Replies

1. 
   saschafer | Dec 13, 2007 05:25am | #1

   In most cases, it would be better to make the vertical members one piece and slice up the shelves. The shelves have gravity on their side.

   -Steve

    

2. 
   [email protected] | Dec 13, 2007 05:07pm | #2

   Not meant as a put down, and please don't take it as such.  But, since you are asking a pretty basic question, I am assuming that your knowledge level isn't very high yet. 

   There is a very good book on "Chests of Drawers", by Bill Hylton, published by Taunton.  You might want to read through it before you finalize your design.  He gives a good insight into the design considerations, and has examples of construction varying from traditional hardwood, to modern using plywood, and biscuits. 

   I think your intent is fixed shelves with doors, instead of drawers.  But, the basic techniques and theories are pretty much the same.  The traditional drawer runner and dust shelf, are just replaced by a shelf.

   Also, try checking out the used ones at the Salvation Army, Goodwill, or other thrift stores.  I learned a lot back when I was in the starving student mode by buying used high quality pieces from Drexel and Lane, and then repairing and refinishing them.  It gave me the chance to think about how they were constructing things, and since most of it had some level of structural damage, it let me see the weak points in their designs.  You can also learn a lot just by thinking through how they built them without having to spend anything.   The folks at the thrift stores don't get upest if you spend half an hour looking at a piece and taking measurements, like the folks at "antique" and furniture stores do. 

   
   

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   Edited 12/13/2007 9:11 am ET by Jigs-n-fixtures

1. 
   747pilot | Dec 13, 2007 09:02pm | #3

   Sorry, the gravity comment didn't make sense."and please don't take it as such".... None taken.... If I was that thin skinned I wouldn't have asked the question in the first place. I am fairly new at this. Most of my woodworking has had to do with building bows (archery recurves and longbows. I've looked at other pieces for the answer but having fixed shelves isn't a norm. I can see benefits for both designs. I'm still not sure that it would really make all that much difference, other than having thicker stock with the stiles. Your suggestions were welcome and you made some that I would have not thought of (like going to Goodwill, etc.) So.... is there a problem leaving the shelves as one piece? Does it make that much of a difference?
   Thanks again.

1. 
   saschafer | Dec 14, 2007 01:59am | #4

   "Sorry, the gravity comment didn't make sense."

   Consider a series of board lying flat end to end(shelves) vs. a series of vertical boards resting on top of each other end to end (a stile). Given a small perturbation (a nudge, for example), which configuration is going to be affected more?

   The same principle applies in a cabinet. A stile that consists of a single, tall piece is much less likely to succumb to perturbations (e.g., very heavy object set on top of the cabinet) than a stile that consists of a stack of shorter pieces, one above the other. Of course, in a cabinet, you have glue and joints and other things that reinforce the stile; nevertheless, the single-piece configuration is still by far the more stable of the two.

   Shelves, on the other hand, really don't care very much. They're supported at both ends, and the only thing they're going to do under increased load is bend.

   -Steve

    

1. 
   747pilot | Dec 14, 2007 09:00am | #5

   Thanks. Got it that time. Appreciate you taking the time to explain it.Mike