****** - Verified Buyer
4.5
This is a great spice rack, but assembly can be a bit trying. Here I share some tips and tricks to make assembly easier.First off, I love to cook. Asian, Mexican and Tex-Mex, "American," African, and some German. I keep about 50 spices around, changing them out for fresh every six months. An easy to use spice rack that does a good job holding jars in place, keeping labels visible (I alphabetize), and good enough looking to go in my kitchen is an essential. I bought two of these. They fit the 4 oz square spice jars I bought very well. They meet all my criteria. However, it is a bit of trial and error to figure out how to most easily assemble the racks. I am sharing with you what I figured out.In the first picture, you can see all the parts. Two side walls that go vertical, and five cross shelves with nice lips to hold spice jars in place. Assembly is logically simple. Attach the 5 racks to one wall using two nuts and bolts on each. Repeat the process with the other wall.However, as you can see, the nuts and bolts are tiny. The use of appropriate tools makes assembly much easier. In the second picture you can see the powered screwdriver and ratcheting socket wrench and bit that I used. The bolts go in horizontally. There are two holes on each side of the shelf, and two corresponding holes on each wall. The challenge is to manipulate the quite small nuts and bolts inside the shelf. Think of the shelf as an open box, which it is. I had to put the screws through the side wall and into the shelf, then screw on the nut, with my fingers inside the box. First try, I dropped the nut four times before I got it to thread on the screw. Don't worry, there is at least one extra nut and bolt to compensate for lost parts. One package had one extra, the other had four. The nuts and bolts are of reasonable quality and thread easily once aligned.To make this a little easier, I put the bolts shaft up on the counter, set the wall and shelf on top of it, then attached the nut while holding the wall and shelf in place. That is, I used the countertop as a third hand. The bolt didn't back out or fall out because it was held by the counter top. You can see the start of this procedure in the third and fourth pictures.I assembled using just my fingers first, then used the tools to tighten the 20 nuts and bolts. The tools made tightening possible. I think if I left the nuts and bolts just finger tight, the rack would eventually come apart. In the last picture, you can see the assembled rack.Given how this is designed, it is going to be a bit of a challenge to assemble no matter what. I'd at least like to see the nuts and bolts updated to a clear plastic for this spice rack. It'd make the whole rack nearly invisible, which would be an interesting effect.
