At a glance
Finished dimensions
Overall sizes
- Shelf
- 36 × 8 × 2 in
- Cavity
- 34-1/2 × 7-1/4 × 1 in
- Cleat
- 34-1/4 in long, 7 in deep, 15/16 in high
Materials
| Item | Quantity | Note |
|---|---|---|
| 1/2 in plywood | Two pieces 7-1/4 × 36 in | Measure its actual thickness |
| Hardwood | Front, ends and cleat | Straight-grained stock for the cleat |
| Wall fasteners | As the fastener maker specifies | Chosen for your wall's framing or masonry |
| Wood glue and short screws | — | Screws lock the shelf to the arms |
Cut list
| Part | Qty | Dimensions | Material |
|---|---|---|---|
| Front | 1 | 3/4 × 2 × 36 in | Hardwood |
| Top and bottom | 2 | 1/2 × 7-1/4 × 36 in | Plywood |
| End | 2 | 3/4 × 1 × 7-1/4 in | Hardwood |
| Cleat rail | 1 | 1 deep × 15/16 high × 34-1/4 in | Hardwood |
| Cleat arm | 4 | 3/4 wide × 15/16 high × 6-1/2 in | Hardwood; includes a 1/2 in tenon |
Tools
- Table saw or track saw
- Chisel or router for the rail's mortises
- Hand plane or sander to fit the cleat
- Level, stud finder, drill/driver
How it works
The cleat carries the shelf. Its rail is screwed to the wall, and four arms tenoned into the rail project 6 in. The shelf is a box open at the back: its cavity is 1 in high and 7-1/4 in deep, and the cleat, planed to 15/16 in, slides in until the shelf meets the wall. A couple of screws up through the shelf bottom into the arms stop it sliding off. Because the arms carry the shelf as cantilevers, the shelf is kept shallow — 8 in — and long, heavy loads at its front edge are what it is least suited to.
Fixing the rail
- Find the structure. The rail is screwed into the wall's framing or masonry, not into a finish surface alone. Its 34-1/4 in length is meant to reach more than one stud in a framed wall; locate them before marking the shelf's height.
- Choose fasteners from their maker's data. Screw or anchor type and length depend on the wall — framed, masonry or a panel system — and the fastener maker states what each will hold. BenchRoot does not specify wall fasteners or claim a capacity for this shelf.
- Level and straight. Fix the rail level; a rail that bows across the wall will bind the shelf. Plane or shim it straight before the last screws go in.
Building it
Shelf, cleat and fitting
Make the box
Glue an end flush with each end of the bottom panel, then glue the top on, making a 34-1/2 × 1 × 7-1/4 in cavity. Glue the front across the front edges of top, bottom and ends. Working with plywood is covered in how to use plywood.
Make the cleat
Cut four 1/4 × 5/8 × 9/16 in deep mortises in the rail at 10-3/4 in centres, the end ones 1 in from each end; cut matching 1/2 in tenons on the arms and glue them in square to the rail. See mortise and tenon joints.
Fit the cleat to the box
Plane the cleat until it slides into the cavity snugly along its full depth — the cavity's actual height, not the drawing's, is what it must fit.
Finish the shelf
Sand and finish the shelf before it goes on the wall — how to sand wood, applying a wood finish.
Fix the rail
Mark the rail's line level at the shelf height, drill the rail, and fix it to the structure with fasteners chosen as above.
Slide and lock
Slide the shelf over the cleat until it touches the wall, then drive two short screws up through the bottom into the end arms.
Safety— What it is not for
No load rating is claimed: the arms, their joints and the wall fasteners all limit what the shelf can carry, and none was tested. Do not stand, lean or climb on it, and keep heavy items close to the wall. Cutting the small parts follows woodworking safety rules.
Before fixing to the wall
- Studs or masonry located where the rail will go
- Fasteners chosen from their maker's data for this wall
- Cleat slides into the cavity along its full depth
- Rail line marked level
- Shelf finished before hanging
Freestanding storage is in the bookcase plan and the built-in bookcase plan; all the furniture plans are listed in the coffee table plan.
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Sources
A BenchRoot design; every dimension is on the drawing and in the cut list as final sizes. Plywood is drawn at its nominal 1/2 in; measure yours. Wall fasteners are not specified here: walls differ, and the fastener's maker sets what it can hold in each material. The design was not built or tested for this page, and no load rating is claimed.
- 1.
Chapter 11: Wood-Based Composite Materials: Panel Products, Glued Laminated Timber, Structural Composite Lumber, and Wood–Nonwood Composites. USDA Forest Service, Forest Products Laboratory — Wood Handbook, FPL-GTR-282, 2021.
Used for: Plywood's crossed plies giving dimensional stability along its length and width, so plywood top and bottom stay flat over a long, shallow box.
- 2.
Chapter 4: Moisture Relations and Physical Properties of Wood. USDA Forest Service, Forest Products Laboratory — Wood Handbook, FPL-GTR-282, 2021.
Used for: Solid wood moving across its grain with moisture and very little along it — why the hardwood front runs lengthwise, along with the plywood.
About this project
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