Wooden Sofa Sleeve Cup Holder

Make a Wooden Sofa Sleeve with a Built-In Cup Holder. If it hasn't happened yet, it will. You set a drink on the arm of the sofa, Make this handy sofa sleeve to keep your drinks nearby A wooden sofa sleeve...........

Tools

•  clamps (at least 8" long)

• Hole saw in diameter of your choice (based on your most used cup       diameter) A larger hole saw will require the use of a drill press. I used a 3 7/8" hole saw that I attached with this arbor. My hole saw was too large to manage with just a power drill,                                                                                                            
• Tape to measure

• pencil

• power drill (You only need this if you're using pocket screws and/or a hole saw smaller than 2.5".)

Optional Tools

       Kreg pocket hole kit - This is an optional tool shown in steps 4 and 7 that will add to the strength and life of your sofa sleeve, but is most likely unnecessary for a gently used sofa sleeve.

Materials

•  wooden board cut into three equal lengths—see step one for info on sizes to  choose

• piece of thin plywood—see step one for size information. You can find thin   1/8" plywood in the wood section of your local craft store.

• wood glue                                                                                                                                                                                                           Step One: Determine the sizes of wood you will need by measuring your sofa or chair arm. You will need to know the width of your arm as well as the height. Use the following formulas to determine the wood pieces you will need cut for you at the lumber yard if you don't have the tools to cut the wood at home.The following formulas assume that the boards you use will be 3/4" thick, which is the standard thickness for 1x boards, such as 1x6 or 1x8 boards.

       Top piece of wood—length: 14" / width: width of arm + 1.5"

       Side pieces of wood—length: 14" / width: height of arm from cushion—you        should round down to the nearest board width.

       1/8" plywood piece—length: width of arm / width: width of arm (This is the         piece that goes underneath the cup hole.)

        Step Two:  Center the hole saw on one end of your top piece of                       wood. Mark the middle point where the pilot drill of your hole saw will get           the hole started. It is important to note that if you are using a big hole               saw, as I did, you will probably not be able to control the drill with your             arms, as muscly as they may be. It will skip around and ruin the finish of           your wood. I had to bring my piece of wood to a friend's house to clamp it         in place while cutting the hole with a drill press.
   
        Step Three:  Sand the inside of the hole and the top and bottom of the             wood, being careful to stay away from the edges and corners. If you round         the corners of the board from sanding the edges, the boards will not be             flush when joined together in step 5. 

        Step Four:  Clamp your Kreg jig as shown above to drill pocket holes on           either end of just one side of each side board. These pocket holes will only         be visible from the inside of the sofa sleeve. Using the pocket screws will           provide for a very secure connection when you join each board together,           but is probably not necessary for the end use of the sofa sleeve.

       Step Five:  Apply a somewhat thin layer of wood glue to one long edge of          your side board (the side closest to your pocket holes if you chose to use            them). Smoothing it with your fingers can be helpful, just keep a damp              cloth nearby to wipe your fingers.

          Step Six:  Clamp the glued side board to the bottom of the top board                (making sure your pocket holes are facing the inside if you chose to make           pocket holes). Before you tighten the clamps completely, make sure the             boards are perfectly lined up on the ends and flush at their corners.

        Step Seven : If you have chosen to use pocket screws, now is the time to         screw them into place. If your pieces of wood pull away from each other at         all, wait to drill in the screws until the wood glue has set up completely             (follow instructions on glue bottle).

           Step Eight :  After both side pieces have been glued and clamped                     into place, give the hole piece a really good sanding. I used 150 grit                   sandpaper for this, but if your wood is really soft (like pine), you might               want to finish up with something closer to 200 grit to avoid any scratch             marks that would be highlighted when the stain is applied.

        Step Nine : Apply a coat of wood stain and allow it to dry for at least 12           hours before lightly buffing away the roughness with a piece of grade 0000         steel wool. This will take off the little hairs that pop up from the moisture           of the stain soaking into the wood.

        Step Ten : Attach your square piece of thin plywood to the bottom side of         the hole using wood glue. Make sure you apply only a light amount of                 glue, because as you clamp it in place, the glue will ooze out. After                   clamping the plywood into place.

        Step Eleven :  Seal the sleeve with two light coats of polyurethane. This           will protect it from the moisture of cup condensation.

                                           

      The finished product is sleek, clean, and adds to the beauty of the sofa,              rather than distracting from the room's style.