Progress steps for corner shelf.

[Stan]

I've been meaning to document this for a while as it was my first furniture type project just after I got started learning ww'ing. It took 'months' to complete, and I did a lot of learning along the way. Same comment as Pat's -- if there is a better place for these progress posts, feel free to move it.

I'm sure others will notice problems with the construction methods (and I'd sure like to hear about them -- even though it is too late, items such as not accounting for wood expansion/contraction, etc).

We'll call this a work in progress (just documenting the process) as I'll add images and text as I locate the pictures in at least some semblance of the order it was built.

Will start with the initial drawing and description of how this got started.



The project started as a request from my sister to build her a corner shelf that would be mainly to cover an old woodstove flue that is no longer used.
Request was that the shelf cover 15" along each wall from the corner to the edge of the shelf and be around 50" tall.

I put together the drawing above after looking around the shop for what I had as far as materials to make this with. I located enough Black Walnut for the main part of the shelf, with the exception that the sizes of the stock limited the width of shelf sides that I could make. Couldn't get to the 15" that was requested.

In looking further, I got to the large stack of Oak trimmings (approx. 5/8" x 5/8" x 6' long) that I had rescued from a construction site dumpster a few months prior. The drawing shows what I came up with... a 'corner post' that ended up 2-1/2" X 2-1/2" square by glueing up 25 pieces of the 'trimmings' after sizing them to 1/2" x 1/2".

Then, by adding a 'shelf side bracket' made by laminating a strip of Oak between 2 strips of Black Walnut -- I got the shelf sides to be the requested 15".

Below is the finished shelf, more to be added on the construction steps in the next few posts which will be a short while in being put together.

[Salty]

That's probably a lot more effort than most would go through to get the desired sizes of components...me included.
It looks great. The finish is spectacular.

[Stan]

Getting started.

Started off with a glue-up to get the Black Walnut side pieces to the width needed. Used a spline bit in the router table and made the spline the full length of the joined boards.


Then it was time to make the 'back corner post' that these sides would be joined to. Again the 'found wood' was a bit oversized for what I needed, so the planer was brought out to size them down to 1/2" x 1/2"... It was about at that point that I decided I just might need a dust collector.



Starting to get a good stack of them going......



After all the pieces were sized, they were glued up into 5 stacks of 5-wide.


I really have no explanation of why I decided to go this route, other than I had that big pile of stuff I pulled out of a dumpster -- and was looking for something to do with it......

[Stan]

More 'gettin-done'

Took all the clamps I had at the time to get everything glued up -- but it got done.



Next step was to locate the dado's and the front bevel for the back corner post. The offset for the dado's was estimated to be 1/2" from the back edges and the front bevel to be cut out allowed for another 1/2" from the inside edge of the dado's.



Dado's were cut with a router, bevel cut with the BT3100.



Then for an initial dry fit to ensure the dado's were sized properly, and that the front bevel looked appropriate.




The shelf side brackets (simple lamination of a 1/2" thick piece of Oak sandwiched between two pieces of Black Walnut, the Oak was left recessed approx 1/2" to 'create' a dado for the shelf sides to fit into) were then dry fit.

[Stan]

Adding shelves.

Not having a plan for this and kind of 'flat-footing' my way through things, I used up a good amount of MDF doing mock-ups of various steps. The first was getting the shelf size right.


I then used a section of the back corner post cut-off, MDF side panels, MDF side brackets, etc to mock-up how the shelf would be held in place by dado's in the side brackets.



Once the size was close, the shallow dado was cut in the back corner post to hold the back of the shelf itself, then another dry fit with the actual parts.



This MDF shelf was then used as a template to cut the actual shelves. Of course, everyone must learn about blow-out caused by the router catching grain as you follow the arc..... I sure learned that one real quick.



It was then a matter of using the BT to square off the blown out piece, find a scrap piece that matched the grain pattern fairly close and getting that glued back together.




As you can see in this picture, the shelf parts were jointed with splines also.

[Stan]

Fitting shelves.

One more dry-fit before cutting dados in the side brackets.


Stop blocks were used to keep the router base lined up right and to keep the depth consistent for all 4 dado's in the side brackets. An appropriately sized notch was then taken out of the matching corner of the shelf.



The fit was then checked on each shelf.



The process was repeated for the remaining 3 shelf dado's.



Once the shelves were notched and the fit was checked, time to glue everything up and get clamped in place til it dried. Standard load straps were used to get pressure all the way around.

This is where I now have questions about wood expansion/contraction. The shelves were glued at all contact points with the shelf sides, and the three dado's (back and both side brackets). It has been almost 3 years now with no cracking noticed -- would it be safe to say that things are ok?

[Stan]

Putting it all together.

The original idea was to put 'bun feet' under this cabinet and try to find a stain that would match the Black Walnut.



It took about long enough to take 3 steps back after setting those feet under the shelf to decide that just wasn't gonna work. Back to the drawing board. A couple chat room sessions with the regulars 'way back then'.... It was explained to me how to cut a number of kerfs and make a board that could be readily 'bent'.




Back to good 'ol MDF to make a base for the shelf to sit on, and also be a backer for the bent wood toekick. Figure the extra weight under the shelf would help hold it in place also.

Made a single piece to get the arc and side dimensions and then used that as a template to make a stack of 'em.



These were all brad'd and glue'd together to form the base.

[Stan]

Last 3 pictures and write-up.

A 'lot' of glue and clamps were used to form the Black Walnut toekick to the base. Left it for a couple days just to make sure the glue had plenty of time to set.



The resulting toekick seemed to be a much better match to the design than the 'bun feet'.




The top and bottom shelves were attached with dowels and glue.
It was then finish sanded and delivered to the sister who requested it. She did the finish which I believe was Watco Danish Oil -- Light Walnut.




There of course is a lot that got left out of the write-up, but I'll add to sections as things are remembered, or if there are any questions.

Thanks.
Stan

[LCHIEN]

looks like a very labor-intensive way to build shelves but it came outlooking nice.

[Stan]

looks like a very labor-intensive way to build shelves but it came outlooking nice.

Thanks.... The project was taken on as both a way to do something for my sister -- and to do some learning. The shelf really didn't need more than a bit of plywood, some glue and brads just to cover an old woodstove flue.... but I wouldn't have learned much from that.

[JR]

That base is really interesting. I'm not sure I'd have made that stack of MDF, but I'm not sure what I would do!

I also don't know what I'd have done about wood movement on the shelves, if anything. I guess I might have tried to fix the top and bottom plus a middle shelf, making the others adjustable for height.

Anyway, great writeup. Thanks for sharing.

JR

[Popeye]

I remember this well. Looks just as good as when I first saw it going together. Actually better. Pat

[bigstick509]

[lrogers]

Very interesting project and good documentation of the build. Your rounded toe kick was very nice.

[rnelson0]

I appreciate the extensive documentation! I have to agree with others who said "Boy, that looked labor intensive...but how would I do it?" The only thing I can think of for the toekick would be to use some feet at the edges and some wood stops behind the toekick. Did you look at that and toss it out for some reason, or any other tactics, or did you just find the MDF solution and go with it?

Stains always amaze me. I thought for sure there would be a streak down the middle of the shelves, but it looks like the stain evened that out. Did your sister do anything funky with the stain, or did it just magically even out the color?