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2K views 3 replies 2 participants last post by  MasonJay 
#1 ·
Building the Frames

This will be the second… third ladder shelf build that I've done recently. The first, made of pine, was a travesty. One man's junk is another man's treasure though, and I had someone buy it from me so I recovered the cost of the materials. They painted it a sent a picture of it loving what they had. One major mistake I made with this first attempt was not realizing that I was building to sides that mirrored each other. So instead of using pocket screws on both the insides, one side was done correctly and the other had the pocket screw holes facing out. I used pocket screws for the side stretchers then glued another piece to the inside to create a ledge to glue the shelf to. the picture doesn't show this mistake, but take my word for it.

Shelf Shelving Plant Rectangle Display case


On to building the second one that I used alder for, which is my new favorite to work with. Still being a newbie I found that it is super easy to work with and has a great natural look with just a clear coat. I'm not a fan of staining since I've never had great success with that step. There wasn't anything "wrong" with the second one, I just didn't take time cleaning the glue off of it and showed some cosmetic imperfections when I put the osmo on it. I also don't have consistent shelf heights on this one which isn't a huge deal, it's just a "feature." My wife loved it so much, instead of going in the little one's room she put it in the living room and asked for another shelf. Here is the second shelf below, I am working of the same dimensions to create number 3.

Wood Audio equipment Mirror Machine Hardwood


This is the third and hopefully last time I build this. Once it's complete it'll go in the living room and the current one will go to the daughter's room. Again I am using alder for the project. I bought 5 - 8ft 1×2's for the two front legs, two back legs, and some extra for stretchers across the back and sides. I also bought 10 board feet of 1×6 alder to glue up the shelves.

Today's work was simple to start but then gave me a headache. I cut two back legs at 71 inches and two front legs at 72 inches with the ends angled to 9 degrees. I used half laps for the frame joinery. While cutting the half lap dados and rabbits for the back legs and back parts of the stretchers at 90 degrees, it was easy to set up a stop block and make consistent repeated cuts. Being new, I struggled with the angled pieces + half laps + dados/rabbits and couldn't figure a way to do a fence w/ stop block for the angled cuts. To complex for my simple mind right now. So it resulted in me taking my time and carefully marking/measuring/sneaking up on my cuts to get nearly identical sides. Glued them up and moved on to cutting the 1×6's. (I left the stretchers long and will come back and saw them off with the pull saw.)

We are aiming for 24" wide so the 1×6's got cut a little larger for the glue up and will be trimmed down to the final width once I get there. But for now just multiple cross cuts at the mitre saw since I was working with 10ft long 1x's.

Wood Table Flooring Floor Wood stain


Wood Wood stain Hardwood Plank Door


Table Wood Door Shelving Floor


Sorry for the odd photo orientation, I still have no idea how to keep you from tilting your head, or screen.

Mason
 

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#2 ·
Building the Frames

This will be the second… third ladder shelf build that I've done recently. The first, made of pine, was a travesty. One man's junk is another man's treasure though, and I had someone buy it from me so I recovered the cost of the materials. They painted it a sent a picture of it loving what they had. One major mistake I made with this first attempt was not realizing that I was building to sides that mirrored each other. So instead of using pocket screws on both the insides, one side was done correctly and the other had the pocket screw holes facing out. I used pocket screws for the side stretchers then glued another piece to the inside to create a ledge to glue the shelf to. the picture doesn't show this mistake, but take my word for it.

Shelf Shelving Plant Rectangle Display case


On to building the second one that I used alder for, which is my new favorite to work with. Still being a newbie I found that it is super easy to work with and has a great natural look with just a clear coat. I'm not a fan of staining since I've never had great success with that step. There wasn't anything "wrong" with the second one, I just didn't take time cleaning the glue off of it and showed some cosmetic imperfections when I put the osmo on it. I also don't have consistent shelf heights on this one which isn't a huge deal, it's just a "feature." My wife loved it so much, instead of going in the little one's room she put it in the living room and asked for another shelf. Here is the second shelf below, I am working of the same dimensions to create number 3.

Wood Audio equipment Mirror Machine Hardwood


This is the third and hopefully last time I build this. Once it's complete it'll go in the living room and the current one will go to the daughter's room. Again I am using alder for the project. I bought 5 - 8ft 1×2's for the two front legs, two back legs, and some extra for stretchers across the back and sides. I also bought 10 board feet of 1×6 alder to glue up the shelves.

Today's work was simple to start but then gave me a headache. I cut two back legs at 71 inches and two front legs at 72 inches with the ends angled to 9 degrees. I used half laps for the frame joinery. While cutting the half lap dados and rabbits for the back legs and back parts of the stretchers at 90 degrees, it was easy to set up a stop block and make consistent repeated cuts. Being new, I struggled with the angled pieces + half laps + dados/rabbits and couldn't figure a way to do a fence w/ stop block for the angled cuts. To complex for my simple mind right now. So it resulted in me taking my time and carefully marking/measuring/sneaking up on my cuts to get nearly identical sides. Glued them up and moved on to cutting the 1×6's. (I left the stretchers long and will come back and saw them off with the pull saw.)

We are aiming for 24" wide so the 1×6's got cut a little larger for the glue up and will be trimmed down to the final width once I get there. But for now just multiple cross cuts at the mitre saw since I was working with 10ft long 1x's.

Wood Table Flooring Floor Wood stain


Wood Wood stain Hardwood Plank Door


Table Wood Door Shelving Floor


Sorry for the odd photo orientation, I still have no idea how to keep you from tilting your head, or screen.

Mason
Orientation issues - open your photo on phone or whatever… rotate the photo. Exit. Open again and rotate to the correct orientation. Works on iPhone at least. Nice project!
 

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#3 ·
Making shelves, cutting dados, sanding

I got the frames cleaned up and cut the pieces off that stuck out and took time to sand what I could while it was easy to access. During the most recent progress I cross cut my shelves to rough length and began the glue up process. I only have so many clamps so it was done one at a time which was painfully slow. Once those were glued up, they were sanded down and cut to final width which is just over 23". I took the time to cut down some more alder to create what will be a small lip along the sides and back to prevent small things from sliding off to the abyss.

Wood Hardwood Flooring Plank Wood stain


The shelves plus this little lip is 1 1/2" so it made for an easy time cutting the dados to the side frames. However, the not so easy part is cutting the dado into the frames which have to be mirrors of each other. Having the angled front legs makes it difficult to set up a stop block and make the same cuts on each leg. So my solution is clamp the frames together, show face down. I measure consistent spacing for the five shelves and use a longed square to translate my cut marks to each frame.

Table Wood Wood stain Hardwood Automotive exterior


It takes time to get these exact and it's especially important to sneak up on the cut lines. So far so good. three down, two to go.

Wood Boats and boating--Equipment and supplies Tool Table Hardwood


One thing I found helpful was to make my top dado cut and use material that is just shy of 1 1/2" to help hold my frames together and in line in addition to a clamp. I use material shy of 1 1/2" because it makes it a super snug fit and if it's to tight, a little sanding on the shelf lip or the shoulder of the dado will help things snap together much easier.

I also started gluing the lip of the shelves on, which again is going to take time since my clamp numbers are weak.
 

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#4 ·
Shelf build, assembly, finishing

My final steps were time consuming due to the lack of clamps I have. I got my shelf sides and back pieces glued up and sanded down to 150. Looking back on this process I wish my side and back were square stock and didn't have the rounded edge, it made some joints look odd. One shelf I had square stock and was able to just route a slight round over profile evenly to them. It is a small detail that my family doesn't notice but it's a tip for the future me.
Wood Tire Hardwood Flooring Tints and shades


All that was left was the final glue up. I laid one frame down on the side and glued/clamped the shelves in place. Then I carefully stood the assembly upright and continued to clamp where I could with what I had. Double checked my final sanding and was ready for finish

Wood Building Composite material Gas Beam


I put a 1×2 across the top with pocket screws on the back for some more stability. Then I followed that same step and did three more 1xs with another up towards the top and the other two on the lower shelves. It surprised me how much this actually stabilized the lateral movement.

I finished it with 0000 steel wool and osmo oil which is a wax/combo. I love how easy this stuff is to work with and how forgiving it can be. Touch ups are a breeze too.

Brown Building Black Interior design Wood


I like it a lot, so does the wife. Unfortunately during final glue up though it racked out of square. You wouldn't be able to tell looking at it, but two of the legs opposite each other seem longer now giving it a little tipping action. Nothing a furniture pad won't fix or a quick cut with the pull saw.
 

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