slide under the tubing (one of the pictures above shows the tubing elevated off the floor, at least in the front area of the sofa - I do think it contacts the floor further back. The pieces of wood in this picture delineate the area I could slide the wood across the floor under the sofa - the wiring lies approximately in the middle of this area. So... I guess the best position for tables would be to align the outside edge of the bottom of the table to the outer limits of the "free" area and there would seem to be room to do that without disturbing the wire. So I guess the next question is how does that position bodies on the sofa in relationship to the tables...

Judging from your pieces of wood,  the table would  pretty much have to be near the middle of the couch,  and hence seating for one person on either side of it ?
That would seem to be the best arrangement anyway,  given it's purpose.     
Concerning the wiring,  I suppose the slack in the wires is there for a reason,  maybe like you say  for sliding out the slide,  or opening up the sofa,  which we never do anyway.
Maybe the wiring could be loosely tied up to something above to eliminate snagging and still be able to operate the movements.  Would have to observe that with the front board off
I suppose to be sure.