Four Square Chair

Step 4 Assembly

I neglected to take pictures of the cushion-assembly process. Get twelve dowels, cut them down to a little more than 20 inches long, maybe a half on each end. They should slide right into the hole in the center of the pool noodles. Cut the noodles to 16 inches. I then took the thrift-store fabric and wrapped each one, securing the seam with a couple dabs of hot glue. To finish the ends, just tuck the fabric into the holes with a butter knife, pushing it down so it gets trapped between the dowel and the noodle. Center the cushion (it should slide freely) on the dowel.

The assembly is pretty straightforward. Coat the ends of the cushions with heavy adhesive (I used Liquid Nails), line up all the holes, push the pieces onto the dowels, more glue, clamp, and wait. Wipe up all excess glue with mineral spirits and a lint-free rag. Sand and paint the dowels with two coats of polyurethane. For each side, keep your original "pairs" together, the ones that were taped together. It is crucially important here that everything line up just so.

The first picture shows one cushion set drying under pressure. Make sure the cushion is 16 inches wide and the cushions are all in the same plane, i.e. the sides aren't twisted relative to one another.

Cut some half-inch dowel pieces to about 2-1/4", 2-1/2", to give a margin to sand down later, and insert them in the two smaller end holes.