Free Standing Shelves
Not only do I paint furniture some times I make it too.
This is basically what Cathy saw in a store. It was $600.00. The shelves were 20 inches wide but she only wanted them 14 inches wide. So I told her I would make one for her with 14 inch wide shelves.
At first I was going to build it all out of 2 by's but she wanted the flat part to be smooth and I was going to put 2 - 2by 8's together to get the 14 inches but I don't have a planner to smooth out the edges to join them so it would not have been a very good surface. And besides I was buying the wood at Home Depot and the 2 by's there are pretty rough.
so I bought a 4 by 8 sheet of good cabinet grade 3/4 inch plywood and had them rip it to 12 and a half inches wide. Then I bought some 1 by 2 and ran that around the edges so it ends up looking like a 2 by anyway. When the 1 by 2 is around the edges it gives you the 14 inch wide shelf.
For the vertical supports I bought a 2 by 12, (which we know is only 11 and 3/8's wide) the feet are fence post tops.
One of the things I like about it is when I attached the vertical supports I drilled down thru the top and up thru the bottom of the shelf and countersunk the screw heads (3 inch screws) from both directions. Then back filled the holes with M and H ready patch. After it dried I sanded it down and after it was painted you can't see any mark at all where the screws are. I also used that polyseamseal adhesive chalk on all the joints and then chalked with it around the top and bottom of the vertical supports. Man that thing is as solid as a rock, once that polyseamseal sets up it is strong.
Cause one thing I was concerned about was like if you stood at one end and pushed it it would start to lean and collaspe but it is totally solid, doesn't move at all if you try that.
Its painted flat black and then I went back with my dremel and sanded back the edges to give a somewhat aged look. Total material cost is about $80.00.
This is basically what Cathy saw in a store. It was $600.00. The shelves were 20 inches wide but she only wanted them 14 inches wide. So I told her I would make one for her with 14 inch wide shelves.
At first I was going to build it all out of 2 by's but she wanted the flat part to be smooth and I was going to put 2 - 2by 8's together to get the 14 inches but I don't have a planner to smooth out the edges to join them so it would not have been a very good surface. And besides I was buying the wood at Home Depot and the 2 by's there are pretty rough.
so I bought a 4 by 8 sheet of good cabinet grade 3/4 inch plywood and had them rip it to 12 and a half inches wide. Then I bought some 1 by 2 and ran that around the edges so it ends up looking like a 2 by anyway. When the 1 by 2 is around the edges it gives you the 14 inch wide shelf.
For the vertical supports I bought a 2 by 12, (which we know is only 11 and 3/8's wide) the feet are fence post tops.
One of the things I like about it is when I attached the vertical supports I drilled down thru the top and up thru the bottom of the shelf and countersunk the screw heads (3 inch screws) from both directions. Then back filled the holes with M and H ready patch. After it dried I sanded it down and after it was painted you can't see any mark at all where the screws are. I also used that polyseamseal adhesive chalk on all the joints and then chalked with it around the top and bottom of the vertical supports. Man that thing is as solid as a rock, once that polyseamseal sets up it is strong.
Cause one thing I was concerned about was like if you stood at one end and pushed it it would start to lean and collaspe but it is totally solid, doesn't move at all if you try that.
Its painted flat black and then I went back with my dremel and sanded back the edges to give a somewhat aged look. Total material cost is about $80.00.
Comments
Post a Comment