Shelf support pin drilling

[bobnotthe builder]

I want to make a bookcase running floor to ceiling and going across the width of a 3.5m room. I reckon the easy way to do this is fix vertical boards and to add shelves using either dowels or support pins. Would anyone use either of these techniques? If so can you recommend a good jig for use with a drill - I don't have a router. If not, is there a better way to do this?

Thanks

 

[xerxes]

Rutlands sell jigs and templates for doing this. However, you could make your own template for much less money.

An alternative would be to use bookcase strips: you can buy surface-mounted strips, which don't require a routed slot.

 

[bobnotthe builder]

Thanks Xerxes, but I'm looking for something where you can't see any supports or just see a tiny bit. It's an open bookcase and I don't want to be able to see lots of holes/slots on the inside.

 

[dextrous]

Make a simple jig from a piece of hardboard with 4 holes drilled in a rectangle - the position of these holes will be determined by how deep the shelves are and the desired space between them. Clamp into place and drill the first 4 holes. Slide the board up (or down depending where you started), and use these through one set of holes in the jig into one pair of your newly drilled holes in the carcass to get an equal spacing. Repeat ad (in)finitum.

 

[big-all]

i make quite a few wall shelves the last one was 8 ft tall and around 10 ft long
its actualy made in six parts from pine

wall to wall shelves can look good but lack flexibility yes you can use holes and pins but you have the problem off flexing to overcome that cancause pins to fall out

now off the top off my head the three base units are identical except the rhs has an overhang off 22mm on the end at mid and top hight
the lower units are made from 9x1" planks that come out at around 218mm the shelves are also from 9x1" timber but with 9mm removed from the back edge the back off the units are formed from 9mm pine "V" groove txg cladding
theres a shelve at 3 and 3/4"up others at 12" then 10 then "9" above with the top overhanging by 22mm at approximatly 39" up forming the top off the unit base
the rest off the unit is equaly spaced shelves at 7.75" for videos dvds in boxes and games consoles games in boxes

the top half is made from 5x1" timber again the top has a 22mm overhang on the front and rhs edge again with a rebait for 9mm cladding
the middle unit is identical to the lhs and rhs except it buts up flush to the others with no side overhang

the sides have a 1.5 degree angle on the base sides this makes the bottom lean slightly against the wall on top of the carpet grip
the whole lot is dowled together with the back nailed and glued

the total material cost where around £150