My wife wanted a chair for the "sun room" so she could read or nap surrounded by natural light. Yesterday we went to Brownie's in downtown Duluth to look for one. Almost everything was the overstuffed variety; the only simpler version was available in the catalog and would take 4-8 weeks for delivery. The salesman recommended that we try Menards; they supposedly had a variety of patio furniture.
We next stopped at Schneiderman's, a furniture store that can be seen from the highway but requires a zigzag route to get to. Again, the chairs were mostly overstuffed. They did have some patio furniture but it was more than we wanted to pay. And again, the salesman recommended that we try Menards.
So our next stop was Menards. We found what my wife wanted and it was on sale for $66 or so. We went up to where the stock was kept and found that it was boxed in sets of four. We found a clerk to open a box for us and take out the appropriate pieces.
As he did so, I said that it was the best price we found. He joked, "Save Big Money at Menards" but I think his eyes were glazed because he hears that phrase so many times each day over the PA.
We took the pieces to the cash register, paid for them, and put them in the back of our truck. We could have used the car instead; I had expected to bring back an assembled unit.
Ah! Assembly! First thing is glance at the instructions. Next is to get all the nuts, bolts, and other things out of their plastic wrap. That's a minor chore in itself.
The next step is to attach the "T-rock" to the chair frame. This is the part that contains the shaft that goes into a sleeve on the base. I won't go into how I was trying to force the T-rock on the frame, but I eventually reread the directions enough times to understand what I should do.
To attach the T-rock to the chair frame one has to assemble in order bolts, steel plates, chair frame, T-rock, steel plate, lock washer, and lock nut. This takes quite a bit of juggling for the first bolt because everything doesn't stack neatly. Once the assembly for the first bolt is lined up comes the fun of tightening a lock nut on a bolt with a single wrench. It can't be done! Unless one is very adept at holding a hex bolt head tightly with two fingers.
Fortunately I had a metric 13mm box wrench that I could use for the turning. A box wrench was very helpful because either open wrench would easily slip off.
The T-rock is finally attached to the chair frame and we're ready to insert this assembly into the chair base. This should be a piece of cake.
Down it goes and then jams. It still has an inch-and-a-half to go! The instructions say, "Make sure you have inserted it all the way. If you experience difficulty, use a twisting motion as you insert."
Well, we twisted, and we rocked, and we twisted, and we rocked, and we took it off, and we put it back on, and we twisted, and we ...
We folded up some cardboard, put it over the end of the sleeve, and whacked it multiple times with a hammer. Nada! Partly because the design of the base doesn't leave enough swing room for a hammer. I used a heavy dowel between the cardboard and the hammer head. It still won't budge past one-and-a-half inches.
I guess I'll have to email the distributor for advice. I do appreciate that they give both a phone number and an email address for customer service.
For the rest of the story see "The chair is now seated".
