Shelves

Last week, while my boys where away, my wife asked me to help organize the garage.  The perk for me was/is more shop space.  For her, it is the ability to get stuff without moving 20 bins from one stack to another to find anything.  So being the loving husband I am, and wanting more space in the garage, this is what we came up with.

The construction was simple.  Each post is made of 3 2x4s with the middle 2x4 cut into sections allowing us to create through mortises.  Since I didn't want to haul 14' 2x4s home, the shelving support are kinda dovetailed together in the through mortise, so they cannot pull apart without blowing the joint.  Like this:

So the shelves went together well, until I was dropping the top rails into the bridal joints at the top.  Then I found out how tough that joint can be on a finger.   Especially when the hook like edge is pressing one thumb against an I-beam. 

In a moment of laziness, I decide to hang the top rails while sitting where bin #17 is in the top picture.  I started with the rail, not next to me, but on the other end of the shelf.  The first one went in fine, but the second stuck, and I gave it a small tug.  Which pulled it out of the far post, and created a lever that pushed the top of my thumb into the beam.  Kinda like a giant nut cracker.  Anyway, here is the damage a week later:

I don't think there is any permanent damage, but it still smarts a little when I hit it wrong.  I got lucky to say the least.  Anyway, I learned a nice rule of thumb.  Take the time to do things right, and think them through before hand.

Hopefully, I will be back in the shop this weekend, putting a finish on that canning cabinet.  I hope to post pictures about it soon.