Construct Oak Brackets for Rustic Open Kitchen Shelves
The Plan
I like the look of open shelving. Luckily it seems to be a current fad in kitchens. Hopefully that lasts. We decided to use these in one corner of the kitchen. Storage is always a problem and for structural reasons I would not feel safe attaching cupboards to this wall. Everything I read shows the height for lower kitchen cabinets to start at 18″ above the countertop, therefore this became the height for the bottom of the first shelf. The shelf brackets are 9″ high by 7″ out from the wall.
The Cut List
As always, if I can use scrap pieces of wood from my cut off pile, I do. These shelf brackets are made from various pieces of 1″ thick oak that I had gathered.
To make the back and top I cut 2 1/2″ strips from some 1″ oak I had. Each bracket needs one piece 7″ long for the top and one 8 1/4″ long for the back.
I used the cut off pieces I had from my shelfs to create the supports for the brackets. The shelves were all cut from 10″ wide boards. I cut squares 6 1/4″x 8 1/4″, then cut these in half diagonally, so that I had 2 triangles. I cut the scrap inch from the between my triangles rather than from the side so I did not lose the tiny bit from the saw blade. It also meant that if my cut was not 100% accurate it only affected 1 support piece. Phoebe sketched the support of the bracket to look like a fancy bracket {this kind}. I cut one with a jigsaw and then used that to trace the rest.
You can download a pdf copy of the Kitchen Shelf Bracket Template to copy onto your piece.
I used 3/8″ dowelling pieces to hold everything together. I find it less expensive to purchase a length of dowel and cut it up with my oscillating tool as I work than to purchase the bags of precut dowel
Making the Brackets
Countersink holes were placed 1/2″ from either side at 2″ and 6″ down the back(8 1/4″) piece. Once the support pieces went on it would be difficult get the drill bits in to do this.
No screws were used to hold the brackets together. I cut 3/8″ holes for dowel plugs with a dowel jig. The centre for each dowel hole was marked with pencil and a square, as in the photo, prior to cutting. I have dowel centre points but I dislike using them. It is difficult to make the marks deep enough to find and the centre points get stuck in the dowel holes I have cut.
I cut 2 dowel holes in the top and two in the back section for each support bracket. 2 dowel holes were cut to match in the 7″ and 8 1/4″ strips of wood. I felt that longer dowel pieces into each board would give the shelf more strength so the dowel holes were cut right through the top and back boards and 1 1/2″ into the support bracket. I cut dowel plugs 2″ long.
Putting it Together
As usual all the pieces were sanded down from 40 to 120 grit before putting them together.
The two dowel pieces for the top of the bracket were glued in through the top of the bracket and the top rectangle (7″ x 2 1/2″ pieces) of wood. The dowel bits went in snug enough with the glue that there was no need to clamp them. then I glued the back (8 1/4″ x 2 1/2″) section on with dowel.
The brackets were left to fully dry. At least 24 hours, but in my case over 2 weeks because I was off for work again. Any area that could have been damaged by glue or putting them together was sanded again. I start at 80 grit for this final sand.
I used the same method of cutting dowel holes into the edges of the board to secure my two boards together and create a corner shelf. Everything was finished with dark walnut stain and varathane
All the clutter was moved off the counter onto the shelves. Eventually we will have nicely labeled decorative jars for everything, but not today. Baby steps.