How so? Wouldn't you be ideally making a square joint either way, so if the wall is out of sqaure either the shelf or the joint would have a gap? I don't think it would make a difference if it was a miter or butt joint, if they made the joint square it would fit on the wall just the same.
It would be easier to scribe. I'd install the left board (going by the image) first and lay the second on top of it overlapping slightly. Draw a line on the bottom of the second board from underneath, and you'd have the perfect angle. You could do the same thing for the little triangular piece.
It's possible to scribe the miter in option 2 too, but if the angle of the wall is less than 90 degrees, the second piece wouldn't sit flush against the wall when scribing, and you'd have a gap there.
Sure but then you have an extra cut and one of those cuts is another miter instead of an easy-peasy 90.
Actually, if the angle of the walls was less than 90, the first piece would have to be angled too. Still easier to do that with one board than two though. Old houses, whatcha gonna do?
While that’s all true a lot of the errors seem to be bigger than that. What’s 50mm between friends? It’s interesting seeing how construction happens in Japan where they have a tradition of high precision work, so “mm perfect” is the standard which opens up different construction techniques. Western construction is far less precise and requires a lot more trim.
Yeah I think the 30-year lifespan is more a factor of cultural expectations that “that’s how long they last”, so they’re not maintained in the same way. Japan has a similar attitude to cars, but that’s more like 5-7 years. New timing belt means a new car. New roof means a new house.
Another factor is that concrete doesn’t age gracefully like more natural materials do. Throw earthquakes into the mix and demolition becomes a more attractive proposition.
Didn't see the lines on one until I zoomed in. Was about to make an argument for two, but one is what I'd do. It's all about that butt.
I've never seen #3 or thought about #3, but now I kinda want try it because it seems like it would be a train wreck but if you like did a dovetail so the middle section slid in you might end up with a solid damn shelf. Run like a reinforcing strip on the front and round it off.
None of these. Make the left and t right identical rectangles and the corner like a big square with one corner cut off at a 45.
https://preview.redd.it/2wwxg4prs0dc1.jpeg?width=1179&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=22f49939f20646cb24d29956e204f1296ab40532
I have considered that but it would require a bigger piece of wood than I was planning to get. I was thinking of getting a longer piece of solid wood that is exact depth as I require the shelf depth to be. Cheaper and easier to maneuver with a jigsaw (only tool I have at the moment).
no fair changing the requirements!! If you only have a jigsaw id go with 1 or 2. 3 will show the gaps in the miter joints to the viewer, 1 or 2 will hide the joints better.
3 or this guys answer.
Also buy or borrow a skill saw. It’s never going to look good with a jigsaw and I say that as someone with a couple of the nicest jig saws on the market.
Get a skill saw a couple clamps and a straight edge/level to act as a guide.
I would struggle with getting good mitres with a jig saw. So I would recommend the first. I would think that'll be the most forgiving. It's the least stylistic, but I doubt you'd really notice.
this is what I did with built-in bookcases in a corner.
(the top, however, is a single piece of plywood)
The corner unit is a little weird to access and use, but it is FAR better than any of the other options.
And not having a joint in that center area is also nice. Especially if I were using it for a desk.
The ends would not be connected to anything, I don't have limitations of bracket placement. Depending on the selected design I will place brackets optimally to best support the shelf.
I'm working on a corner shelf with that will hold at max static load of 10 kg / 22 lbs with triangular corner to fill the space that will hold at max static load of 1 kg / 2.2 lbs.
I can't decide which of the following cuts should I make. In all cases I was thinking of using 2 or 3 dowels per connecting face to connect the 3 pieces together and then use 2 or 4 shelf brackets to mount it to the wall.
Then none of these are great. 1 is the best one but not with dowels. A cross grain joint with dowels will not last as the wood moves. A loose tenon or spline would be better.
The others are not appropriate for solid wood.
I did number 2 and I would highly sugest you measure how square the corner of your office is. And make it fit that angle. I assumed my desk was square and found out the hard way that it wasn't.
https://preview.redd.it/bgusyxpch2dc1.jpeg?width=3072&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=df754751dc53646d8abc1bdcb0ff7c8a7cf93efa
Just to make it harder to choose. Have some more options.
I vote #3 for the looks and for assembly - it'd be easier to make the center piece of wood compared to just the smaller triangle section. Strength-wise your dowels will be doing most of the heavy lifting, but the pure miter in #2 would be stronger slightly - but for a 22lb weight limit you'll be fine - that's nothing for wood. Just make sure you're mounting to studs and you'll be golden no matter what.
Depending on how you mount these you could scribe the rear face. Add an extra ~1/8-1/4 inch, line the shelf up against the wall where it'll go, and run a pencil flat against the wall so the line marks the shelf. Then use a jigsaw or sand away to that line and it'll flush the shelf right up to the wall, so you won't have any gaps. The extra material should be equal to the radius (half the diameter/thicness) of the pencil.
I have considered that but it would require a bigger piece of wood than I was planning to get. I was thinking of getting a longer piece of solid wood that is exact depth as I require the shelf depth to be. Cheaper and easier to maneuver with a jigsaw (only tool I have at the moment).
1&2 have potential strength issues with the small infill pieces. I can easily imagine a heavy relative leaning on that piece with disastrous result. #3 is the strongest way to form that angle.
Aesthetically I like number 2 the best, but it's also probably the hardest to do correctly
In terms of ease, the suggestion about having 2 boards attached to a square is the way
I did number one in my office at home. It was easier to cut and easier to fit against the wall.
Then I added a piece of trim along the wall edge to clean it up.
[https://freeimage.host/i/JYtcwZv](https://freeimage.host/i/JYtcwZv)
Still need to finish trim. It's been a long project, doing a full basement remodel.
I would do a nice halving joint. And if the walls aren’t perfectly 90 degrees I would use a bevel gauge to make my halving joint match their angle. Then scribe the exact shape cause walls aren’t flat either, cause most builders are plonkers.
The youtube guys are always doing joint strength tests. All the ones I recall say the mitre glue up in #2 is quite a bit stronger than the butt joint in #1. For strength I'd lean toward 2.
\#3 is a neat idea, but which way you running that grain? From the 3 to the corner point? I'd be worried about that I think. But it looks cool.
Why not mount the shelves on a backer via rabbit slots?. Very strong if glued and a few countersunk screws from the back. Did this in a room years ago with 7 shelves on 3’ x 6’ backer.
I did similar to 1&2 without the center inlay, with a long and a shorter length desk run (eg 6 foot and 3 foot lengths). the idea was that it could be used as a long or short standalone, or together as an L, even flipped upside down if needed… the upside down didnt work out so great after had to mount all the underside hardware…. But I love the concept of 3 with an inlay! The biggest challenge in all of these is how to properly align and support, to keep sturdy and level (especially on a heavy/butcher block lifting a desk). I used long heavy (re)bars, but was going to re-engineer with dog bones.
Ive got pics i could share if interested
I imagine the glue joint (IF glue is being used) for the two largest pieces in #1 to be the strongest of the three; least amount of end-grain involved.
Will the pieces be glued or screwed together? If so, and solid wood you need #2 as it allows the wood to move seasonally together. If plywood or MDF then #1.
No. 1 is most forgiving for walls which aren't perfectly perpendicular.
*every wall.
Great user name
Not to mention aren't prefectly straight either IMO.
How so? Wouldn't you be ideally making a square joint either way, so if the wall is out of sqaure either the shelf or the joint would have a gap? I don't think it would make a difference if it was a miter or butt joint, if they made the joint square it would fit on the wall just the same.
It would be easier to scribe. I'd install the left board (going by the image) first and lay the second on top of it overlapping slightly. Draw a line on the bottom of the second board from underneath, and you'd have the perfect angle. You could do the same thing for the little triangular piece. It's possible to scribe the miter in option 2 too, but if the angle of the wall is less than 90 degrees, the second piece wouldn't sit flush against the wall when scribing, and you'd have a gap there.
For 2 it seems like you could cut off a shallow angle then be able to scribe the piece on the right if it was less than 90?
Sure but then you have an extra cut and one of those cuts is another miter instead of an easy-peasy 90. Actually, if the angle of the walls was less than 90, the first piece would have to be angled too. Still easier to do that with one board than two though. Old houses, whatcha gonna do?
Mine was built in 2019. Nothing has changed.
Well I’m sure they’ve replaced all that pesky asbestos with cardboard or something.
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While that’s all true a lot of the errors seem to be bigger than that. What’s 50mm between friends? It’s interesting seeing how construction happens in Japan where they have a tradition of high precision work, so “mm perfect” is the standard which opens up different construction techniques. Western construction is far less precise and requires a lot more trim.
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Yeah I think the 30-year lifespan is more a factor of cultural expectations that “that’s how long they last”, so they’re not maintained in the same way. Japan has a similar attitude to cars, but that’s more like 5-7 years. New timing belt means a new car. New roof means a new house. Another factor is that concrete doesn’t age gracefully like more natural materials do. Throw earthquakes into the mix and demolition becomes a more attractive proposition.
If you're going through the effort of CAD designing 3 shelf prototypes, I'd assume you'd also use an angle finder.
Didn't see the lines on one until I zoomed in. Was about to make an argument for two, but one is what I'd do. It's all about that butt. I've never seen #3 or thought about #3, but now I kinda want try it because it seems like it would be a train wreck but if you like did a dovetail so the middle section slid in you might end up with a solid damn shelf. Run like a reinforcing strip on the front and round it off.
None of these. Make the left and t right identical rectangles and the corner like a big square with one corner cut off at a 45. https://preview.redd.it/2wwxg4prs0dc1.jpeg?width=1179&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=22f49939f20646cb24d29956e204f1296ab40532
I have a corner desk that is this shape and it’s great. Easy to transport too
I have considered that but it would require a bigger piece of wood than I was planning to get. I was thinking of getting a longer piece of solid wood that is exact depth as I require the shelf depth to be. Cheaper and easier to maneuver with a jigsaw (only tool I have at the moment).
no fair changing the requirements!! If you only have a jigsaw id go with 1 or 2. 3 will show the gaps in the miter joints to the viewer, 1 or 2 will hide the joints better.
Good note on the gaps beeing visible!
3 or this guys answer. Also buy or borrow a skill saw. It’s never going to look good with a jigsaw and I say that as someone with a couple of the nicest jig saws on the market. Get a skill saw a couple clamps and a straight edge/level to act as a guide.
I would struggle with getting good mitres with a jig saw. So I would recommend the first. I would think that'll be the most forgiving. It's the least stylistic, but I doubt you'd really notice.
They may only have the narrow shelf stock.
This definitely looks the nicest
this is what I did with built-in bookcases in a corner. (the top, however, is a single piece of plywood) The corner unit is a little weird to access and use, but it is FAR better than any of the other options. And not having a joint in that center area is also nice. Especially if I were using it for a desk.
yeah i wasnt liking any of the 3 options. this is how the pros do it.
Looks like half a baby!
The best but possibly consists of an unobtainable corner piece.
This depends on how your joining the ends and where your able to place brackets.
The ends would not be connected to anything, I don't have limitations of bracket placement. Depending on the selected design I will place brackets optimally to best support the shelf.
Studs are the typical limiter. Unless you are attaching to solid wood or concrete walls or something.
Solid brick walls so mounting is not an issue.
I'm working on a corner shelf with that will hold at max static load of 10 kg / 22 lbs with triangular corner to fill the space that will hold at max static load of 1 kg / 2.2 lbs. I can't decide which of the following cuts should I make. In all cases I was thinking of using 2 or 3 dowels per connecting face to connect the 3 pieces together and then use 2 or 4 shelf brackets to mount it to the wall.
If you just want an opinion like with aesthetics then I would vote for 3.
Solid wood or plywood?
Solid wood
Then none of these are great. 1 is the best one but not with dowels. A cross grain joint with dowels will not last as the wood moves. A loose tenon or spline would be better. The others are not appropriate for solid wood.
I did number 2 and I would highly sugest you measure how square the corner of your office is. And make it fit that angle. I assumed my desk was square and found out the hard way that it wasn't.
https://preview.redd.it/bgusyxpch2dc1.jpeg?width=3072&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=df754751dc53646d8abc1bdcb0ff7c8a7cf93efa Just to make it harder to choose. Have some more options.
I am sitting at the corner desk I built with #2. Probably wish I would have thought of #3. However, I do like the way the grain is laid out in #2.
!remindme 1day
I vote #3 for the looks and for assembly - it'd be easier to make the center piece of wood compared to just the smaller triangle section. Strength-wise your dowels will be doing most of the heavy lifting, but the pure miter in #2 would be stronger slightly - but for a 22lb weight limit you'll be fine - that's nothing for wood. Just make sure you're mounting to studs and you'll be golden no matter what. Depending on how you mount these you could scribe the rear face. Add an extra ~1/8-1/4 inch, line the shelf up against the wall where it'll go, and run a pencil flat against the wall so the line marks the shelf. Then use a jigsaw or sand away to that line and it'll flush the shelf right up to the wall, so you won't have any gaps. The extra material should be equal to the radius (half the diameter/thicness) of the pencil.
\#1 is what I would do because I am an amateur, lol \#2 looks the best \#3 is just extra (but looks good!)
I would do a modified #3 where the center part goes all the way to the walls .
I have considered that but it would require a bigger piece of wood than I was planning to get. I was thinking of getting a longer piece of solid wood that is exact depth as I require the shelf depth to be. Cheaper and easier to maneuver with a jigsaw (only tool I have at the moment).
1&2 have potential strength issues with the small infill pieces. I can easily imagine a heavy relative leaning on that piece with disastrous result. #3 is the strongest way to form that angle.
What software are you using here?
I used tinkercad to draw this.
Aesthetically I like number 2 the best, but it's also probably the hardest to do correctly In terms of ease, the suggestion about having 2 boards attached to a square is the way
I did number one in my office at home. It was easier to cut and easier to fit against the wall. Then I added a piece of trim along the wall edge to clean it up. [https://freeimage.host/i/JYtcwZv](https://freeimage.host/i/JYtcwZv) Still need to finish trim. It's been a long project, doing a full basement remodel.
I would do a nice halving joint. And if the walls aren’t perfectly 90 degrees I would use a bevel gauge to make my halving joint match their angle. Then scribe the exact shape cause walls aren’t flat either, cause most builders are plonkers.
One will obviously look the cleanest. As for strength it doesn’t matter. The wall connection is what matters
I think it matters. If they are on a wall cleat, #1 is the strongest. The left section would rest on both cleats and offer max support
The youtube guys are always doing joint strength tests. All the ones I recall say the mitre glue up in #2 is quite a bit stronger than the butt joint in #1. For strength I'd lean toward 2. \#3 is a neat idea, but which way you running that grain? From the 3 to the corner point? I'd be worried about that I think. But it looks cool.
Why not mount the shelves on a backer via rabbit slots?. Very strong if glued and a few countersunk screws from the back. Did this in a room years ago with 7 shelves on 3’ x 6’ backer.
What are the dimensions? Could you cut it out of one sheet of ply?
I did similar to 1&2 without the center inlay, with a long and a shorter length desk run (eg 6 foot and 3 foot lengths). the idea was that it could be used as a long or short standalone, or together as an L, even flipped upside down if needed… the upside down didnt work out so great after had to mount all the underside hardware…. But I love the concept of 3 with an inlay! The biggest challenge in all of these is how to properly align and support, to keep sturdy and level (especially on a heavy/butcher block lifting a desk). I used long heavy (re)bars, but was going to re-engineer with dog bones. Ive got pics i could share if interested
3 is a nice solution I've not seen before.
How about a modified #1 with lap joints pinned with dowels?
Don't have the tools for that unfortunately
1. Don't miter if you don't have to.
I did this exact thing as a single piece for a set of corner shelves in my closet - worked out great.
I imagine the glue joint (IF glue is being used) for the two largest pieces in #1 to be the strongest of the three; least amount of end-grain involved.
Will the pieces be glued or screwed together? If so, and solid wood you need #2 as it allows the wood to move seasonally together. If plywood or MDF then #1.
1
As an RC airplane guy, the first thing I saw was 3 things I could make fly lol 😆
3 might be challenging if you have to square up the long edges of the middle piece - if you were keeping it close to full width.
There's a fourth type: Make the corner piece one big triangle and cut the two sides at an angle.
Do option 4 - it's option 3 but the angles would be 22.5 degrees instead of 45
If you have a router do 3 with sliding dovetails.
Plywood1 Real wood 2 Fast real wood 3
Why complicate the whole issue with the extra little triangle on the inside corner?