Easiest way to make hidden shelf pins.

[ferntree@gmail.com]

My wife wants adjustable shelves in the master closet. Easy enough. Then she told me she doesn’t want the shelf to be able to slide forward off the pins since there will not be a face frame to keep it in place. What is the easiest way to make a little notch underneath to capture the front and rear pins on each shelf. I’m sure there is a repeatable jig I can make up if I’m making them 37mm from front and back of the cabinet sides.

I was thinking a truck saw with a stop to just knit the edge but I would have to make at least 2 passes.

Or maybe use the same bit I use to make the LR32 holes on a rail with a stop?

Thanks in advanced.

 

[Packard]

The easiest way to accomplish this is to use “magic shelf wires”.  They have the added advantage of requiring much smaller holes, and as such are less noticeable.

You will have to replace the drill bit for your hole drilling jig.  They require either 3mm or 5mm holes, depending upon the size you order.  Both are available as a self-centering bit, but if you are using the Kreg jig, or one that uses bushings instead, that might be an issue.
https://www.google.com/search?q=magic+shelf+wires&client=firefox-b-1-m&source=lnms&tbm=isch&sa=X&ved=2ahUKEwir7YfUyof5AhUNkokEHWWYCb8Q_AUoAnoECAEQBA&biw=1121&bih=712&dpr=2

 

[guybo]

Hi they make theses just add a screw

 

[semenza]

My wife wants adjustable shelves in the master closet. Easy enough. Then she told me she doesn’t want the shelf to be able to slide forward off the pins since there will not be a face frame to keep it in place. What is the easiest way to make a little notch underneath to capture the front and rear pins on each shelf. I’m sure there is a repeatable jig I can make up if I’m making them 37mm from front and back of the cabinet sides.

I was thinking a truck saw with a stop to just knit the edge but I would have to make at least 2 passes.

Or maybe use the same bit I use to make the LR32 holes on a rail with a stop?

Thanks in advanced.

Do you want them to also be anti-tip or just not slide forward?

Seth

 

[morts10n]

There are 2 types of 5mm "spoon" pins. One is flat on the top where shelf sits, the other has a "barb" which holds the shelf in place surprisingly well

 

[Mark Katz]

I second the method Packard describes above. I've used these wire supports from Lee Valley:https://www.leevalley.com/en-us/sho...on/shelf-supports/40191-hidden-shelf-supports which are available in two lengths. I see they now have a similar item in other lengths:https://www.leevalley.com/en-us/sho...ion/shelf-supports/52465-wire-shelf-supports.  The first, which I have used, calls for a 1/8" hole and that works well. The second calls for a 3mm hole,  which is slightly smaller than 1/8", so it might be too loose in a 1/8" hole. You can get a 3mm drill bit easily enough.

I have the Kreg shelf pin jig which has 1/4" bushings so I got some sleeves like theses:https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B009YLD2QK/ref=ppx_yo_dt_b_asin_title_o08_s00?ie=UTF8&psc=1. I put them into the jig bushings and then used a 1/8" drill bit. Worked fine except sometimes the sleeve came out with the bit and had to be reinserted into the jig.

For the slots in the sides of the shelf I used a 1/8" slot cutting bit in the router table. That allowed me to easily cut a slot along the side but stop before breaking through the front of the shelf.

I've also used the method ferntree originally suggested. To cut the recesses in the shelf bottoms, I set up a 1/4" straight bit in the router table, set the fence for the distance from the front and back edges (37mm in his case) and set up a stop block to limit the length of the slot. Set the bit height to the depth of the slot needed. Then, slide the shelf along the fence to cut one slot and rotate the shelf 190 degrees to cut a second one. After doing all the shelves, move the stop block to the other side of the bit and finish the other slots on each shelf.

I did find this to be a bit fussy in terms of getting things lined up because success depends on accurate setup to make sure the slots in the shelves end up spaced the same as the shelf pins and the front of the shelf lines up with the front of the case. Lots of test pieces and test cuts is the key.

Finally, for that method I used shelf pins like thesehttps://www.leevalley.com/en-us/sho...189-economy-steel-shelf-supports?item=00S1045 rather than the type with a spoon-shaped protrusion.

 

[MikeGE]

I did something similar for a friend's bathroom cabinet shelves.  The pins were 37mm from the front and back of the shelf, so i clamped a piece of sacrificial wood to the edge and drilled on the centerline joint with a 5mm center point bit to the depth that the pins extend from the sides of the cabinet.  The shelves drop into place and won't slide on the pins.  I did it by hand, but I would not be surprised if there is an expensive jig available to do this.

 

[Lincoln]

Rout stopped slots under the shelf, to take the pins - use cylindrical pins. Use a router with a parallel guide, screw a length of ply to the guide so that you can screw a stop to the ply at the appropriate distance - this will do half the slots, then move the stop to the other side of the router bit to do the other half.

 

[Bob D.]

Use a 1/4" core box bit and route two grooves 1/4" deep on the underside of each end of the shelf.
Use 1/4" round shelf pins.
The shelf pins will rest in those grooves and not slip off.

Or do it all in 5mm if that's your preference.

 

[Crazyraceguy]

I discovered these wire type shelf pins/brackets several years ago while doing a demo on a project. They were going to be discarded, so I saved them, not really knowing when or if they would ever get used. It wasn't long after that they did come in handy. So, mental note of a good thing.
A few weeks ago, a similar job came up. This one was far less deep, so it required ordering some specifically to fit. It was a bit of an oddity, because the shelves sick out of the sides, quite significantly. They work well for this though, because the shelf is trapped by the wires, not just resting on them.

 

[ferntree@gmail.com]

Thanks so much for all the replies. So many choices to choose from. I’ll have to figure out what is easiest. It almost sounds like a sacrificial block with a drill bit might be the cheapest and easiest. But I need practice with my router and parallel guide so I might try the wires on another project.

I really appreciate the responses. I need to figure out how to get email notifications from replies this forum moves quick.

 

[MikkelF]

You can also just use a Domino or chisel them out. I did that for my closet selves and both where easy to make and result good. A third option is to build a jig of some scrap wood that sits on the corner with a 5 mm drill hole and then chisel from the bottom to make the opening on the bottom.

 

[xedos]

Are sliding shelves a real -or- perceived problem ?

I've been using frameless cabinets since the late 70's and have never run into this issue either from a client or in my own homes.

The easiest / cheapest / fastest solution would be to use these shelf pins:
the barb will keep a properly sized shelf from ever sliding forward.

 

[ferntree@gmail.com]

My wife is deciding what she wants and I’m going to build it. We have a tv unit from target that has the notches cut out on the bottom of the shelves so she thinks they will slide off. I could try those barbed pins out first. . .

 

[tsmi243]

Are sliding shelves a real -or- perceived problem ?

I've been using frameless cabinets since the late 70's and have never run into this issue either from a client or in my own homes.

The easiest / cheapest / fastest solution would be to use these shelf pins:
the barb will keep a properly sized shelf from ever sliding forward.

Those look great- do you have a Mfg name or PN?

 

[Packard]

That is a Hafele product, though there are probably knock-offs out there.  Hafele is probably on the same level as Blum—everything they sell seems to work well.

But note that this will not work at all with melamine laminated shelves.

You can mill small notches for the pins to drop into.  No special pins required.  1/8” depth is all that is required so it will probably not be an issue with load capacity on the shelves.

Also, a tiny wire brad will be nearly invisible and will prevent sliding with any type of pin.  Just locate the brad adjacent to one pin on each end of the board. So just the head is protruding.  It will be beneath the shelf, and I doubt anyone will notice.

If you put the brads to the front of the rear pins, it certainly will not be noticed.  If you use the wire brads, they can be retrofitted to any existing shelf systems you already have.https://www.hafele.com/us/en/product/shelf-support-anti-slip-5-mm/P-00861928/

A brad pusher is the ideal tool for this.  I keep one in the shop.  About $10.00 and super handy for some simple jobs.  Much better than a brad gun for some types of work.

Available from Amazon.  It requires no power, no air, no batteries.

No need to watch the entire video.  Starting at the 3:00 mark will show all you need to know.

 

[ferntree@gmail.com]

The replies are getting better and better! That’s a really simple and easy solution as well.

 

[mino]

The wire pins are great. From bottom the shelfs looks as if part of the cabinet.

A bit tricky to pull the shelfs out, but even bumping them from the bottom will not move - or damage - them. They also work well with chipboard even.

Have these on a couple mass-made library cabinets from the 80s and we realized how it works only after some (err, lots of) experimentation ...

Great thing about these is they can be used also for vertical dividers.

The "bad" thing about them is also what is good about them - they can be hard to pull out and move to a different position. Especially when one does not realize these -do- slide out ... Heh.