No, not a "tramp" like a hobo.
The Mrs. decided to buy a trampoline for our youngest son as a Christmas gift. He seemed pretty pleased with the choice when he opened it yesterday morning. But, he's a little under the weather, so he wasn't just spoiling to get it put together. Plus, we were due at The Mrs. In-law's for Christmas lunch/gift junk about noon, so we decided not to mess with it yesterday.
We got back home yesterday about an hour before dark, and I was kinda bored so I figured I'd break it open and see what I was in for. Well, lo and behold, it comes with an instructional DVD that accompanies the assembly instructions, so I popped it in the player. The first five minutes of the DVD are about "safety" precautions as you assemble your trampoline, and the tools you will need.
I should have known I was in trouble when I see and read in the book that all the tools that are required are a Phillips screwdriver, and an 8/16" socket wrench. Now, I am quite sure that I have EVERY imaginable socket (standard & metric, shallow & deep). But I truly doubt that I have an 8/16" socket. However, the instructions say that you can use an adjustable wrench instead. Good.
It also seems that as a safety precaution, one should wear a welding mask, kevlar vest, and steel-toed boots while assembling the trampoline. Cool...got all that!
So, I watched as a woman assembled the frame for the tramp in about 2 minutes. It was almost dark, but I decided to go ahead on and at least get the frame together. And sure enough, it only took me about 15 minutes to identify all the pieces, lay them out, screw them & snap them together.
Only one problem. That frame is so rickety, I would not bounce a 3 pound cat on it. I saw the problem actually while I was putting it together. There is a manufacturing/design flaw that will require some minor modification, which I did not feel like tackling last night. I'm going to need some of those good self-drilling 5/16" head screws & with minor effort, it will be fine. Of course, nothing is open on Christmas (as it should be).
My local True Value store will open at 8, and I should be in business by 8:30. Hey, I just thought about it...since I've got to go to the hardware store anyway, I'll check and see if they have an 8/16" socket. I'll bet they do.
I'll show y'all a picture of this when I get it all finished up. Have a great day, everybody!
Saturday, December 26, 2009
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What would you bet that either it is a misprint and you need a 9/16 or a 1/2. Could be that it is Metric and you will really need a 12 or 13 mm. If you go to the hardware store, get a good magnetic chuck for the self tapping screws. It will make things a lot easier. I bought one when I put gutter guards on and I lost a heck of a lot less screws that way. MUD
ReplyDeleteHey MUD! Man, it actually was a 1/2" nut...and the 5/16" self-drillers worked like a charm.
ReplyDeleteWe are up and running...or jumping, maybe I should say.
Heh. So... Enquiring Minds(TM) wanna know... how did you come by the kevlar vest? ;-)
ReplyDeleteBuck, I could tell you. But then I'd have to kill you...like it's really possible, nyuk.
ReplyDelete