whitecarrera
Well-known member
- Joined
- Dec 14, 2024
- Messages
- 118
So, I did something really cool today, and it was a completely original idea; doubly cool because it turned out so well. I'm not saying I'm the first to do it, but I didn't find anyone online who had done it this way. Normally I'd post this in my garage gallery, but wanted this to have its own thread so that it would be more searchable.
Anyway, we bought two live-edge oak pieces for floating shelves. The shelves are 2" thick and about 10" x 31". Each is 15-20 lbs, and I'm planning to store liquor bottles on them, so I needed the mounts to be strong but still completely invisible. Nothing I could find seemed sturdy enough, so I got creative. I bought 1/2" cold-rolled steel dowels from Lowes (two for $15 each),and decided to drill straight into the studs in order to use the steel bar as dowels.
This is what I started with. The wallboard is 1/2" mdf, so not strong enough to hold much.
I bought this tool at a woodworking shop, that helped me to drill straight holes. It's important that the bit had to be the same diameter from tip to shank, so that it would stay straight all the way.
First, I drilled holes through the wall board and 3 inches into the studs. I know the rods don't look level in this pic, but they are.
Here are all four metal dowels in position.
In the shelf boards, I drilled 1/2" holes 7 1/2" deep. This was the only real tricky part, because it ultimately comes down to your ability to drill a completely straight hole. It was a lot easier to tap the rods into the shelves first, and then into the wall second. I used a big rubber mallet to drive them all the way into position.
Here is the end result.
If you want to see my entire build, it's here:
Indianapolis - New 28X40 Garage /Pool House Build
Anyway, we bought two live-edge oak pieces for floating shelves. The shelves are 2" thick and about 10" x 31". Each is 15-20 lbs, and I'm planning to store liquor bottles on them, so I needed the mounts to be strong but still completely invisible. Nothing I could find seemed sturdy enough, so I got creative. I bought 1/2" cold-rolled steel dowels from Lowes (two for $15 each),and decided to drill straight into the studs in order to use the steel bar as dowels.
This is what I started with. The wallboard is 1/2" mdf, so not strong enough to hold much.
I bought this tool at a woodworking shop, that helped me to drill straight holes. It's important that the bit had to be the same diameter from tip to shank, so that it would stay straight all the way.
First, I drilled holes through the wall board and 3 inches into the studs. I know the rods don't look level in this pic, but they are.
Here are all four metal dowels in position.
In the shelf boards, I drilled 1/2" holes 7 1/2" deep. This was the only real tricky part, because it ultimately comes down to your ability to drill a completely straight hole. It was a lot easier to tap the rods into the shelves first, and then into the wall second. I used a big rubber mallet to drive them all the way into position.
Here is the end result.
If you want to see my entire build, it's here:
Indianapolis - New 28X40 Garage /Pool House Build
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