Almost Done Truckin'

A rare day this week that I wasn't scheduled to be anywhere for work, so I contacted Mary and (with her permission) scheduled myself to do some more work on my sink project.  The process is nearing the end, so I'm getting excited to finish it.

The next step was to make the diagonal braces that will stabilize the four corners.  Simple enough- take some 2x4 pieces I had left over, cut each into two with a mitre saw, so each piece had a 45 degree angle on one end, use a C-clamp to hold the square end up and behind the frame, then drill a hole through the frame to attach it with a carriage bolt, then switch to a smaller bit and drill a hole for a long wood screw to attach the mitred end to the leg.  Repeat 3 more times to get all four legs.  See above and below.  Each end has one two-legged leg unit, which can be detached by removing six nuts and extracting the 6 carriage bolts.  putting it back together would be just as simple.

A bit trickier was attaching the sides.  I had bought some 1x8 pine boards, with the plan to build a simple frame that would surround the sink basin.  Simple in concept, but holding up the 6 foot board while I secured it in place was a little difficult.  In the end I used a combination of 3 clamps- the wood bodied hand screw and two C-clamps, adjusting and shifting, checking with my level, until I got it where I wanted it, then attached it to the 2x4 frame.  The wood screws I had were longer than the combined width of the exterior board and the frame, so I lined the screws up to go through the board, the frame, and into the joists that will hold up the sink.  Did the two long sides today, the second one going slightly faster as Mary had come upstairs and I could put her hands to use before I had all the clamps in place.

Around 5 pm I decided to call it a day.  The only thing I have left at this point is to cut one of those 1x8 boards down to make the two ends, which will complete the exterior frame.  Can't really do more than that until I learn what the plumbers will be doing.  I purposely designed this thing with lots of open space underneath, leaving plenty of options for where the fresh water can come in, and where the old water can drain out.