Cutting Metal Bunk Beds?

EllaBaby

My son has a set of metal bunkbeds, the type with a chair and desk under the bed. He has never liked sleeping 'up in the air' and I wonderered if there was a way of altering them.
I am a very poor single parent(!) so would have to do it myself but what would I cut through the metal corner poles with?
We are quite happy to do away with the underneath part and he would be happy to just have a 'normal' bed. (Wouldn't mind but he chose that high rise sort!!)
Essentially I think the structure would be ok but just 2 foot off the legs.
Many thanks in anticipation if anyone has the time to reply.

windym_2

You would need to ensure that they are all completely level when cut, but I would think your best course of action would be an angle grinder. You can buy a cheap small one for less than £20 at B&Q, but you may be able to borrow / hire one for less.

Alternatively do they just not come apart? I only ask because my son used to have the wooden sort and in essence, it was just a bed, with a desk and bookcase under.

EllaBaby

The corner poles are 5ft in length.
Many thanks for your advice.

thescouselander

I think an angle grinder is probably a bit over the top. I Jigsaw might be a good alternative and one of these can be bought in Argos for £10 (on special offer at the moment). I bought the slightly more expensive version for £20 and I have to say I was surprised at how good it was.

trish06

ellababy have you tried freecycle ?
there always giving away single beds and if you get a single bed you could give your sons bed away on there to ,this would be much safer as with cutting any metal,it will leave very sharp areas ,hope this helps

tyllwyd

My feeling is that if you have never done anything like this before, it is going to be very tricky for you to get all the legs the same length and the ends of them flat to the floor. Have you looked around to see if you can find a handyman who could do it for you - maybe a friendly plumber, because they must be pretty experienced at cutting pipes.

kisk

Get yourself a hacksaw, they are quite cheap, from a DIY store just do it. Dismantle the bed legs and mark where you want to cut. Use a sheet of A4 paper to wrap round the leg and line up where it meets in order to make sure you are getting the measurement correct the whole way round the leg. The paper can be taped in place to provide a guide. Once you’ve cut one leg use this to measure off the rest of the legs and cut the same way. The existing legs have probably got a plastic insert for the footing which should be removed and fitted to the new cut leg. If the saw starts to cut slightly in the wrong direction this is corrected by putting slight pressure on the saw in the opposite direction which should bring it back inline. Sometimes with larger round cuts its best to gradually cut into the pipe then turn it round following the paper guide back to the start of the cut. A little talc sprinkled on the cutting area can help if the saw is jamming.

Good luck

tr3mor

Bear in mind that the cut legs will be quite rough and may damage the floor.

EllaBaby

Thank you all ever so much for your detailed advice, I shall gve it a try.