While some parents express frustration at the prospect of putting together toys for Christmas, I actually look forward to it. Of course, I don't mean the prospect of putting together toys at 2 am that Santa has just delivered or trying to put something together with an audience of 2 or 3 pre-schoolers "helping" with the tools or the parts. But give me a well constructed toy with good instructions and proper tools to put together at a reasonable time in a warm family room, and I really enjoy it.
This year Santa asked me to put together a workbench for Timothy and he delivered it to our house a couple days early so I had plenty of time to work on it. Although the box said it was made in China the instructions were clear and helpful. All the parts fit and appropriate tools were available. Things went even better when I supplemented the supplied tools with some from my own workbench.
The only instruction that left me a little puzzled was the following: When assembling this item, you must tighten all screws simultaneously. Do not tighten any single screw completely as this may cause the item to become out of alignment. If this happens, it will require you to loosen all the screws and begin again by tightening all screws simultaneously.Since there are 35 screws to be tightened, tightening all of them simultaneously presented a big problem. Fortunately, I had 34 elves helping me so on the count of three we tightened everything simultaneously.
It was easy to identify all the parts after they were all laid out.
I used a power drill/screwdriver to place but NOT tighten all the screws. All 35 screws were identical which made assembly easier.
I began construction with the bottom shelf and legs.
And completed the frame before adding the top, back, and vise.
And here's the finished product!
Well, except for the tools that Grandma and Grandpa will add.
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