How to make two DIY safety shelves out of spruce wood

I made two simple wooden safety shelves. They hang on the wall and have safety bars so in case of an earthquake items cannot fall off them. This feature makes them ideal for the kids room.

I did not find 10cm width boards on the lumberyard, so I ripped a larger panel to width on my table saw.

I then cut the bottom piece at around 70cm. I used this first piece as a guide to mark the rest of the pieces.

Using my table saw and a cross cut sled, I cut all the pieces to length. If you don’t have a table saw, you can use a miter box and a handsaw.

Then I set a stop block on my cross cut sled, at 16cm. I made all the repeated cuts to make the side pieces. 

I wanted the sides to have a slight curve, to I used a spray can as template to design it.

I then made the curves on my belt sander. In case you don’t have a belt sander, you can remove as much material as you can with a handsaw and then use a sanding block to finish shaping. 

Next, I glued and nailed the side pieces in place. I also glued and nailed the back piece as well. Using a wet rag, I wiped off the excess glue.

I then marked the size of the front pieces, and cut them on the miter box.

Next, I glued and nailed the front pieces in place.

I used a spacer to position the pieces in place without having to measure.

Then I filled all the nail holes with wood filler. 

At this point, I let the shelves dry over night.

I used a jig for making vertical holes that would receive dowels. I used a piece of tape as a depth mark on my drill bit. Finally I started drilling the holes. Then I added glue and hammered the dowels in place.

I made a simple jig to mark the positions of the side dowels easily. And then using the same methods I drilled and installed 6mm dowels. Using a flush trim saw, I cut the dowels flush.

I then used my angle grinder to sand. I begun sanding at 80 grit, moved to 120 and stopped at 220. I hand sanded the areas I could not reach with the grinder. 

Finally I made the hanging holes and counter sinked them.

I finished the shelves with three coats of clear, water based, satin varnish. I lightly sanded between coats with 220 grit sandpaper. I also used my heat gun to speed up the drying process. When possible I applied the finish, with the direction of the wood.

Our house walls are brick walls. So I used upats to hang the shelves. I marked the hole positions with a nail and drilled the upat holes. The upats usually have the number of the drill bit on them. In my case it was a number 6 drill bit. I hammered the upats in place and screwed the shelves in place. I screwed almost all the way in with the drill and then tightened  with a screwdriver. If you drill in concrete you should set you drill at hammer mode. If you drill in bricks as I did, this not necessary.

My shelves came out really great! I hope you enjoyed this project as much as I did. See you soon with a new woodworking project!