shelving Folding Workbench - Part 4: The Shelving
With the legs and worktop done last entry, that leaves us with one last section to build; the shelving. This will actually be built as a self-contained unit, which means theoretically you could make the desk able to be disassembled by securing this shelving section in with an M10 bolt or similar; rather than gluing it in place. So as long as you have the crossbar in place beforehand, you can actually just slide the shelving section into place; making assembly easy to do by yourself. When I design furniture, I like to think about how I could make it be easily taken apart, in case you wish to move it into or out of an awkward location; just as most layouts are built with multiple boards!
Above: Hopefully you will have cut out all the components by this stage, but if not, we'll need:
- 1x Rear panel, 18mm plywood
- 1x Bottom shelf, 12mm plywood
- 1x Middle shelf, 12mm plywood
- 3x Shelf supports, 12mm plywood
I realised today that I never uploaded a dimensioned drawing of the desk, nor a cutting list; so you would have no idea what you'd need to cut out! I will get this online as soon as I find time to make it; so that you can build this desk, or one like it, should you wish...
I purposefully didn't show all the rebates being cut out last time, so assuming only the rebates in the legs have been cut, we'll need to tackle some on this rear storage section. First, we'll cut out the hole in the back panel (that will allow a UK plug to fit through). Once again, there are many methods of doing this; but I still find that the router is my go-to tool, and takes all the effort out of it. We'll set up a guide just as we did in the last part, and cut out the hole. I chose to do a large letterbox, but in reality, a simple hole 60mm in diameter would be sufficient for most standard plugs.
Above: The hole in the rear panel has been cut out in this photo, and the bottom 12mm wide rebate has been marked out. Also visible are various annotations to help me keep track of what I'm doing. Note that the position of the central shelf support has been drawn on (as well as a small 's' within, that denotes the position of the right hand shelf); so that we ensure everything lines up properly when we glue it all together later.
Above: Here, I'm routing out the 12mm rebate for the bottom shelf to sit into. As it's close to the edge, I can use the routers own guide.
Above: The photo above shows another of the rebates needed; there will also be a matching 18mm wide rebate on the other end, so that the storage section can sit against the legs more securely. Whilst there is a small notch on the bottom left corner that I did not plan on rebating, in reality it was easier just to cut it out as well; it would never be strong enough to stay in place anyway.
Above: All three shelf supports will need rebates for the shelves to slot into. Each will be half depth (so 6mm deep), and 12mm wide. There are two shelves; one that will sit (rebated into) on the top of two of the supports, and one that will sit part way down. The centre shelf support therefore needs two rebates, as it will have both shelves slotting into it. The outer shelf supports will only need one.
Above: Due to the small size of the shelf supports, there was no way I could clamp them without the clamps getting in the way of the router. The solution was to instead sandwich the shelf support between two clamped ply lengths. The key was to make sure there was a straight edge to help us guide the router, and to sandwich the three parts together as firmly as possible.
Above: With the rebates cut on the shelf supports, we'll move onto the paintbrush shelf next. As you can see, I'll be using a selection of different sized drill bits to account for a variety of paint brush sizes. Once again, I thoroughly recommend that if you have access to a pillar drill, you should use it! Doing them by hand, especially with such large bits, is difficult. If like me you had to use a normal battery drill, then use the fastest speed on it, and clamp the wood down so that it doesn't start spinning; it'll also minimise the likelihood of the underside splitting out as well. As always, start with a pilot hole as a bare minimum before using the final size drill bit.
Above: Once the holes were drilled, I actually used a conical sanding attachment on the Dremel in order to sand the rims; it's not necesarry, but it'll make it look a bit neater.
Above: Another feature I was keen to add to the paintbrush shelf was a circular rebate to hold a pot of water in place. My Dad is seen here plunging the router around the perimeter. As we won't be able to use guides here, it will be pretty tricky getting a perfect circle; but that's not the end of the world!
Above: To make it a little bit neater, I used a cylindrical sanding attachment on the Dremel. The end result wasn't perfect, but I'm not worried; the important thing is that it holds the pot of water in place.
Above: Before we go ahead and glue the shelving unit components together, it's not a bad idea to add some sort of edge to prevent things falling off. I had a metre length of aluminium angle spare, so it was cut in half (1), and 3 holes drilled (2). The holes were also countersunk so that the screws were more or less flush, and both sections were drilled and screwed onto their respective shelves (3).
Above: The aluminium angle was actually an afterthought for me, so I had to use a 90 degree drill attachment to help me screw the bottom one in place! I'd still recommend attaching them before you glue everything together though.
NOTE: If you plan on painting the desk, I'd recommend you do this before gluing anything together!
Above: With all the parts rebated, we can begin to glue the shelving section together. First, the bottom shelf is glued (1), and then clamped (2). Once sufficiently cured, the shelf supports were also glued (3).
Above: It's wise to also clamp these (1), so that you can immediately glue the shelves in place (and clamp those, too!) (2). Leave that to cure overnight.
And there we have it; the shelving unit is complete. That leaves us with just one thing left to do; assemble the desk, which I'm afraid we'll have do next time!
As I said, I'll get that cutting list and dimensioned drawing done, and let you all know when it's up. I'm not sure where I'll put it, but it'll likely go in the first entry; as it makes more sense to put it there.
Anyway, I hope you enjoyed this entry, and as always, if you have any comments or questions; go right ahead and post them below.
If you found this entry informative, I'd also appreciate a vote, and I welcome any and all feedback!
Till next time,
Jam/Jamie Warne
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