It can be considered that the sofa is practically the central place in the house. You can sit on it with friends, guests. You can relax after a working day, etc. Thanks to this, it becomes something more than just a part of the interior. However, buying a fairly spacious and beautiful model is quite an expensive pleasure. Therefore, it is worth considering how to assemble a sofa with your own hands.
What you need to assemble a simple model
Naturally, today there are a lot of purchased models. All of them differ in their design and functionality. However, since it is rather difficult to assemble such complex models the first time, it is best to start your acquaintance with assembling furniture with simple details. To do this, you should first take up the assembly of the sofa with your own hands of the most ordinary, without special properties and with the simplest design. To do this, you need to have the following tools at hand:
- Quite often you will have to use an electric jigsaw. However, this tool is notconsidered necessary. If it is not there, then you can successfully replace it with a regular wood saw, which is also worth having on hand for working with bars.
- You will also need a pneumatic furniture stapler. Its cost is somewhat higher than that of a mechanical model, and therefore pays off only if more than 1 copy is made. If you need to assemble a sofa with your own hands only 1 time, then it is better to take a mechanical one - it is cheaper.
- You will need a screwdriver, as there will be a lot of connections.
- Grinder or planer to grind sharp corners of the structure.
- Sharp screwdriver or staple remover.
- You will have to cut the foam rubber, for this you will need a very sharp knife.
- Scissors.
- Roulette.
- Sometimes you have to have a sewing machine on hand to sew together sofa upholstery.
Materials Needed and Getting Started
In addition to the list of tools, you will also need special materials for assembly. This list includes the following items:
- Bars with a cross section of 40-50 mm are becoming the main building material.
- Plywood is considered the second main element for assembly. However, it can be replaced with any other durable and affordable sheet material.
- You will need to buy special furniture foam rubber, the thickness of which is 50 mm.
- To increase the softness of the product, in general, you will also need a padding polyester or batting.
- You will need furniture fabric and carpentryglue.
- To stitch several pieces of upholstery together, you need a thick thread.
- To assemble a sofa with your own hands, you will need a lot of self-tapping screws or furniture screws.
- Marking is done with a regular marker or pencil.
When all the tools and materials are prepared, you can proceed to the practical part.
All work begins, of course, with the frame, which is the basis of the whole structure. This element will be assembled from bars and slats with a cross section of 40-50 mm. Other material can be used, as long as it provides the desired level of strength. Additionally, the rigidity of the product will increase with the help of the materials with which it is sheathed, that is, sheets of plywood, chipboard, fiberboard and others. Inside, the frame remains hollow, which makes it much lighter.
When a homemade sofa is assembled, self-tapping screws and screws become the main elements of fixation. For faster assembly, a screwdriver is used. Holes in the right places for each screw are drilled with a drill, and the screws are screwed in after being lubricated in wood glue. In addition, glue is often used to fix the joints of wooden parts before the screws are screwed in. If this is necessary, then the parts are pressed against each other with clamps.
General description of assembly of elements
The next elements in the assembly plan were the frame and the mattress. The frame for the future mattress is the base, which is assembled from boards. In order toto increase the comfort of the finished structure, the frame can be equipped with a binding of furniture belts. It is done very simply. First, all belts are fixed horizontally with a stapler. Next, the binding is made vertically and also fastened with a stapler to the side of the frame.
The next element in the assembly is the back. It assembles extremely simply. First, the frame, which is then sheathed with plywood. The frame is also made of wooden blocks. Metal connectors are used to fix plywood sheets. The shape of the back is the simplest - the usual rectangle. Inside, the frame should be left hollow so that it is lighter and easier to work with in the future. You can also make it sloping very easily by increasing the width at the bottom at the base and decreasing at the top.
As for the assembly of the sofa with your own hands, or rather its side parts, they are assembled by analogy with the back. That is, first the frame according to the given dimensions, which is then sheathed with plywood sheets.
After the frame of the product has been assembled, it is necessary to start working with foam rubber. Pieces of foam rubber are pasted over such parts as the top and front of the back, the inner parts of the side elements. In addition, the foam rubber is placed on the mattress over the binding. To apply the glue was convenient, you can use a wide brush or aerosol. Immediately after the glue has been applied, the foam must be pressed against the surface of the frame and held for about half an hour for it to seize.
The end of the assembly of the simplest sofa
After thatas all the above steps were completed, we can assume that a home-made sofa with your own hands is almost done. The final stages include work with synthetic winterizer or batting. They are attached in order to smooth out irregularities, hide sharp elements and add volume to furniture. Elements such as the back, side parts, mattress are wrapped in synthetic winterizer or batting.
However, before proceeding to this stage, it is necessary to process all sharp corners with a grinder. This is done so that the soft foam does not rub and lasts longer. If there is no grinder, then the use of coarse-grained sandpaper for processing is quite acceptable.
Followed by work with fabric upholstery for the sofa with your own hands. Most often, covers for such furniture are sewn according to a ready-made pattern. However, if there are none, then without problems you can sew the fabric according to the size of each element separately. In order not to make a mistake with the dimensions, the fabric is applied in turn to each part. You can cut covers for the structure both exactly in size, and make them a little larger, and then grab them in the right places with a stapler. In extreme cases, such work is entrusted to professionals from the studio, as the service is quite cheap.
Final assembly of all elements between each other is carried out only when the sofa is already fully covered with fabric.
The time to assemble such a simple do-it-yourself wooden sofa model is about two to three days of work, given that a person does not have special skills andknowledge in such a process.
Tools and materials for assembling Eurobook
A more complex sofa model, which you can also assemble with your own hands, is a eurobook or a regular folding one. In order to successfully complete the work, you need to prepare the following materials:
- You will need a mechanism responsible for the layout of the sofa.
- Pine bars with a section of 50 x 50 mm.
- Ordinary boards with a section of 150 x 50 mm.
- For the upholstery of the sofa-book (do-it-yourself work is somewhat more difficult), plywood 5 and 15 mm thick is also required.
- Nails, self-tapping screws, screws are used for fixation.
- You will need foam rubber with a density of 30 kg/m or more3 and a thickness of 20, 40 or 100 mm.
- Sintepon with a density of 14-170 g/dm2.
- Wood glue and foam glue.
- Furniture fabric and sofa legs.
The list of necessary tools is quite small. It includes: miter box, saw, drill, screwdriver, furniture stapler, construction knife, sewing machine.
Work begins with the assembly of the frame. How to make a corner sofa with your own hands? The base is assembled using boards 150 x 50 mm. The ends of the boards are attached to the bars with self-tapping screws. The length of the bars must be at least 100 mm. All corners of the base are additionally reinforced with bars. The bottom of the sofa is assembled from fiberboard. In order to make it more durable, slats with a section of 50 x 50 mm are attached to the bottom, and fiberboard is already nailed to them.
Assembling the main partssofa
How to make a corner sofa with your own hands from scratch?
The principle of assembly, as well as the material used is the same, boards 150 x 50 mm. The main difference is that here the plywood is attached on both sides, and not just on one. Inside the back and seat boxes, you also need to saw down 50 x 50 mm bars in 100 mm increments. After that, you can screw the legs to the sofa. When assembling a sofa-book with your own hands, the greatest attention should be paid to the seat frame, since it is this part that carries the greatest load.
To assemble this element, only high-quality wood without knots and other defects is suitable. All surfaces of wood that are interconnected are first smeared with wood glue, and only then fastened with screws. The fastening step of self-tapping screws and screws is no more than 20 cm. Only such a connection will ensure the reliability of the furniture. Here it is worth noting one small nuance. If the upholstery of the sofa with your own hands will be made of a very dense fabric that does not allow air to pass through, it is necessary to make holes in the plywood itself with a diameter of 15-20 mm to ensure its circulation.
Next, you can proceed to the assembly of furniture armrests. This sofa model should have two identical armrests. The length of this part is 900 mm, the width is 200 mm, and the height is 550 mm. Elements of the required dimensions are assembled from plywood, after which bars are attached to them with screws or self-tapping screws. It is important to note here that you need to fasten the screws in the direction from plywood to timber. The fastening step is at least 10 cm. At least 4 screws should fit along the length, and ineach end of the bar is attached with two more.
The next step is stuffing fiberboard with nails 2 x 25 in increments of 10-15 cm. In order for the product to be durable and last longer, you must also remember to coat all joints with wood glue. All chipboard pads must be inserted in such a way that they are flush with the top and bottom of the armrest. When the frame of this element is ready, you can start pasting it with foam rubber. As in the previous manufacturing option, all sharp corners and edges must be processed with a grinder or sandpaper. It is also worth noting that foam rubber is usually not glued to the back of the armrest, batting is used here.
Unfolding mechanism and product finishing
In order to make a folding sofa with your own hands, you must perform the following steps. Non-separable hinges are attached to the bases of the back and seat. In order to ensure greater reliability of fastening the hinges to the back, it is necessary to use a board turned with an edge with a section of 5 x 15 instead of bars. How to mount this device is shown in the diagram.
Fixing the foam begins with accurate measurements of all parts of the sofa. According to these measurements, the fastening will be carried out. Here it will be quite convenient to work like this: immediately fasten the cut-out part with glue to the desired surface. Thus, it will be much easier to fasten each subsequent element. The thickness of the foam rubber that is attached to the back andseat should be 10 cm.
If there is no single piece of foam rubber with such a thickness at hand, then it is quite possible to glue several smaller sheets together, and then attach them to the sofa. Scraps from this substance should not be thrown away, as they may be needed to fit some parts together.
There are some guidelines for working with materials:
- Instead of fiberboard, you can use plywood with a thickness of 6 mm to assemble a eurobook sofa with your own hands. In this case, you can also reduce the cross section of the bars to 30 x 30.
- All bars can be glued to plywood, and then fastened with staples 25-30 mm. This requires a construction stapler.
- The soft part of the sofa, that is, foam rubber, must have a density of at least 30 kg/m2. The front part of the backrest is upholstered with 100 mm thick foam, while the back part is upholstered with 20 mm foam.
- From the back, the upholstery can be simply attached with a stapler to the top bar.
Homemade Corner Sofa
The first thing to do is to clearly define the design. If this is the first corner model to be produced, then it is best not to use complex ideas for now. It is best to design the simplest model of such furniture first.
To successfully assemble the product, you will need two mirrored armrests. The dimensions of these armrests are completely identical to those made in the previous example. That is, the length is 900 mm, the width is 200 mm, the height is 550 mm. Long parts of chipboard are used, which are fastened together with the help of beams. The mounting process is also similar to the previous one. The direction of screwing also remains the same.
Differences begin when parts are assembled. You can start work from the left side of the sofa. When assembling a corner sofa with your own hands, step-by-step assembly instructions will help a lot.
To begin with, two large pieces of chipboard are fastened together with a plywood lining. Screws and wood glue are used for fixing. Each piece of plywood should have at least 4 screws. Next, a rack is made of timber and a screed is made from the same material. Further, a "ladder" is attached to the main part of the sofa. That is, the upper beam should fit snugly against the lower one and rest against it.
Since the base will experience maximum loads, the timber should not have defects. If more than 40% of the section is occupied by knots, then you should not use such material. Another important point to pay attention to is the diagonal of the frame. When assembling, the sides must be measured with a tape measure, as they must be the same.
The finished frame is inserted into the main frame of the sofa. To make this task easier, you can loosen the front base beam. Screws should be screwed into the ends of the longitudinal bars, the length of which is 70-90 mm.
Second part of the sofa
Assembling the sofa to the kitchen with your own hands is almost finished when the left side is ready. However, you also need to collect the right side. You can start arranging all the elements together, assembling an almost finished product. It is also worth paying attention to the fact that the niche of the right side is quiteoften acts as a storage box for any things. All chipboard parts are varnished or it is initially worth buying laminated chipboard. In order not to damage things inside, you can go the other way. Those wooden parts that are the inner parts of the box can be covered with teak or calico. Naturally, all sharp corners are pre-treated with sandpaper or a grinder.
Why do-it-yourself production and design for the kitchen
Assembling a kitchen sofa with your own hands or any other is a pretty profitable business. This is evidenced by the following reasons:
- The first and most significant is the saving of significant material resources. A homemade version will cost three to five times less than a purchased model.
- The second big reason is quality. By making the model yourself, you can be sure that only high-quality parts and fasteners were used for assembly. This is very important, as having a wet block or a block with a knot will cause the sofa to break quite quickly due to stress.
- Another reason is the design. The piece of furniture will be exactly the way the owner wants it to be. Despite the fact that there are a huge number of purchased models, it is sometimes quite difficult to find exactly the sofa that fits perfectly into the interior. With a homemade design, there are no such problems.
- In the future, it will be possible to make a sofa upholstery on your own without any problems, if necessary.
Another important detail that precedes work isdesign choice. Most often, home models have two installation options: on legs or on rollers. If you make the seats folding, you can access the niches that are inside. It is very convenient to store some things there.
The greatest amount of attention should be paid to the size. This is the most critical stage of work, because if the product does not enter the allotted place in the kitchen, then there will be big problems. In order not to be mistaken in the manufacturing process, it is best to sketch a drawing at the stage of preparing tools and materials. This ensures that the final product is exactly the right size. After that, you can begin to purchase all the necessary materials for construction. As for the design for the sofa, it can be almost anything. However, here you need to remember that the design itself must be simple enough so that it can be assembled independently. For this reason, rectangular models are most often made. More experienced craftsmen take on the manufacture of eurobooks or corner sofas.
Pine is usually used as timber for timber. A rather important nuance that needs to be remembered throughout the entire period of work is how to fasten the parts. All fasteners that are screwed into the same beam must be placed at different levels. This will help to avoid cracks due to too much load on the timber.
