Just a Shelf

Nothing too fancy here today, just a small shelf built out of some 18 gauge mild steel I had on hand. I needed a shelf to get my music player off of the workbench. This is one of those things that shows you don't need all of the fancy tools to get something done - it just might take you two hours instead of 20 minutes.



Tools and Materials:

1. Scribe - You can get away with a permanent marker, but scribes cooler
2. Ruler/Tape - To layout the lines, I like the Incra T-Squares
3. Sheet metal shears - any type, make sure they are rated for the steel thickness
4. Center punch - used to keep the drills from wandering
5. Various drill bits - 3/8" and 3/16" at a minimum
6. Hole saw - various sizes (not required)
7. Hammer - Ball peen and body hammer/dolly are preferred
8. Welder or rivet gun
9. Drill - to drill your holes
10. Assortment of files and/or flap disc sanding wheel

Time:

1. About 2-3 hours or less

Getting Started

I was lucky in that I had 18 gauge steel on hand that had been sheared to a 10.5" width; just under the width of my stereo. Good enough. First I did a little math using Pythagorean's Theorem to determine my cut length. I needed an 8" depth, so, the total length needed to be:

Cut Length = 8 + 8 + sqrt(8^2 + 8^2)

Or, roughly 27 inches.

Use your scribe or marker and your square to mark your cut line. I prefer to scribe over a marker line. It creates a very sharp line that's easy to see and won't rub off. Don't use the scribe on important pieces that show, it's a challenge to get the mark out.

Now, break out your hand shears, or plasma torch or stomp shear and cut to the line. Hope you ate your Wheaties. Use gloves to avoid cutting yourself from the sharp edges here.

Once you've got it cut, (fun stuff eh?) you will need to get the edge back into a reasonably flat state for welding. You can also take the opportunity to wipe down the surface with acetone or something similar to knock off any oils the manufacturer might have applied to prevent rusting. I used a low crown body hammer and dolly to flatten it out. Not the best setup, but use anything you can.

That's also my favorite photo that I've taken. Next up is to lay out the bend and drill lines. Mark one at eight inches from one end, then sixteen inches. I drilled the "lightening" holes fairly randomly, I just eyeballed it. Looking back, some thought into the spacing would have been a decent idea. If you choose to drill the holes, take a center punch and smack it on the dot with a hammer. Wear eye glasses. I got clever and drilled a hole in the back bend to pass the power cord through. File and de-burr the hole edges to remove sharp edges.  

My "bender" is a piece of hardboard and plywood with the metal sandwiched between - all clamped to my workbench. Take your hammer and start working the piece over, trying to "pull" the metal down into the bend. Work back and forth across the face with medium taps.

I had to get a little creative to do the acute bend, especially because I mis-added and cut my steel to 26 inches... So I don't have a perfect equilateral triangle.. Get it close, massage it with light taps from the body hammer and get the clamps out to prepare for welding. Sorry, no welding shots - but my Millermatic 211 was setup on 220V line input, 4.5 Voltage and about 65 inches per minute of 0.023" wire speed. Make a few tacks and remove the clamps. Then just make connecting "dot" welds across the face, warping really won't be an issue here, but you may struggle with burning holes. Clean up the weld with a 60 grit flap disc on your grinder if you have it, or use a file or some other means if you don't.

I did this next part a little bit out of order, but let's make the key holes next. Best to do it while you are doing the first set of holes. Center punch two marks about four inches apart in the centerline of the back panel. Drill two 3/16" holes in these marks. Center punch two more marks about 3/8" below those. Drill a 3/8" hole in those. Take a round (rat tail) file and file between them, cutting a keyhole out. These will be used to mount the stand to a stud in the wall. I hope yours turned out better than mine.

Remember, this is flipped upside down. The big hole goes on the bottom of the keyhole.

Now, you can finish the shelf as you see fit. I left mine "raw" because I'm cool like that. Sink two screws (I used 2.5" square drive deck screws) into a stud 4 inches apart. Slide the shelf down on top and set your stereo down. Jam out like there's no tomorrow.

Hope you enjoyed this one. It was fun for me to make. It would be cool to spice it up with some dimple dies and some rolled beads, but that will have to be for the next one.