Entry Way Shelves

[pghmyn]

I've been looking for a project to keep me busy, and I thought I would make a couple entry way shelves.

This is the design I will be following:

The wood I have chosen is Soft Maple. I have used it before, and I really liked the way it handled with my tools, so I thought I would give it another go.

So I purchased the lumber for my project, and let it acclimate before any milling. The boards came S2S, which helped me find ones with nice grain. All boards were 15/16" thick, with almost no twisting/cupping/etc. Which was great for me. When it came time to head to the jointer and planer, I was a little set back by the thought of all the dust I would have to clean up again. I do not have a central dust collection system, and my jointer and planer do not have dust collection ports for a vacuum to just attach. I had to improvise, and improvise is what I did.

Here is what I did to my jointer dust ejection chute:
https://www.dropbox.com/s/1tyczw5l4sm8b1e/photo%20%282%29.JPG

Here is the setup before I started to joint the faces and edges:
https://www.dropbox.com/s/f26gdind0o1te1g/photo%20%283%29.JPG

And here is after (as you can see, no dust shavings on the ground):
https://www.dropbox.com/s/krx8ndjouuepm22/photo%20%281%29.JPG

Also, here is my planer after sending 20BF of lumber through milling down to 3/4" thickness:
I had to empty the vacuum twice, but that is a lot easier than cleaning up the mess that gets spewed all over my shop. I can live with the small amount of shavings that ended up on the floor, for now. I will improve on the dust collection for my planer at a later time.
https://www.dropbox.com/s/zodz66a621cyzl3/photo.JPG

 

[Kev]

If I had something like that in my hall I'd need clearance lighting ... or a helmet  [big grin]

 

[pghmyn]

I finally got around to finishing this project, and I really like the way that it turned out.

I made two shelves, which are identical. They are 42" wide and 8.5" deep at the top.

Here is the lumber as I purchased it from the saw mill. 4/4 (15/16" S2S) soft maple. I really like when the stuff is S2S because I can see the grain patterns underneath and know what I am going to be working with.

https://www.dropbox.com/s/lwr00q98dpza64q/Photo%20Dec%2007%2C%2012%2050%2047%20PM.jpg

Here is the lumber all milled down to final thickness of 3/4" and jointed on one edge. Later to be cut down on the table saw.

https://www.dropbox.com/s/4n9szfkerz5bo53/Photo%20Dec%2012%2C%202%2014%2014%20PM.jpg

And here is the final product with a few clear coats on top. It turned out really well, and the clear coat helps bring out some amazing grain patterns that can only be seen in the right lighting. It's like an Easter egg when you see them.

https://www.dropbox.com/s/ks7nmzcfiokujxw/Photo%20Dec%2020%2C%207%2041%2059%20PM%20%281%29.jpg

Overall, it cost me $70 to make them both.

 

[leakyroof]

VERY NICE, I'm sure your house approves them too. [big grin]

 

[pghmyn]

VERY NICE, I'm sure your house approves them too. [big grin]

I'm hoping that someone else's house will enjoy them more eventually

 

[tiralie]

I finally got around to finishing this project, and I really like the way that it turned out.

And here is the final product with a few clear coats on top.

They look good.
I thought you were going to stain them though?
Tim

 

[pghmyn]

I tried out some stains on some test pieces and they didn't turn out how I wanted. I didn't feel confident enough to apply it to my final product, so I went with something I knew would work.