Shaker Hanging Shelf - Making the Sides and Shelves

Cutting the Sides to Length

This is the stage where I found out whether or not my jig designs would work as planned. The cherry stock had already been thicknessed and ripped to approximate width. Using my home made crosscut sled with a simple stop on the table saw, I cut four pieces of the 3/8" thick cherry to length to use as sides for two sets of shelves. In order to fit my jigs, it was critical that the side pieces be exactly 21" long. The photo shows the crosscut sled from the outfeed side of the saw.

Before cutting the dadoes in the side pieces, I examined each of the blanks carefully to determine the most advantageous grain orientation before tracing the desired outline on each one in pencil. Since I would be doing the final shaping on the router table, it was critical to be sure I would be working the grain in the right direction to avoid tearout just as when I jointed and planed the stock in the first place. I then marked the bottom of the surface I wanted to use as the inside face of each piece to ensure I oriented it correctly in the dado jig.

Dado Jig and Router

I began by clamping the dado jig to one of the side blanks using c-clamps. The router was equipped with a 5/16" diameter straight bit and a 1/2" outside diameter guide collar to fit the slots in my jig. I set the depth of cut to 3/16", or half the thickness of the side piece. I then fired up the router and cut the three dadoes in succession using the jig. I repeated the process for the remaining blanks.

Roughing Out

With the dadoes cut, I proceeded to rough out the countours using a 1/4" wide blade on the band saw. While I could have done the shaping entirely on the router table, it would have meant routing away much more material and producing a lot more dust. Roughing the pieces out to within 1/8" of the final shape was less trouble and took very little time.

Shaping the Sides

I did the final shaping of the sides on the router table using a 1/2" diameter bearing-guided pattern bit and the shaping jig I described in my 10/24 posting. The photo at left shows the setup. The only problem I experienced was some slight burning on the curved edges. I found this could be easily avoided by feeding the stock more quickly.

Copying the Angle

With the sides shaped I could move on to the shelves. Before cutting them to length, I needed to bevel the front edge of the shelves to match the taper of the side pieces. Rather than measuring the exact angle, I transferred it from the side piece to the jointer using my sliding T-bevel. The photo at left shows how this was done.

The Shelf Dry-Fitted

With the jointer fence set at the correct angle, I jointed a length of the 5/16" thick shelf stock and cut it into three 10" lengths on the table saw. I dry-fitted the shelf together to judge the overall effect, and found the end result quite pleasing. I still need to fashion the batten that will be used to hang the shelf unit and attach it to the sides. I will cover that and the finishing process in an upcoming post.

More to follow...