Woodworkers

[the_yellow_dart]

I know this is way off topic here, but I figured *some* car nuts should know how to build things out of wood.

I went to Home Depot and bought 12 pieces of spruce, 8 feet long each. I'm going to build a shoe rack and a laundry hamper. I cut 5 boards in thirds, and cut a sixth in 10 9-inch sections. The thirds go side by side with a 9-inch section at each end to form shelves. So I've used 1/2 of the wood so far. I want to build the sides and back (if necessary) out of as little wood as possible, so that my hamper can be bigger. Will 5 shelves screwed in to the vertical sides have strength? Will this design want to lean one way or the other, wobbling?

If I do need a back to stabilize the diagonal, how should I build it?

Pic added for clarity. (go ms paint!)

[z28luvr01]

You're talking about a shoe rack, so there isn't going to be a heck of a lot of additional strength needed out of it beyond what you already have. Having three crossmembers holding two vertical rails up should inherently be pretty strong for the job. To make it near bulletproof without using any more wood, I'd do this: Move the nine-inch sections of wood that hold the shelves together out so that they stick out past the shelves about 1/2 the thickness of the vertical pieces. Then, notch the vertical pieces the same thickness, so that the protruding lip on the shelf fits into it snugly. Finally, use six screws on each side to hold each shelf in: one for each slat on the shelf, and three below on the 9" section. If you want, stick some carpenter's glue on the shelves for additional strength. This should seriously make a decent substitute for a jack-stand B)

[Sixty8panther]

Yeah, what Z28 said. :)

[the_yellow_dart]

These pieces of spruce are pretty thin, i dont think notching them would be a good idea (never mind the fact that I dont have tools for that). I'm just going to build it like the picture and worry about it afterwards if it wobbles.

[usonia]

If you did put the shelves into slots as suggested by z28, that would help make it more sturdy, but for your project, it isn't necessary as long as the weight on the shelves isn't too heavy. However, to make it rigid and not wobble side to side, you will have to put something on the back. Either a sheet of thin plywood over the entire back, or you can just use small rectangular pieces at the top and bottom. They don't have to be real big, but they should be big enough to so that you can get at least two screws or nails on either side and not too close together. I hope that makes sense. Edited October 26, 2005 by usonia

[RichW5]

You said that you were building 5 shelves. The design shows 3, so can I assume that 2 more shelves will be added? If so, will one of the shelves be at floor level? 5 shelves should be strong enought to brace the verticles for shoes. Carpenter's glue is a great idea. If you need a back brace, one board across the bottom should do it. One across the top and bottom would make it super sturdy. However, since it's only for shoes, your original design should be OK.

[the_yellow_dart]

Yeah, I got lazy and didn't draw all 5 in. One would be at floor level.