Page 3

Cut some strips out for the side of the pad.  I used denim for the sides and bottom and lycra for the top.

Start sewing!  It's difficult to see but I have the foot pedal in my right hand, it's not hard to operate that way.

I got these nice caps from MSC, just up the road.  A bag of 100 is only 9 bucks!  Whack 'em in with a mallet.

There you can see the foot end.

There's a better view of the prop bolted to the arm and how the pivot rod clips into the "U" pieces.

I kept the seat on for a shelf, plus I'm not sure that without that, the frame wouldn't fall apart.

Back to the top.  I layed it all out and pinned the bottom piece on.  Start sewing at the center of the head end, that way any runout, and excess can be taken care of down at the foot end.

Strips of 3/4" self adhesive velcro from wal-mart.  I did sew over top to make sure they won't come off.

Attatch the two sides of velcro together first with the peel off backer still on the bottom piece.   Then position the pad and peel off the backer to stick the bottom pieces while the pad is in position.  That way you don't accidently stick it down in the wrong spot.  It is very strong adhesive!

Hey!  It fit's in great,  I put the top in first, pad side down, covered that with a large bath towel, and then the frame and arms.  Plenty of room.

Even with a couple large go bags there's still room to tuck some other things in there!  Just what I needed.

Well, that's about all for this project, it works great, but there are some things I'd do differently.

1.  Use grey paint, it blends into the chrome better, doesn't show dust or dirt as much and scratches won't show as bad.  The paint does tend to get scratched up.  Maybe powder coating would be better.

2.  Use a pattern fabric for the top, that won't show dirt or smudges as much.  I like the lycra, it feels great to lay on.  Perhaps a wicking lycra, in the new digital camo pattern???  I'd also make the whole pad covering out of it, instead of using denim for the base and sides.  I also think I got the wrong side out on the top.  One side is slightly ribbed and won't "pill", and I think I put it to the inside.