Yesterday I assembled a pair of armchairs with footstools from Ikea, the Poang model. They were a gift to my wife and me from our daughter, Sgt. Fox, USMC. She attached one condition to the gift: "Get rid of that ugly old couch!"

Just to have room in the living room for the armchairs, that couch had to go. It didn't look worn, but none of the local charities would take it. OK - demolition time! About four hours of sweat and the ex-couch was in pieces small enough to smuggle out in installments in the weekly garbage pickup.  (Tools used: Ginsu cleaver, sharpening steel, socket and screwdriver set, pry bar, big hammer, Mackeson Triple Stout)
 

The Ikea chairs and footstools went together with only a few minor glitches - I found excess glue (or shellac?) obstructing a bolt hole, easily cleaned out. There were also a couple of places where attached shavings or wood chips  had not been cleaned out of routed slots or bored holes. This was only a significant problem on the footstools, where the debris in the routed slots prevented the flat plank that goes under the cushion  from seating securely.

Overall, the Ikea products were well packaged and documented. The pieces were finished and dimensioned acceptably. All the necessary assembly tools were included (minus the small hobby knife for fixing the wood chip problem from the Chinese contract wood shop).

The story ends well: My wife and I can now watch videos without wrecking our backs.

Posted by: thornharp at 08:52 AM | No Comments | Add Comment
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