Ottoman 1

This project came about while I was talking with my daughter, Tracey and how it would be nice if she had an ottoman. She sent me a picture of one that someone made out of a wooden wire spool and I told her that I could make her whatever she wanted. Tracey told me the dimensions that she needed and the next day I got started.

Now I should mention this project is going to be a joint effort between Tracey and myself. I'll be making the inner structure, then she will cover it with some padding and then sew a cover for it. So now that you know what I'll be making, lets get started.

Building an Ottoman

Lucky for me I had all the material I'd needed because the cost of wood these days has really gotten out of hand. What you see below is 1/2" plywood with an 18" circle that I made with my large compass. The arrows are pointing to the outer parts of the circle because my camera didn't pickup my pencil marks very well. I'll be cutting two of these, right next to the line with my jigsaw leaving a small amount for sanding.

I drilled a 1/4" hole through both pieces and fastened them together. This way both pieces will be the same size when I'm finished.

I sanded right up to the line which worked out pretty good.

Before I took them apart I marked both pieces with a line for reference. And from this mark I made six more evenly spaced marks.

I cut some 2" X 4"s to seven inches long. These will be placed between the top and bottom.

I laid out six locations and drilled and countersunk for some flat head screws.

I put a 3/16" radius on both pieces to help soften those edges. This will come in handy when some foam covers this area so it's easy on the feet...or shinbone.

I put a center line on all my 2 X 4's, numbered them, lined them up over the holes and clamped them in place. Then I used a transfer punch (from the under-side) to transfer all my screw holes.

Here are the marks that I'll use for some pilot holes.

With all those screws and 2 X 4's, this is one sturdy ottoman.

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