Breakfast bar - step 2

Now it's time to start constructing the bones of the first section of the breakfast bar.  Remember, I'm creating this breakfast bar in four sections.   I use two basic ways to add strength inside my furniture pieces.  I'm showing you the first way with this first section of my breakfast bar.  I'll show you the other way when I construct the second section.

For this step I needed a bunch of struts.  Struts are pieces that go inside the walls for strength.  I cut mine 12 inches by 1 inch wide.  I want the lower shelf to be 12 inches from the bottom.  I want the walls to be 1 inch thick.  I was also careful to cut with the flutes going lengthwise which will translate as top to bottom in the next step. 

Using my square metal ruler as a guide to keep them straight, I started gluing the struts along the back side.   If it will be easier for you, lay the piece down on it's back piece so you are working on the horizontal.

I glued mine about an inch and a half apart.  I think this spacing will work fine for what I need.  If you feel you need more strength then certainly you can glue yours closer together.   I put hot glue the whole length of the struts.  I continued gluing struts on all three walls.  I think you can understand now how the shelf will rest on top of  the struts.

Now it's time to add the inside walls.  Lay your box down so the struts rest horizontal.

Measure and cut a piece of cardboard the height of the struts plus width and length of the back section.  Like this.  My piece was 12 ( height of struts) X 18 X 24.  Once again, I cut the cardboard so the flutes will run top to bottom when upright. 

Place glue on all the struts, quickly, and place the section on.  You don't need to cover the whole length of all the struts with hot glue for this step.  I just dabbed it in three spots of each strut.   The reason is because the hot glue cools quickly and there's already enough glue on them to hold fast from the previous step.   I used cans of vegetables as weights to hold the piece in place while the hot glue cooled.

I could have used white glue for adding the struts and the walls but it would require a long drying time.  I prefer hot glue when I want to work quickly.

Now that this step is finished, I set the box upright and it looks like this.  In this picture I've already added strips of tape along the joins.  No need for sanding or anything on these joins, just tape to close up the gap and add strength.

One other thing I should point out is that I put struts close to the edge of the wall ends.  Hmm... no picture but you can sort of see it in the left bottom corner of the picture above.  Later, after the whole piece is constructed, these outside joins will be sanded and glued.

Ready for step 3?