Hanging Bookshelves

Like myself, my wife has several books going at any one time and so her bedside table gets quite full at times, leaving no room for cups of tea, etc. So, I thought it a good idea to make her a simple set of bedside shelves.

It consists of two simple side frames, horizontal pieces at the top, with angled braces from the bottom, angling up to just below the lower shelf. There are two shelves. The side frames have glued halving joints at the top, and the angled braces are also glued and screwed to the frame, for extra strength.

I used a router to route a moulding along three sides of the shelves, (front and two sides) and also to do the halving joints. If you do not have a router, you can bevel the edges of the shelves with a jack plane and cut the tenons with a tenon saw, using chisels and/or files to adjust the final fit. A router is definitely easier for the halving joints - perhaps rent one, if you do not own one.

Caution: Cutting tools are used in this instructable. Please ensure that you are familiar with the safe handling thereof - obtain tuition/guidance in their safe use before commencing.

Please also use eye, ear and respiratory protection while using them.

Keep small children at a distance while using them.

You will need:

Wood: I used Red Luan, because I especially like using it - any similar wood is fine. I use (PAR), planed all around wood.

I used two widths for the shelves, one each of 145 mm, (just under 6 in) and 95 mm, ( just under 4 in), both 22 mm, (7/8th in) thick. I joined them edge to edge, using a Silent Screw Technique, (see my Instructable on how to do it - really quick and easy!) That will make a shelf 240 mm deep, (just under 10 in).

I used two pieces 44 mm wide (1 3/4 in), and 22 mm,( 7/8th in) thick, for the frames.

All the planks are 1.8 metres long, (just under 6 feet.)

Tri square, pencil, rule.
Tenon saw.
Jack Plane
Router with table, moulding router bit of your choice and straight bit, optional, see text above.
Small clamps.
White glue.
Sandpaper, 150 and 1200 grit, sanding block.
Cordless drill, with drill bits and screw driver attachment.
Masonry bit.
Wood screws, 20 mm x 4 mm, and 35 mm x 4 mm.
Nail-in anchors.
Sanding sealer.
Varnish, interior.
Thinners and turps.
Empty tin cans (two).
Paint brush 1 inch.

The unit was made to fit a particular spot in the room - you may, of course, make them any size you wish. Mine was 540 mm wide (22 in), the frames 600 mm (24 in), high at the back and 480 mm (19 in) in front.

I started with the shelves. Sometimes wood from the lumber mill has paint on the ends - cut those ends off, (pic 1).

Cut the lengths for the shelves from each width. True up the mating edges with the jack plane. If you are lucky, sawn and PAR wood from the lumber mill is fairly true already, and you might just have to plane away the jointer marks. Set the jack plane to remove very little wood at a pass - with practice, one develops a feel for the whole process and truing becomes quite quick. (see pic 2)

Test now and then - place one board upon the other, mating surfaces together. Attempt to turn the upper board - if there is a high spot, the board will turn. If not, there may show a slight gap between them. This will guide you as to where to plane away wood to improve the fit. (see pic 3 and 4).

Mark out and drill for the silent screw technique - (see pics 5 and 6).

Latch the boards and check fit - if OK, then unlatch, glue up and latch again, (pics 7 and 8).

Once the joined boards for both shelves had set, I found that there was a slight curve to them. I first planed across the grain with the jack plane to correct the curve, the plane being set to take off little wood, (pic 1).

Once the curve was corrected, I planed with the grain, to smooth the wood down nicely, (pic 2). I adjusted the thickness of the shelves, so that they were the same.

True up the boards so that the shelves are square and the same length and width.

Set up the router with a moulding cutter, (pic 3), and route the edges of the shelves, leaving the back edge plain.

Now mark out and cut the pieces of wood making up the frames to length and plane lightly to remove jointer marks, (pics 4 and 5).

Mark out the halving joints for each frame. I cut the waste away with a tenon saw and then use a router with a straight cutter, to adjust to depth of cut, so that the joint is neither proud nor sunken, (pics 6-8). Set the router to take off very little wood at a time.

All the parts cut and shelves complete, (pic 9).

Assemble the frame, leaving off the angled braces, for now. Check the fit and adjust if necessary.

Apply glue and clamp, making sure that the lower ends of the frame are the correct distance apart, (pic 1).

I used some cobblestones from the garden to hold down the long pieces at the bottom, so that they would not move.

Be sure to wipe off the squeeze-out glue.

Once the glue has set, remove the clamps and clean up the frames with sandpaper. Start with 150 grit and finish with 1200 grit.

Cut four pieces of wood for the shelf bearers. Plane them to size - mine were 20 x 22 mm ( approx 3/4 X 7/8th in), square and 240 mm long, (just under 10 in), when finished, (see pics 2-5).

I beveled the front ends to make them more attractive to look at, (not shown here).

Drill the shelf bearers to accept the screws to attach them to the frames and also to attach the shelves later, (pic 6).

Decide where you wish to place the shelves - the upper shelf on mine is 125 mm (5 in) from the top edge of the frame. The lower shelf is 250 mm (10 in) below the upper shelf.

Mark out and attach the bearers - do not glue.

Cut the angled braces to size, apply white glue and attach with screws - this is best done after the shelf bearers have been attached, (pic 7). Skim any proudness with the jack plane and then sand.

Cut and make two short pieces of wood, to attach to the inside of the frames. These are to secure the shelving unit to the wall. They extend from below the upper shelf to touch the bottom shelf surface.

Drill countersunk holes, two in each piece, top and bottom, to take suitable fasteners. I used nail-in anchors, two different sizes because that is what I had to hand, (pic 1)

Attach them to the frames - Pic 2 and 3.

I decided to seal and varnish the parts while disassembled - I find it easier that way. Sand everything not yet sanded, starting with 150 grit.

Make a tack rag by dipping a rag into a mixture of sealer and thinners, wring out and allow to tack up for ten minutes. Wipe down the surfaces with the tack rag, then apply a coat of sanding sealer. Allow to dry.

Cut back with 1200 grit, wipe down with a turpentine soaked rag and apply a coat of interior varnish. Allow to dry. Cut back with 1200 grit, wipe down and apply a second coat of varnish. Allow to dry.

Now you can assemble the unit. Start with attaching the top shelf. I placed the shelf in the vice and clamped the frame to it, (pic 4). Then drive in the screws, (pic 5 and 6). Repeat for the other side.

For attaching the lower shelf, I removed the shelf bearers from the frames and attached them to the underside of the shelf. Then I re-attached the bearers to the frames. The reason for this is that the angled braces, now glued and screwed in place, will get in the way of attaching the screws, especially near the front of the shelf.

The unit is now complete, (pics 7 & 8). Position the unit where you want it on the wall and mark out where to drill. Using the cordless drill and a suitable masonry bit, drill the holes. Place a straw in the hole and blow to remove the masonry dust - angle it slightly so as to not get a face full of masonry dust!!

It remains to attach it to the wall, (pic 9). That's It!! Enjoy!!