Modular Shelf System – FineWoodworking

The unique model of this shelving unit stood within the house of my childhood pal, Max. It was designed and constructed by his father, Konrad Rieger, an architect, who acquired his coaching on the Berlin College of the Arts within the Nineteen Sixties. Rieger’s Bauhaus background shines via within the clear performance of the shelf design. For my very own model, I staggered the cabinets and diverse their lengths and widths, added underbevels to lighten their visible weight, and tweaked a couple of different particulars. Identical to Rieger’s originals, nonetheless, these cabinets help rows of heavy artwork books with out sagging.

Simply scaled to suit your area, this modular system is totally adjustable, because of a sturdy peg system. It additionally knocks down and transports simply if you must relocate it. And in contrast to many different woodworking tasks, the entire thing will be made and put in in a weekend or two.

The venture incorporates useful classes as nicely. You’ll get a lot of observe routing mortises with a template and forming easy bevels with a hand airplane.

Be happy to adapt the design

The engineering is what’s most essential about this robust, secure system. The cabinets get through-mortises so that they slide down over the help posts, and thick pegs maintain the cabinets at numerous heights. The posts carry the burden to the ground, and the entire meeting is stored upright by fastening two of the full-length cabinets to the wall with easy metal angle brackets, that are positioned out of view.

I sized the cabinets to go well with my area, diverse their widths to suit the books I personal, and staggered them till I discovered a glance I appreciated. The broader cabinets have sufficient headroom to suit large-format books, and the smallest have 9 in. of clearance for pocket paperbacks. I positioned further peg holes above and beneath every shelf place, so I can regulate the array if wanted.

However the components are simply altered. Obtained extra paperbacks than I do? Add one other slender shelf. Want a good deeper shelf for audio parts or massive coffee-table books? Discover the widest lumber you may. Have taller gadgets to retailer or show? Simply change the areas of the shelf-peg holes.

When you determine to make a good longer shelf unit, don’t neglect so as to add extra help posts. To attenuate sagging, area the posts not more than 3 ft. aside, and have the ends of the cabinets venture 18 in. or much less. By the way in which, I used ash for the cabinets and posts, which fits their modernist look. However any hardwood will probably be nice.

Make the cabinets first

After milling the cabinets to measurement, I stacked them one on prime of the opposite of their last orientation, including a couple of spacer blocks to maintain all of them degree. That allow me mark their again edges with centerlines for the areas of the posts. Later, I carried these traces throughout the highest of every shelf.

Make the mortise template

Begin by laying out a sq. mortise within the heart of a sq. piece of plywood, extending the traces to the perimeters. To kind an correct opening within the template, I clamped the plywood to the highest of my desk noticed, utilizing the rip fence to align it, and introduced the sawblade up via the workpiece. To make the plywood simpler to clamp down for these plunge cuts, make it bigger than wanted. After the mortise cuts are made, you may trim it to a extra applicable measurement.

You’ll want to chop previous your structure traces to kind every wall of the mortise, however that gained’t have an effect on the routing later. Simply you should definitely reduce on the right aspect of the traces.

When elevating the blade for the final reduce, cease a bit of quick so the sq. within the center isn’t reduce fully unfastened. Go away simply sufficient of a connection so it gained’t rattle round dangerously. Let the blade come to a whole cease, after which reduce away the final bit with a handsaw.

With the mortise opening completed, reduce the plywood down and screw a cleat onto one edge to reference towards the again edges of the cabinets.

Utilizing the template—Now clamp the template to a shelf, centering it on one of many mortise centerlines and urgent the cleat towards the shelf’s again edge. Earlier than utilizing the router, drill out some waste. This reduces the routing and offers a starter gap for the bearing-guided router bit. I bored these massive holes with an auger bit and brace, however an influence drill and Forstner bit would additionally work. Both manner, clamp the workpiece to a sacrificial board to maintain the exit gap clear.

The help posts have a 1/4-in. roundover on their corners, so to rout mortises with the identical precise form, merely use a 1/2-in.-dia. sample bit. Use a flush-cutting bit with the bearing positioned above the cutters.

Aircraft the large bevels—The 7/8-in.-thick cabinets would look fairly clunky with sq. edges. To lighten their look, I routed 1/4-in. roundovers on the highest edges—echoing the roundovers on the help posts—and reduce shallow bevels alongside their decrease edges.

You possibly can rout the lengthy bevels with a raised-panel bit, however I choose to work by hand once I can. So I laid them out in pencil and formed them with my jack airplane.

Bevel the ends of the boards first. That manner, any chipout ensuing from these cross-grain cuts will probably be eliminated whenever you bevel the lengthy edges.

Make the help posts

Mill the submit inventory to suit the mortises, after which take off an additional 1/16 in. with the planer. That manner, they may slide via the sq. openings with out jamming (after their corners are rounded).

When you’re putting in the cabinets, some will have to be slid down over the tops of the posts. So crosscut the posts roughly a couple of inches wanting your ceiling peak.

In case your flooring is considerably out of degree, add adjustable toes to the bottoms of the posts. In any other case they will stand instantly on the ground.

Earlier than rounding the submit corners to suit the shelf mortises, lay out the peg holes. Place these as proven above, or base them by yourself shelf array. I went with teams of three, spaced 2 in. on heart. Spacing the trios of holes about 8-1/2 in. aside will let the cabinets accommodate commonplace ebook sizes.

To drill the three/4-in.-dia. holes, I used an auger and hand brace as soon as once more. However when you’ve got ample outboard area subsequent to your drill press, that machine would additionally work nice. Simply you should definitely place a sacrificial board beneath the posts to forestall blowout on the again aspect.

After boring the peg holes, I routed a 1/4-in. roundover on the posts’ edges and ends. That is best to do on the router desk.

Superb-tune the shelf pegs

The shelf pegs needs to be a tiny bit undersize so they’re simple to insert. Don’t fear concerning the wiggle room; as soon as the cabinets are loaded, the entire system is self-stabilizing.

I began with 3/4-in. hardwood dowels and reduce them to size on the bandsaw. To trim them for a pleasant match of their holes, I planed little aspects on them. I did this by clamping my jack airplane the wrong way up in my vise and passing the dowels over them.

I just like the minor irregularities of the planed aspects—a bit of handmade contact for the inquisitive observer. I chamfered the ends of the pegs as nicely to finish the look.

End and set up the cabinets

To complete the cabinets, posts, and pegs, I went with just some coats of dewaxed shellac to maintain the ash as natural-looking as potential. However you should use any end that fits you.

After the final coat of shellac, I utilized a coat of paste wax utilizing #0000 metal wool after which buffed with a clear cotton fabric.

You’ll want an additional set of arms to put in the shelf system. Begin by stacking the 4 decrease cabinets on the ground towards the wall, after which slide the posts into the stacked mortises.

Now slide the topmost of these cabinets up into place, and insert pegs to carry it there. This is likely one of the cabinets that will get hooked up to the wall with small steel brackets screwed into the wall studs. Place the brackets on the underside of the shelf, not too near the ends, so that they aren’t seen from commonplace viewing angles. Then slide the three decrease cabinets up into place and insert their pegs.

To put in the higher cabinets, increase them to ceiling peak and slide them down onto the posts. Decide a shelf that’s above your eyeline, and fix a set of brackets to the highest aspect, screwing them into the wall studs as earlier than.

Your cabinets are actually prepared to make use of. My recommendation is to fill them up with some nice books.

Charlie Peterson is a woodworker and trainer in San Diego.