Any woodworkers?

@DoubleB
Perhaps these will help

 

Thank you for the compliment, but I am not sure how deserved it is. I like to say that the most common things made in my shop are mistakes.

Those pics help me see how you make those amazing designs.

 

90 percent of woodworking for me is fixing mistakes hahaha

 

If I only delivered perfect product, I would spend 10x the $$ on re-starts and would deliver maybe 10% of what I started.

 

Imo the largest skill set in woodworking IS fixing “mistakes.” I mean, not to state the obvious, but we are talking about working with a live material.

Even guys with full shops and years of experience have to contend with working with an imperfect material.

 

4x4 dovetail grid for the base of a larger router sled.


Another 1/2 bucket of dust out of this project. The shop vac set up is working as intended and the vacuum is virtually clean.

 

Question for the wood working boffins in here.

I have a... "fence" around my patio made out of horizontal 5/4 boards. I want to attach a pair of shelf using a French cleat so they're easily removable so they're not always sticking out from the fence.

I'm planning on using 1x1 for the majority of the structure. The cleat would be a 1x4 ripped down the middle. The countertop material is a 3/4" thick piece of granite approximately 20"x24". An online calculator says the granite weighs 35 pounds.

The question - how long should I make the vertical piece that butts up to the cleat? Initially I thought 3.5" sounded like enough but not after picking up that piece of granite.

 

I am concerned about the lower half of the cleat pulling out if just using lag screws into the horizontal wood. Horizontal metal plates (Lowes/HD sell thin metal plates that will work just fine in the "brackets" section) on the inside and backside/outside, with through bolts to prevent the lower-cleat from pulling out would help. The key to strength of a junction is to prevent flexing and movement ... front and back steel plates connected by throughbolts makes a solid structure.

Then use 2 or 3 thick bolt (3/8 ths, 1/2 in) through the top half of the cleat through a vertical hole in the lower cleat so that the bolt must bend in the middle for the table to fall because the lower cleat will not be moving anytime soon. Again, drill the through-hole in the two-halves of the cleat carefully/accurately at the same time to prevent flex under weight.

 

I would be leary of using a ripped 1x4. The grain in the wood runs horizontal and would have a tendency to come apart especially being outside. The only French Cleats I have experience with though are inside my garage and are made from 3/4 plywood which wouldn't fit your ascetic.

You may be better off using some bookshelf brackets with keyhole slots and don't tighten the screws completely so the shelf and the brackets can come off easily.

 

Another thought or two.

I'd consider the additional weight of what ever you plan to put on the shelf, including someone potentially leaning on it, as part of the equation.

My other thought was some reinforcement of the fence slat you plan to anchor to. I would think the slat, even at 5/4 thickness may twist under the weight and change the angle of the granite surface and could potential bow / twist the slat. Maybe if you were to use the metal reinforcement mentioned above, you could add two or three vertical pieces to the boards above and below, tying all three together as a unit for additional strength for the one you're attaching the shelf to.

 

https://www.obsessedwoodworking.com/how-much-weight-can-a-french-cleat-hold/

 

Working on front deck/porch...got steps in today and posts need top rails and balusters.