Building Wood Shelf Standards

I saw this idea in an issue of Fine Woodworking. Since I had never been a fan of shelf pins and I hate buying something I can make. Since I love adjustable shelfs this really appealed to me. I tried a set on some cabinets I built for our laundry room and was sold on the idea.

The following is how I build these. It is pretty straight forward. You start with a simple jig so you can consistently drill the holes in the same space over and over.

The jig is simply a base with a fence and pin. You decide on how wide you want your standards, 3/4 to 1" inch works well. Also what size you want the brackets that shelves will rest on. Locate the fence, then mark where you want your pin. If you go with 1" width then the pins center line needs to be 1" from the fence. Round over the edges of the pin so that your standards will slide on easy. While you laying out the jig I suggest you go ahead and mark the center for the drilled hole. It makes the setup of the jig on the drill press much easier.

One improvement to my jig would be a removable pin so you could drill your first hole in the standard. You can index off the existing pin if you like. Since I can't imagine putting a shelf up that high I typically drill my first hole off the jig. I have toyed with a couple of ideas on how to drill the first hole, but a removable pin and temporary stop block on the pin is the simplest idea. One of these days I will 'improve' mine.

Next step is simply to place the part on the pin and drill the next hole. BTW I use 3/4" diameter. That way the shelf stretchers can be 3/4" square. Just make it simpler.

Repeat till you have all the holes drilled.

You end up with something that looks like this.

Take them to your saw and carefully rip them in half. Now you have a front and back piece. I like to keep the mating pieces together in case there is a difference in height from each piece. The shelf may sit a slight angle but it doesn't rock that way.

Next I like to make my shelf stretchers next. I use 3/4" holes and 3/4" stock. I mark the ends with a circle template. Trim them up on the bandsaw, then finish the radius on the belt sander.

All that is left is to install them in the cabinet and make some shelves.