sparkfrost | (no subject)

So, I believe that several weeks ago I mentioned that Palmer and I were working on a hutch for our television, constructing it out of two bookcases. I believe I also said that I was worried that this hutch would become the new Dresser of DOOM! in that it would take us far longer to complete it than necessary. Well. I was right, kinda. To be fair, neither of us are all that experienced at woodworking (despite several required Tech Ed courses in high school) and on top of that, we were working with less familiar material (composite wood). It took us a while to figure out what, exactly, we needed in order to attach these pieces of wood together, what drill bits were necessary, and when we would have the time to work on this project.

All of this meant that over the past month we've multiple trips to the hardware store (the Strosneiders people now recognize me, its eerie), double and triple checked our supplies, and had unassembled bookshelves taking up space in our living room.

However! Whilst trolling Craigslist furniture listings, I discovered that someone in our area was selling an Ikea sectional (lightly used) for $500 less than the original price. We wanted a sectional, we didn't want to spend $900, we had liked this specific style of sectional when we visited Ikea, clearly we had to get it. That meant, of course, that we had to finish the project first, so that we could fit our shiny (almost) new couch in the apartment!

Well. After much Sturm und Drang, and one improperly measured and drilled hole, we have constructed the bookcase/tv hutch!

Materials

-One 4x4 cubby Ikea Expedit bookcase
-One 2x4 cubby Ikea Expedit bookcase
-One 6' black/brown composite wood plank, found in Ikea's "scrap wood/As-Is" section
-4 metal shelf brackets
-24 bolts
-24 t-nuts

Tools
-1 30+ year old power drill
-2 drill bits of differing width
-1 hammer (to insert the t-nuts)
-2 wrenches (so we could twist in the bolts, and oh god I wish we had a rachet)
-1 wax pencil to mark the wood as appropriate

Process
We assembled the smaller bookshelf first. Once assembled, we aligned the shelf plank and the shelf brackets, and measured and marked the shelf with the wax pencil. After one false start and a re-measure, we began drilling the shelf. The reason we required two drill bits, is that the power drill (and bits) came courtesy of my father. This drill is old, but quite functional. The bits? Not so much! We bought a new bit, in what we thought was the right size. We were ever-so-slightly wrong! So we had to use a slightly larger, older bit to get the right size. This bit could not, however, actually penetrate the wood. So we used the new bit to drill the holes through the wood, and the old bit to widen them appropriately. We drilled the requisite 12 holes in the shelf and attached the brackets, securing them with the bolts and t-nuts. For those who don't know, t-nuts get hammered into the other side of the wood, where sharp bits bite into the wood and hold in place, and the bolt is screwed in. This allows for more security, plus a flush piece of metal against the wood, rather than a bolt and nut sticking out.

The next step was assembling the larger bookcase, which didn't take too long. Then, we had to measure and drill into the bookcases themselves. Somewhat nervewracking, but Palmer handled it like a champ! Finally, the tricky part. We had to attach everything together! Considering that these bookshelves are a series of cubbies, it was a bit difficult to get a good viewing angle on the interior to ensure that the bolts had connected to the nuts. But we managed! It was almost completely assembled when we noticed that there was still a gap between a plank and the top of the bigger bookcase. We decided that maybe it was the stress of being laid out on the carpet that was pulling the cases apart, so we set the whole thing upright. Miraculously, the gap disappeared! We finished tightening the bolts, and voila! The Project of DOOM! was completed!

Don't believe me? Take a gander:

Shiny, amiright?! It is totally ok to be overwhelmed with our awesome, I won't hold it against you. :-P Anyhow, I'm seriously pleased with what we managed to accomplish, and I think it makes for an awesome impact piece in our apartment. Basically, go us!