I am embarrassed to admit that for so long, I have
avoided cleaning the floor of my clothes closet. Shirts I have grown out of, shoes I rarely
ever wear, socks with holes, and other articles that I do not want to through
away. Then I began to notice the dust
bunnies that have been there so long that they resemble link sausages. I could not use the vacuum on the floor
because I would suck items up the hose and clog the machine. I finally removed everything. After three loads of laundry and sorting
those for donation to Sheltered Work Shop, material to use in another way, and
finally some to burn, I put the shoes back in the closet.
Then I realized that they are the bad guys. They take so much of the floor that I never
vacuum because I am lazy and do not want to remove them, vac, and then replace
them.
The answer to my situation was to stack the shoes on
shelves in a “shoe shelf” unit. This
will allow me to handle the entire group together as well as free up the amount
of floor space being covered to only the area of one pair of shoes.
First was to measure the length, width, and height of
the largest pair of shoes so I would know the length and width of each shelf,
and the measure of distance between each shelf.
The length and width measures were increased by ½
inch. That is the part of the shelf that
will be inserted into the rabbets to be cut into the vertical uprights that are
used for the sides and back.
My design was to leave it open rather than a box so
the shoes would have air movement, and this also left the sides open which gave
me the ability to lift the unit by sliding my fingers under the top shelf on
both sides as a handle. Then I measured
the distance from the floor to the bottom of shirts that are hanging from the
clothes rod. That measure allowed me to
determine if I needed a single stack unit, or possibly a width that will
accommodate two pair of shoes on each shelf.
The pieces for my unit finally required:
5 1 in. x 2 in. stock cut 30 inches each
6 ½ in. plywood cut 11 ½ in. by 14 ½ in.
1 self-developed “Rabbet Gauge”
This rabbet gauge ‘Jig’ is because I have always had
a problem with adjustable dado blades and stack blades for my table saw. They rarely ever cut the perfect rabbet, or
need to be put on and then taken off for adjustment over and over. In this unit the shelf-thickness is 7/16 inch
and I wanted the vertical pieces to be the strength of the framework. So, I needed to make rabbets that were not so
loose they allowed movement, but not so tight that the back of the vertical
piece might crack. The perfect fit can
be achieved with a few steps, and then put the Jig in your tool area to be used
in the future whenever you need rabbets of that width again.
To start I realized that the gauge must include the
consideration of the width of the cut of the current blade of my table saw, and
still make a rabbet the same width as the thickness of the material to be
inserted into that rabbet. To do this I
took a scrap piece of wood about 2 in. width, stood it on the side, and clamped
it on the table saw fence so the blade will be beside the face when I move the
fence closer to the blade. I manually
turned the blade until I knew the teeth were slightly touching the wood. 
Next, I had a narrow strip from the plywood of the
thickness I would use for the shelves, placed it on its side so the top, or
bottom, was against the piece clamped to the fence.
Now I slide the piece forward about two inches while
the blade cuts the thickness to a thinner measure.
I used my self-made fence to my band saw and adjusted
it until the NEW thickness of the plywood strip is the distance between the
blade and the fence on the band saw.
It might help to make the fence distance just a 1/16
in. closer, that way when you test it, you will be able to sand away the very
slight amount for a micro adjustment when you test this gauge at the table saw.
I used another scrap of wood about 1 in. to 2 in.
wide, turned it on its side, and cut into the piece about ½ to 1 in.
The guide on the band saw was raised so I could cut
that piece across the width and remove it without moving the fence.
I did in fact need to micro adjust the fence and make
a second gauge after I tested the first one at the table saw. The first one was too loose.
To test the gauge, set the table saw blade to cut a
depth of ¼ in., clamp the gauge with the bottom face against the table saw
fence and use a 6 in. scrape of wood for the test. I made the first cut by sliding the scrap to
butt against the “true thickness” of the piece clamped on the fence, and cut
Next butt the scrap to the “adjusted thickness” of
the piece clamped to the fence and make the second cut
Now just slide the scrap with the table saw miter across
the blade until you have the wood between the two cuts removed.
The test of the fit is for your judgment. If loose, I make another gauge. If too tight, I simply use sand paper to
remove a micro layer and test again until it is just PERFECT.
I inspect each vertical piece to determine the inside
face and the foot. Next, I use my belt
sander to chamfer the four edges of the foot as a marking of that end.
Now I’m ready for the first rabbet. I place one of the vertical pieces against
the miter with the foot towards the fence and inside face up to mark ¼ in. from
the bottom of the foot.
Align this mark to the blade cut on the plywood face
of the table miter so the cut will leave that full ¼ in. for the foot
and hold the piece to the miter while you move the
fence closer until the foot makes contact to the rabbet gauge at the true thickness. Lock the fence and flip the vertical piece
over so the back face is down, then make the cut.
slide the vertical piece to the adjusted thickness of
the gauge
and make the second cut, and then remove the wood
between each cut.
Place this vertical piece aside and repeat the steps
for the rest of the vertical pieces. Now
move the fence away from the blade so the next adjustment can be made for the
second rabbet on each vertical piece.
For the second rabbet on each vertical piece, I
measure the desired height, for me it was 5 inches, of the shelf from the first
rabbet and mark for the next cut.
Align this mark to the cut in the board on the miter,
hold tight to the miter, and move the fence in until the foot contacts the true
thickness.
I now follow the same procedure. Flip it over so the inside face is down, make
the first cut with true thickness, set foot to gauge adjusted thickness, second
cut, remove wood, go to next vertical piece, and so on until all rabbets are
cut in all vertical pieces at each setting of the fence… except the cut for the
rabbet for the top shelf. I ran out of
table saw railing for the fence because the vertical piece is 30 inches long.
I thought about this problem and suddenly my answer
came to me. I made the mark just as
before, 5 inches, but I turned the vertical piece around so the top of the
piece would butt to the gauge. I
realized this also needed to be aligned differently.
The mark for the measure between shelves was now to
be aligned to the opposite side of the cut in the wood mounted on the face of
the table saw miter and the fence had to be moved gently to butt against the
top of the vertical piece so that now the adjusted thickness, not the true
thickness, is making contact with the
top of the vertical piece.
Now the same procedure is used for the two cuts and
then removal of the wood between.
BECAUSE OF THIS GAUGE, YOU WILL MAKE ACCURATE AND
PRECISION CUTS ON ALL VERTICAL PIECES AND THEY WILL ALL BE PERFECT MATCHES TO
EACH OTHER no matter how you place them side by side.
At this point I chamfer and sand to get ready for
assembly.
If you wish to paint the unit after completion, it is
a good idea to paint all shelves on the faces, but leave thin sides so the glue
will make better contact during assembly, and the inside face of each vertical,
but not in the rabbets.
By placing two of the vertical pieces on my table, I
use a third vertical on the top as I add each shelf to keep the measure between
shelves correct.
I lay the fourth vertical piece on the top of this
assembly with the inside face up so I can put glue in each rabbet.
When that fourth piece is in place and flush to the
shelf front, I secure it with 2 nails through each rabbet into the shelf.
The fourth vertical will hold the shelves, so I can
now rotate the unit, place the back vertical for the application of glue and
then nail. My front vertical is placed
flush to the front edge, but the back vertical is placed 4 inches towards the
front from the back corner so it will act as a guard to prevent the side of the
shoe from extending too far outside of the shelf.
Being very careful, I eased the assembly over to the
other side as I held one of the bottom vertical pieces against the shelves to
maintain the measure between shelves.
Now I can glue and nail the other side vertical pieces, then set the
unit on the table with the front down on the table so I can glue and nail the
back vertical.
With all the vertical pieces glued and nailed, I
place the unit on a flat surface and make sure it does not wobble. If it does, I slightly tab the top of the
vertical piece that is not in contact with the surface.
I leave it there to allow the glue to set and cure.
I like to see the wood and its grain, so I often do
not paint my work. Since I do mostly use
recycle wood, there is many times pieces are already primed so I usually just
give a couple of coats of polyurethane.
Thanks for looking and I hope this helps you....
