Cat Hammock

The new cat really likes to steal the dog's bed and they have informed me this is not acceptable any longer and I need to relocate her onto her own bed. Of course, the bed needs to be able to be located in whatever location the sun is shinning at that time of day.

So here's my attempt to provide the cat with a bed.

• Wood boards
• Wooden Dowel
• Fabric
• Screws
• Bolts
• Washers
• Thumb Nuts
• Rubber Feet
• Suction Cups
• Wire
• Printed Plans
• Sandpaper
• Drill
• Jigsaw
• Rasp or file
• Sewing Machine

Print out the template onto some paper and cut it out, then glue it onto some timber, you need two of each part. Now use a jigsaw to cut out the frames. Drill a couple of holes for the slots and then once you get the jigsaw started cut the slots out. You can use a rasp to smooth out the slot.

Now drill the holes with a small drill bit and then peel off the paper and sand all the parts.

Now measure off two lengths of dowel for however wide you want the hammock to be and cut these to the same length. I selected some dowel that was 25mm in diameter and for the next part used a 25mm bit to make a small recess into the frames for the dowel to slot into.

Now push the dowel into the recess and use a screw to hold it in place. You can also use a small amount of wood glue but don't glue it just yet, you need to make the bed first.

Now cut out some fabric for the bed, you need to allow enough to fold over and hem the sides with a sewing machine. Now you need to fold over the two ends to create a pocket for the dowel to slide through, and then sew that as well.

Now slide the dowel through each of the pockets and screw on the other end of the frame.

On each end of the frame supports screw on a small rubber foot.

I used a couple of M6 bolts on each side to hold the support onto the frame. As this part needs to be adjustable I used two Thumb Nuts to allow for each adjustment.

I had a piece of 50mm flat metal bar left over from another project, I cut this into four strips about 12mm wide and 150mm long. I used a file to smooth off any sharp edges and round over the edges.

I then marked the bar with a punch and drilled some holes to fix it to the bed. I also counter-sunk all the holes.

Lastly I bent two off the bars about 50mm from the end.

I screwed the two straight bars onto the frame of the hammock and then used some paracord to tie each straight bar onto one of the bent bars.

The Cat Hammock is now completed, you just need to put it up and let your cat use it.

You can now use the bed mounts to attach the Cat Hammock to your bed.

Another option is to mount the Cat Hammock onto a window, for these mounts you'll need a couple of suction cups and some wire.

Start by removing the existing hooks from the suction cups and bend out two 'U' shaped mounts from the wire. You can make a loop at each end of the wire by wrapping it around something round like a screwdriver.

Now you can push the wire mounts through rubber suction cups to complete the mount. I then drilled a small hole through the hammock and used a small bolt to hold the mount in place.

It's just a matter of sticking the hammock onto a window and adjusting the braces until the bed it where you want it.

Now unleash your cat onto the hammock, there's a 50/50 chance your cat will completely ignore all your hard work and go sleep in a cardboard box.