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So I have this box of old woodies, antique wooden hand planes for those who don't know what a woodie is, lying on the floor in my office. What a shame. They need a home! I was doing some DIY for the wife's 'Honey Do' list and I needed some one inch pine from the Borg (Home Depot). I picked up an extra bit of 1 by 10 pine so I could treat my woodies with the respect that they deserve.
I decided on a width based on the space on the wall where the shelf would be placed, and I decided on a simple dovetailed box with a shelf dadoed into the middle. I decided against a back as I was feeling lazy and I had a pile of other projects on the go. With the width and height determined I cut the top, bottom and two sides.
Then I dovetailed them into a drawer or box shape. I cut dovetails like Frank Klausz does because his way makes the most sense to me, and I have tried several ways. Once dovetailed, I layed the side pieces together and clamped them down with their bottoms flush and the inside of the unit up. Then I used a spiral upcut bit in my router to cut the dado for the interior shelf. I dry fitted the pieces together so I could measure the exact length of the shelf needed then cut the shelf. I sanded the insides before putting it together. After some assembly I sanded everything smooth. I did not decide on a permanent method of hanging as I still had the Kraft paper of my insulation showing so I just hung it up with a cleat on the wall into which I placed screws that passed through the top of the unit and into the cleat. Then I took it down and finished it.
Now I was in a hurry as I had other things pressing on me so I will refinish it at a later date if I have time. In the meantime I sealed it with a quick coat of orange shellac which needed to be used up, then gave it a couple of coats of wax. The orange shellac makes the dovetails stand out in a rather pleasing way. Back on the wall and fill it up with planes. Done!
Oh, the pictures! I almost forgot. My digital camera, which I have been having really good luck with as of late, was not behaving the day I took these. In any event, here is one shot. I waited until later when the lighting in the shop was slightly different and took this one. Unfortunately, with the shelf being on the same wall as the windows, you always seem to have glare interfering with the shots.
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