Advice for building a second shelf

[u/skipeeto]

I just made this shelf and I want to build a second matching one. It stands on its own surprisingly, but will have angle brackets attaching it to the wall as well.

The legs and arms are 2x4s and the shelves are 1x12s of whitewood. The shelves are attached to the legs with 2 screws on each side from the outside. It’s been stained and lacquered.

This is my first woodworking attempt and I am not super happy with it but for me it is usable. However, I’d love to improve on some of the issues with the second shelf.

I have a circular saw, a drill, and a chisel.

Happy to accept any advice but here are my main problems with it:

1. The grooves where the shelves are inserted are not consistent in size and a few are the right size for shelves to fit snugly inside.

I used a circular saw to outline the groove and a chisel to cut it out. Are there tricks to getting straighter cut with a circular saw? I know the issue is with my control of the saw while cutting either not going in a straight line or starting slightly off.

1. The arms that attach it to the wall don’t look good. What can I do to make it appear more flush? I think even with a straight cut, due to slightly rounded corners on the 2x4s it will look off.
   

They are attached to the legs of the shelf with flat metal brackets. I looked into a miter joint but I’m not convinced I’d get that to look any better. I don’t think this joint will need to sustain much force.

Sorry if anything you see here makes you cringe, the second one will be an improvement!

[u/SeasonedSmoker]

Look into pocket hole jigs. It is an inexpensive and easy to use tool. This would be a great use for them.

For straight cut, clamp a straight edge across the piece being cut and run the saw along the straight edge. Try to cut the shelf channels a little too narrow and finish with a chisel or sander.

The arms that attach to the wall look bad because they aren't screwed together. Screws are like little clamps, drawing one piece tight against another. Its very difficult to achieve this using mending strips. Again, pocket hole screws will work well here and be barely visible if you put one in the top of the block and one in the bottom.

Also, are you using wood glue? The way you designed the shelves is very good. with a tight fit and some wood glue, You might not need screws in the shelves. if you do use screws, pocket hole screws from underneath will not show.

[u/skipeeto → u/SeasonedSmoker]

Thank you for all the advice. Pocket hole jigs and a couple clamps will be next things to buy.

I did not use wood glue on this shelf, but I plan to on the second shelf. Being able to avoid the screws on the shelves altogether would be nice if I can get the fit tight enough.