:_ Weekend Project
A sleek design with lots of handy storage
Frosted glass sliding doors conceal stored
items on the bottom shelf. The doors ride
smoothly in plastic tracks.
18
makes this project a great home accent
Anytime I can add storage space to my home that doesn't take up
valuable floor space, I consider it a bonus. That's why I like this shelf.
It hangs on the wall, so I can place it over a desk or buffet. And that
gives me more room to stash books or other items.
As you can see in the photos, this shelf has sliding glass doors that
add to the overall design. The frosted-glass doors slide in a track and
give you a place to conceal the clutter.
You'd think that building a sturdy wall shelf would require a lot of
complicated joinery. But that's not the case. I assembled the shelf using
Minifix fasteners. The two-part fasteners, shown in the photo on the
opposite page, draw the workpieces together and hold them firmly.
This means you can simply cut the pieces to size and not worry about
cutting a lot of complicated joinery to assemble the project.
Woodsmith No.194
 Rout bullnose
profile on the
BUILD THE SIDES router table a.
(detail 'c')
What gives this wall shelf
its classic look are the tapers
on the sides. In addition, each
shelf has a rail across the
back to add support and
enhance the overall look. So ® \ 1"
! radius
SIDE
I started by making the two '
I
sides for the shelf. ®
SIDE
I ®
HOUS. Once the sides are cut :o \ SIDE
' '
to overall width and length, 0 !, ''
I
you can drill the stopped r
I
25
holes for the Minifix fasten- Stopped holes
hold the
ers, as shown in detail 'b.' If connector pins
0
you take a look at the photo at
right, you'll see that the con-
nector pin has a flange about
midway. The flange needs to
seat against the surface of the
workpiece in order for the fas- NOTE: Sides are
tener to work properly. made from
%"-thick hardwood
To drill the holes, you'll need
an 8mm bit. I'll talk more about
Cut tapers
the installation of these fasteners on the
later. For now, just follow the lay- bandsaw
out for the holes in detail 'a.'
TAP£RS. At this point, I taped b. c.
the two sides together so I END VIEW
I I I
could shape them identically.
You can start by laying out the
tapers at each end. Then cut the
tapers at the band saw. Finally, The Minifix
use a sanding block to dean up fasteners have
any saw marks on the tapers two parts-
and to gently round the cor- two workpieces and take them in detail 'c.' Rout one side of the a connector
ners at the ends. I've shown the over to the router table to edge, then flip the workpiece pin and a cam.
step-by-step drawings in the create the bullnose on the top, over and rout the other side.
How-to box below. bottom, and front edges. You'll Finally you can smooth the pro-
BUllHOSl Once the sides are need to use a Y.z" roundover file with sandpaper to remove
shaped, you can separate the bit buried in the table, as shown the center ridge.

How·To: Shape the Sides

Drill. Once you have the holes marked Cut Tapers. Join the two sides together Sand Corners. With the two shelf sides
according to detail 'a' above, you can with double-sided tape, mark the tapers, still taped together, sand the tapers and
drill the stopped holes in the sides. and then cut them at the band saw. gently round the corners.

Woodsmith.com Woodsmith 19
complete the SHELVES ,.~~;.w
All three shelves are identical
except for the placement of the
J . .- ----~- -­
dadoes and grooves. They're
stabilized by rails attached to
the back. The cen-
ter rail is eventually
cut into two parts to
create a pair of inter-
locking cleats.
GROOVES. Your first
task is to cut the
shelves to size. Then
you can drill the holes
for the fasteners.
It's important that
the holes are placed
SIDE SECTION
VIEW exactly 34rnm from
the end of the shelf,
so that the fasteners
will seat properly
(box below).
®
RAIL
Now you can take
the center and bottom shelf to router guided by a damped-on to the rails. The three rails
the table saw to cut the grooves fence (box, opposite page). start off the same. After they' re
for the door tracks. If you take a IUUNOSL When the grooves cut to size, you can drill holes for
look at the box at the bottom of and dadoes are complete, you the cams in the ends of the upper
the opposite page, you'll see that can take the shelves over to the and lower rails (detail 'b'). Then
each groove is a different depth. router table to form the bullnose you can cut the grooves.
They're also wider than the stan- profile on the front of each shelf. When the grooves are finished,
dard dado blade, so you'll need TRACKS. Your final step for the take the center rail to make the
The top t rack to make two passes on the saw. shelves is to install the tracks cleat. It's ripped on the table saw
for the glass is This is shown in details 'a' and in the grooves. The track is to form matching bevels. The top
taller to make 'b' of the same drawing. designed to snap in place, but I section is glued and $CreWed to
installing and DAD0£5. The center divider is also added epoxy. the center shelf. The lower part
removing the held in a pair of stopped dadoes. RAILS. Once the shelves are com- of the cleat is attached securely to
glass easy. To make these, I used a handheld plete, you can tum your attention the wall to hold the shelf.

How·To: Join the Shelves

Shelf Holes. The stopped holes for the cams are Pin Holes. The holes for the Rail Grooves. The groove on each rail
drilled in the bottom of each shelf. You'll need to connector pins are drilled using holds the back edge of each shelf. They
use a metric rule for some layout tasks. a jig shown on page 28. should be sized to fit the shelf thickness.

20 Woodsmith No.194
 SHELF DIVIDER. The last part to FIRST: Glue and
make is the shelf divider. I added screw shelves and
rails together
a divider to the enclosed shelf
L for added organization.
GlASS. You'll also need to pur-
chase two pieces of frosted glass
for the sliding doors. Your local
glass shop should be able to cut,
frost it, and add the depressions
that form the pulls.

ASSEMBLY
With the workpieces ready, it's
I
time to assemble the wall shelf. THIRD: Attach
The key here is to understand both sides
to shelves
how the fasteners work. and rails
FASTENERS. As you can see in I
detail 'b,' the Minifix fastener to do is turn the
has two parts. The ribbed end of case with a Phil- %" x2"
finger pull
the connector pin slides into the lips screwdriver to ground into
glass door
hole in the side of the wall shelf. pull everything tight.
The flange on the pin should fit After mastering the fasten- FOURTH: Slide glass
panels in place
tight against the side. The metal ers, you can assemble the shelf. I
end of the pin slides into the hole glued and screwed each shelf to a
in the end of the shelf or rail, as it's rail and then attached the sides
shown in detail'b.' You'll be able to the shelves and rails, adding the Ia. SIDE SECTION VIEW
to see the end of the pin in the center divider in the process.
hole for the cam you drilled on All that's left is to apply the fin-
the face of the shelf or rail. The ish (Sources on page 51), insert the
cam should be inserted as shown doors, and find the perfect spot to
in detail 'a.' Then all you need hang your new wall shelf. L\1

Materials, Supplies & Cutting Diagram Bottom

glass
A Sides (2) %x ~4-25 • (16) %" MiniFix Fasteners NOTE: track
B Shelves (3) 34 X 9 · 40 1h • (1) 48" Sliding Door Track Glue
C Rails/Cleat (3) %x41h·40 1h • (2)w· X 6 31,6" . 20W Glass Doors tracks
in place
D Shelf Divider (1) %x 71h·6 14 • (12) #8 x 114 · Fh Woodscrews
¥4"X 10"· 96"Cherry (6.7 Bd.Ft.) ¥4"X 10"· 96" Cherry (6.7 Bd.Ft.) %"x 10"- 96"Cherry (6.7 Bd.Ft.)-

1 A 1 A v/$//&mA 1 B B WJ I B I ~

Glass Track FRONT

SECllONVIEW

END VIEW

Glass Track. The grooves for the The groove in the center shelf is Stopped Dado. The shelf divider sits in a pair of
glass track in the bottom and cen- deeper to hold the upper track stopped daqoes centered in the bottom and center
ter shelf are cut the same width. (details 'a' and 'b'). shelf. Start routing in the existing track groove.

Woodsmith.com Woodsmith 21