Ron's next house call took him South of Los Angeles to Orange County and the city of Brea. This is home to Craig and Vickie Richesin. The family had dreamed of breaking bread around a cozy breakfast nook and Ron was happy to come and help them make their dream a reality.
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this project.
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1. Drawing of breakfast nook:
- The Richisen's were hoping for an "L-shaped" bench unit with hinged lids for the storage of games, art supplies and other items that the kids might want to use at the table. With this in mind, Ron made a sketch of what he thought this nook should look like. The dimensions of the available corner were 3' x 5' and Ron's design fit perfectly into the corner.
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- Ron suggested that Craig and Vickie measure a comfortable chair to determine the height and depth for their new bench.
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- They would build the benches for the breakfast nook out of 2 x 4 frames. To these basic boxes they would then add back supports, front panels, a back panel, a hinged seat lid and finally decorative end panels.
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- From the drawings and measurements they created a cut list, which essentially was an inventory of each piece of wood they would need.
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2. Cut wood:
- They began with the 2 x 4s that would make up the frame. Once they had cut these pieces to size, they were ready to begin assembling the frame.
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3. Assembly:
- They laid out the pieces for each section of the base starting with the bottom.
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- They applied wood glue to the joining surfaces and attached them together using long screws, which were deeply countersunk.
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- After they had finished the frames it was time to cover them with ¾ inch thick MDF or Medium Density Fiberboard.
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- They cut the fiberboard with a circular saw but first they set it on four 2 x 4s so that when the saw finished its cut, the board wouldn't move, pinch or bind the blade.
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- They clamped an aluminium straight edge to the fiberboard. The straight edge allowed them to make perfectly straight cuts by serving as a guide for the base of the circular saw.
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- With all of the cutting complete, they moved indoors to assemble and install the new nook.
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4. Assembly and installation:
- First they joined the two bases together with screws.
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- They applied construction adhesive to the front panels and then clamped them into position. Then Vickie secured the panels with a pneumatic nail gun.
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- They attached the two back supports by once again applying glue to the surface then attaching the 2 x 4s with screws.
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- Ron explained that if they left the back supports perpendicular or vertical as they were, he thought it would be pretty uncomfortable. He thought it would be better to add some type of a cant or tilt to the back of the bench. Ron suggested the easiest way to do this was to add tapered pieces that he had cut with the table saw. Craig and Vickie nailed these tapered pieces to each backboard creating the slant for the backrest.
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