ToasterWaffles

Sunday we saw the Leopold Bench go up on Make. Since we’d just gotten back from two dives we decided to wait until this weekend to build it.

We went out to Home Depot and got the required bits and pieces:

• 6 3/8“ hex nuts
• 6 3/8” by 3“ hex bolts
• 1 2×6 (8′ long)
• 2 2×8 (8′ long)
• 1 2×10 (8′ long)

That totaled up to around $25 ($27 after CA state tax) and is the base price of the bench. Not too bad at all!

Jess convinced me (she’s very convincing) that we needed to stain it pretty colors: green and brown to be specific so we picked up some more stuff:

• 2 3” brushes
• 2 quarts of stain
• 1 can of
• 1 5“ orbital sander
• 2 packs of circular sand paper

This all totals up to around $100 and is entirely extra.

After we got the materials home we started by cutting the boards down to the right sizes and shapes. We got to use the mitre part of the mitre saw for the first time, making the 30° cuts for the supports. Since our saw can only cut up to a 2×8 we had to make two cuts for each one. Lining this up was more difficult than I imagined, but it worked out.

Once it was all cut we sanded stuff down. Doing this with an orbital sander worked out pretty well. Since we’d be sitting on this thing splinters weren’t acceptable. Consequently there was a lot of sanding.

After the sanding was done we drilled some holes for the bolts. It turned out to be easiest to take one board, mark the three holes, drill them, then line things up and mark the second board and drill it separately. This may sound more complicated, but trying to drill through both boards at the same time just doesn’t work. Also, our wood was really wet (actually gooey on the inside. yuck!) and that didn’t help at all.

We then test fit the bolts and ran in to an alignment issue with one of the holes. In the process I managed to smash the top thread on one of the bolts. This completely prevented the nut from going on. Jess decided to whip out the Dremel and take the first few threads off Gaijin Smash style. Once we got the bolts in there was the matter of screwing the seat down. This part was very easy — three screws per side and your done! We used 3” deck screws to make sure there was enough grip.

The final building bit, the back rest, is an issue of personal preference. According to the plans you’re supposed to make some extra cuts on the long supports so that the back rest can be perpendicular to the ground. Since we intend to use this bad boy primarily by watching the aquarium, we were looking for a more reclined look. We achieved this by not making the extra cuts, and just screwing the back rest directly on. This provided the correct posture we wanted, and was really really easy.

At this point a test was in order and it passed with flying colors.

Jess got out the stain and some paint brushes and got to work. The main color is “Green Tea” and the secondary color is “Coffee”. This is a water based stain that went on very easily. Sunday we’ll put on some clear urethane to seal it up be done.

w00t! Now we can watch the aquarium in style.