Just over a year ago, I built this desk from scratch for my home office. I built these
drawer cabinets out of plywood and added a solid ash wood top. I’ve been meaning to
build a set of matching floating shelves for over a year now but seem to keep putting it
off. Partly because I wasn’t sure how to install floating shelves, partly because I’m
afraid of these plaster walls, but mostly because I’ve been busy and always have a
good reason to put it off to another day. [LIVE] If you follow me over on Instagram,
you'll know that I’ve partnered up with Moosehead to help give you the know-how to
tackle one thing that you've also been putting off from your to-do list – which is often
for the same reasons I listed that prevented me from getting started! Thank you so much
to everyone who submitted a task you want some help on - based on the project suggestions
I received, it looks like the floating shelves was a very popular choice! And so, on behalf
of Moosehead's mission to inspire Canadians to get things done, I’m going to show you
my step-by-step process on how to build your very own floating shelves and how to earn
a ‘Beer With Your Name On It’ in the process! All right, let’s get building!
To build these shelves, I’m going to use this rough sawn ash wood. Now if you’re
interested in learning about the milling process, I’ll jump right in. If you’d rather skip
this and just buy shelves, feel free to jump ahead to the installing portion of the video
using the chapters. The hardware I’m using says to make your
shelves no thicker than 1-¼ inch. So normally I would start with 6/4 lumber but I couldn’t
find any. All they had were these beefy 8/4 boards, which means I’m going to be wasting
more material than I’d like, but that’s the only option I have. It also means that
the wood may be more prone to warping and cupping after milling because I’m going
to be removing so much material. With that in mind, I’m going to space out the milling
process over a few days to let the lumber acclimate at each step, and also be mindful
to remove the same amount of material from each end of the board and each face of the
board. Some of these boards are too wide for my jointer
so I’m going to use a planer sled instead. Gaps or high spots like this one will get
a shim with a little hot glue to hold it in place. I’ll also apply a few dabs of hot
glue along the edges to secure it to the sled. Once dry, I can run the sled through my planer.
I’ll lower the cutterhead and keep running the board through until the top face is flat.
At this point, the board can then be removed from the sled. I’ll then run it through
the planer with the flattened side facing down, and repeat until the second face is
flat and parallel to the first one. My goal for this first planing session is
to get the thickness down to roughly 1-¾ inch so I’ll run it through a few more times
making sure to flip it over on each pass to remove even amounts from each face. Ok, that’s
it for day 1. I’ll just sticker them and let them sit for a few days until the next
milling session. A few days later, the boards look like they’ve
stayed flat but the planer sled reveals some slight warping. So just as before, I’ll
glue down some shims and run the board through the planer until the top face is flat. I can
then remove the sled and run the other face through until flat. Today my goal is to bring
the thickness down to 1-½ inches. Next I’m going to square up one edge on
the jointer. If you don’t have a jointer, you can build a homemade jointer sled for
the table saw. Just Google it. I ran this board through maybe 4 times until the edge
was square to the faces. I can now run that square face against the
table saw’s fence and cut the boards to 4 inches wide. This will also square up the
final edge. I’ll be using 2 pieces to make each shelf that will be 8 inches deep, which
is the maximum allowable depth according to the instructions.
[MUSIC] I like to come back 45 minutes after the glue-up
and use a plastic scraper to remove all the glue before it fully dries.
At this point it’s time for the final trip through the planer, bringing the shelves down
to their final thickness, which will be 1-⅜. If you’re paying attention you might have
caught me earlier saying that the max thickness is 1-¼ inch. But… you’ll see in a bit
that I’m going to beef up the shelf supports so I’m pretty sure an extra 1/8th won’t
cause any massive failures. I need to square up the ends and cut them
to their final length. I’ll cut both shelves together using my track saw but you could
also cut each shelf one at a time using a miter saw or circular saw with a guide. Now
I can just measure the final length and repeat on the opposite side.
Before applying a finish I sanded with 80-grit, 120-grit and finally 220-grit. I’m using
the same finish that I used on my desk so they’ll match and that’s Osmo polyx-oil.
I’ll leave a link to this product and all the other products I used in the description.
I just love how easy it is to apply. I use a plastic spreader to flood the surface, then
simply wipe it off and buff it with a clean cloth. 2 coats is all that’s needed.
Back in my office now I started to plan the install. I used some tape to mock up the height
and spacing of the shelves to get a feeling for it. This worked out to about 26 inches
above the desktop for the bottom shelf with the second one roughly 16 inches above that
one. I need to draw a 7-foot long straight line
on that piece of tape so I can install the shelf hardware. I found a way to prop up a
laser level to the exact height so I could then mark the line using a straight edge.
You could just use the 4-foot level without the laser level but the laser definitely makes
it easier. Next it’s time to find all the studs along
this line. I have 3 different stud finder options here. Now, I don’t want to bore
you with too many details but if you have plaster walls like I do, a basic stud finder
like this probably won’t work. It can’t read deep enough to get an accurate reading
so it just goes berserk. The instructions recommend using a rare earth magnet which
actually does work. As you slide it along the wall you can feel it pull when you pass
over a screw or nail head in my case. This method will give you a pretty good idea but
still won’t be super precise. After some research I decided to purchase this stud finder
and boy were the reviews right. This is a deep scan stud finder which can look deep
into the wall beyond the plaster and lath and clearly shows the full width of each stud.
I found the location of each stud and marked the edges on my line. And by the way, don’t
assume your studs are spaced at 16 inches on center especially if you have an old house.
Mine are actually spaced every 12 inches, more or less.
This is the shelf hardware I’m going to use. The instructions (which are really well
done by the way #notsponsered) say that the supports offer a capacity of 100lbs for a
4-inch deep shelf or 50lbs for a 8-inch deep shelf like I’m going to install. That’s
if you have a short shelf that spans over only 2 studs. For every additional bracket
you use, you add another 25lbs of support capacity for an 8-inch shelf. My shelf spans
over 7 studs, so that works out to a capacity of 175lbs per shelf. Not bad.
I’ll center the hardware on each stud location and mark the screw holes on the line. Using
a 1/8th drill bit I’ll drill pilot holes roughly 1-½ inches deep into each stud. I
got a little carried away and forgot to remove the tape before installing the brackets into
the pilot holes. If you did your prep work right, this is the easy part and really satisfying
to see it all come together. Especially when the laser level confirms you installed them
perfectly level. I repeated the same process for the top shelf.
I can now drop one of the shelves onto the supports to mark the locations I’ll need
to drill out. Using a small square I’ll mark the width of each bracket on the bottom
of the shelf. With that done, I’ll head back to the garage
and transfer all those lines onto the backside of the shelf. I didn’t want to mess up the
visible faces of the shelf so I used tape, but I don't care about the back- cause no
one will ever see it. To find the center point, I’ll simply draw an X between the lines.
To stabilize the shelf on end while I drill into it, I built these basic supports out
of some scraps. They’ll also provide support for this drill guide I’m going to use. It’s
important that the holes be perfectly perpendicular. I could use my drill press but the size of
this shelf makes it pretty awkward. This portable drill guide is a great alternative for drilling
straight holes. I’m using a 7/16 brad point drill bit and I’ll go as deep as I can using
the guide as a first step. A word of advice, use a corded drill if you have one. Drilling
these holes with a cordless drill is hard work. Before I reached the end my drill overheated
and started making beeping noises. You’ll also need a longer bit to drill down
to 5-1/4 inch deep. I attempted this with my cordless drill but I was getting nowhere.
Only then did I remember that I have a hammer drill. I turned the hammer setting off so
it could be used as a regular drill and this made finishing the holes much easier.
Okay the last step before installation is to chisel out the back of the shelf to countersink
the mounting plates. But instead of chiseling out 14 mortises I decide to take a shortcut
and use my router table to cut a stopped dado along the back. Here I’m drilling relief
holes at each end that I can use as a starting/stopping point for the router bit. After firing up
the router table, I’ll gently lower the shelf into the first relief hole then push
the board all the way through until I reach the hole on the opposite end. I’ll then
flip the board around and repeat. I’ll end up with a centered groove that should fit
the hardware perfectly. This was way easier than chiseling by hand.
Okay, moment of truth. Let's see if the shelf will fit onto the supports. You probably don’t
know this about me, but I hate mounting things to the wall. I always get nervous and feel
like the thing - whatever it is - will ultimately fail and crash down to the floor. But when
all the pins slipped into place, I began to feel optimistic. And as I hammered it in I
started feeling pretty good about this install. Especially when the bubble in the spirit level
confirmed it was perfectly level. How satisfying is that?
I used a laser level to align the top shelf with the bottom one and repeated the same
process of marking and drilling the holes. I finally got to use this support rod I got
from Princess Auto that I’ve been looking for an excuse to use. You can adjust it to
the exact height you need and it really acts like a second set of hands. The top shelf
took a bit more convincing, but eventually conceded. Ultimately this install definitely
feels like a success. [LIVE] After this accomplishment, I most definitely
deserve a beer with my name on it! By the way, once you've completed a task that you're
proud of (maybe even this one) post it on Instagram and tag @moosehead before the end
of summer for your chance to score an actual Beer With Your Name On It. What projects will
you tackle? Let me know in the comments below! [MUSIC]
If you’re interested in the desk build or the cabinets, I’ve got those videos lined
up for you here. Until next time, thanks for watching! See you soon.