# Shelf Project



## woodworker47 (Dec 19, 2008)

During the "stay at home", I am working in the shop. A friend asked me to build a shelf to go above his patio doors. It will be 78" long, 1 1/2" thick and 8" deep. I was going to use Oak but a friend of mine gave me two Ash boards 1" thick and 10" wide. The raw boards are shown in the first picture. One board was warped, so I ripped it into two pieces, planed, and glued back together. I planed the second board on one side so I could glue the two board together to get the final planed dimension of 1 1/2" thick. The second picture is the cut off from the shelf. I used this piece to practice routing the edge and mortising for the hidden shelf bracket sold by Rockler. See picture three. The other pictures show the progress through staining and 3 coats of Urethane. Finally the shelf was mounted. 

As for the installation, you have to have 4 holes in the wall to match the holes and mortises in the shelf. Since I started with a 10" board, I had a cut off that I decided to use as a template. I clamped to the shelf and transferred the hole center from shelf to template. I used a brad point bit to drill a precision hole in the template and then drilled to size with a regular bit. I marked the template as to which side went towards the wall and which end matched the shelf. Since the requirement was to be 2" above the door molding, I made three pieces 2" long and attached to the template. Since the door frame was level, I sat the template on the frame and drilled 4 holes in the wall. The using the pre-drilled holes, the drill was level making the holes perpendicular to the wall. I removed the template and finished drilling holes to the required depth. I placed the Rockler bracket into the holes and was able to place the hole from the shelf onto the pins and the mortises covered the brackets perfectly. There is not any mechanical fasteners on the shelf pins, so I used my Kreg jig to put two holes in the top where they cannot be seen and attached shelf to wall with two 2 1/2" screws.

My friends wife was very happy and now has the shelf full.

Frank


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## Stick486 (Jan 4, 2013)

you sure have talent Frank..
and plenty of it...


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## Cherryville Chuck (Sep 28, 2010)

The finish really made the grain stand out.


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## bhethcote (Mar 1, 2020)

Hey Frank - looks good. I like the mounting system - very clean


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## Bstrom (Jan 2, 2020)

Excellent execution - thanks for the reminder on ‘fixing’ a warped board by ripping and planing, regluing. Good clean installation too. Your neighbor owes you more than a cold beer, BTW. Cut your lawn? Wash the car? Cook dinner?


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## newbie2wood (Apr 22, 2016)

Nice job - what color stain is that? Looks like dark mahogany?


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## woodworker47 (Dec 19, 2008)

Jessie,

Stain was MinWax red mahogany with three Coates of Urethane. Last coat was Satin.

Frank


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## TenGees (Sep 12, 2012)

Don't see ash used very often... looks great.


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## Nickp (Dec 4, 2012)

Nice job...looks great...


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## DesertRatTom (Jul 3, 2012)

Nice use of the space and a very nice job of making it. I'll have to check the Rockler system. I have a couple of spaces where that would be just the right solution.


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## Herb Stoops (Aug 28, 2012)

Good job, Frank, is that a valance for drapes? shelf to set things on? How strong is it? how many supports did it take,4?
it came out really nice. I like the color and the front edge profile.
Herb


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## woodworker47 (Dec 19, 2008)

Herb,

This is s shelf for nicknacks. The hidden shelf brackets were from Rockler. I only needed three, but they are sold in pairs. Therefore, i used all four. Each pair is rated at 125 pounds. I just received a picture this morning. The shelf is full.

Frank


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## senebraskaee (Apr 29, 2012)

About ash wood. I worked in a millwork shop and large warehouse in the late 60's and they stocked and sold ash millwork including a lot of doors. It was about the same price as red oak and sold at the same rate at that time but seems to have fallen out of favor. That is a shame with all the perfectly healthy ash trees being taken out in anticipation of the emerald ash borer infestation. Here in Lincoln, Nebraska they have removed several thousand trees and have many thousands yet to go. The city is taking out all the street trees (those between the sidewalk and paving) except those someone wants to adopt and pay for the treatments to slow the inevitable death of the tree. Almost all of these trees are being turned into mulch or firewood as no sawmill seems interested. Very sad.
I have worked with ash several times and found it to be a little easier to work than red oak and less prone to stain blotching. Built a 9 drawer, very simple desk out of a cut down solid core ash door and lots of millwork scraps that is still going strong 50 years (yikes, has it been that long?) later.


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## woodworker47 (Dec 19, 2008)

Mike,

I was originally going to use oak, but a good friend of mine suggested ash. He has a large assortment of wood to choose from. I helped him build his storage rack for his wood around 10 years ago. Wanted to pay for the wood, but he said no. Therefore, I payed it forward and did not charge friend getting the shelf for lumber or labor. However, I did get help from the friend that was getting the shelf. He is not a woodworker, but learned a lot.

PS. All of use know each other and go to the same church.

Frank


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