Make Your Own Food Storage Rotation Shelves

Written by Brandon Garrett

When using your food storage, youll want to make sure that you are tracking your cans of food
storage correctly. After all, no one wants to find a dusty old can that they purchased 30 years ago
e!en though with free"e#dried food, it still would be good.$
%&%' %irst &n %irst 'ut$ shel!es are an easy way to track your food storage and keep things
organi"ed if you use your food storage on a regular basis. (ou can pay a lot for a commercial
shel!ing system or you could put in a little elbow grease and sa!e yourself tons of money.
Youll need:
)lywood
* +wo pieces of ,- . /0 inches
* +hree pieces of 31.2 . 13 451/ inches
* +hree pieces of 31.2 . ,- inches
* +wo pieces of ,- . 3,.2 inches
* +hree pieces of 3,.2 . , inches
* 12 strips measuring 13 451/ . 6 inches
* 12 strips measuring ,- . 6 inches
7ircular 8aw
Wood screws or hea!y#duty glue
)aint optional$
Directions:
1. +he first thing youll want to know about these shel!es is that theyre designed for 910 food
storage cans. A typical food storage can measures 3 inches tall. &f you want to house smaller cans
or customi"e your shel!ing for a different si"e, you can: but more about that later.
,. 8tart with your largest piece of plywood ,-;./0;$. <ay it down on the ground and begin
measuring on one side of the board. =easure down /.2 inches and make a mark. %rom that mark,
measure another 10.2 inches down and make a mark. =easure down from that mark another /.2
inches and mark. 7ontinue this process until you reach the bottom of the plywood.
3. With the board still laying on the ground, mo!e to the opposite side that you werent marking,
begin by measuring from the top corner down 0.2 inches. =ake a mark there. =easure from that
mark another /.2 inches down and make a mark. =easure , inches below that and mark it on the
board. >epeat this process until you get to the bottom of the board. (our board should look like
the figure below?
-. @raw a line from the top mark on the right side, down to the corresponding mark on the left
side. +hen draw a line from the ne.t mark on the left side to the corresponding mark on the right
side.
2. <ocate three 6#inch strips of wood measuring ,- inches long. <ocate the other three 6#inch
strips of wood measuring 13 451/#inches long. (ou can drill or glue these strips on to the lines
that you!e drawn. (oull notice that the 13 451/#inch strips wont reach all the way across the
board, and thats fine. +hey will always be abo!e the ,-#inch strips.
/. >epeat steps 3#2 with the other large piece of plywood ,-;./0;$. (ou should howe!er, draw
your lines mirrored to your pre!ious measurements.
3. <ay the two large boards on their sides and use the base and top boards to secure them
together. =ake sure that the two large boards ,-;./0;$ are placed in a mirrored way facing each
other.
0. 8tand up the large bo. that you!e created
4. Aow that we!e created the basic structure of the shel!ing unit, we can mo!e on to creating
the shel!es that will lay onto the 15,#inch strips that we!e secured. Well be creating shel!es that
will ha!e - ramps of cans. Bach can will roll down the 3.2#inch ramp that we create.
10. Begin by locating three boards measuring 31.2; . 13 451/;. =easure from one end of the
board to the other making a mark e!ery 3.2 inches.
11. Aow, glue or drill the 15,#inch strips measuring 13 451/;$ perpendicular across the board as
shown below?
1,. <ocate three boards measuring 31.2; . ,-;. =easure from one end of the board to the other
making a mark e!ery 3.2 inches. <ay the strips measuring ,-;.15,; on the marks.
13. (our boards should look like these images below?
1-. 8lide the shel!ing units into the large case that you!e created. +he boards measuring 13
451/; should be placed on the strips measuring 13 451/;. +he ,-; boards should be laid on the
,-; strips. +he 13 451/; strips will probably need to be drilled into the holdings. +hey can also
be glued into place.
12. Aow that your shel!es are in place, (oull want to install the lips on the bottom of each
rotation space so that your can doesnt roll right off the shelf once you put it in.
1/. <ocate the three strips measuring 3,.2; . ,;. Cse glue or a drill to secure these lips to the
front of the case in front of the bottom of the ,nd, -th and /th space.
13. Aow that you ha!e your shel!ing and lips in place, the shel!ing unit should fit all securely
together and allow for a can to be placed in the 1st, 3rd and 2th le!els and rotate down to their
corresponding shel!ing units ,nd, -th and /th le!els respecti!ely$.
10. )aint and decorate your shel!ing unit as desired