Thomas Pender
06-30-2021, 3:42 PM
I have a friend who is important to me who asked me to build a hutch for his daughter for her college desk. It would be 28” high or so and about 38” wide with a couple of shelves spanning the 38”. (The sides will be 14” wide.). I usually do not do stuff like this without a proven design, but this time I intend to wing it a bit.
I intend to use 13 ply 23/32”. furniture grade red oak plywood from Northland Forest Products. The stuff is really heavy, finished on both sides, and quite stiff. (It also looks great.). I will cut the sheet lengthwise on my Sawstop PCS (3hp) 14.25” wide, then recut to 28” and have enough left over for one shelf. I will then must another strip 14” wide with enough for two more shelves. I intend to span the gap by cutting a 3/8” dado on the interior of both sides to accept the shelves and glue them and clamp them. (I will also put 1/4 oak ply on the back with a small rabbit cut on the sides and top to accept it.) I will then stain and lacquer it with EM 6000, my go to for almost everything because it works great.
My main concern is whether the shelves can hold the weight an unthinking 18 year old may place on them. I know I can put in center supports with the one on the bottom resting on the desk like the sides with two more, but I think that would mess up the desk space.
So, am I overthinking this? Any suggestions on how to make the shelves stiffer? Could pocket screws be as strong as the dados?? Any other thoughts? BTW, I thought about just making it out of red oak, but I do not think it would be any stiffer over 38”.
I intend to use 13 ply 23/32”. furniture grade red oak plywood from Northland Forest Products. The stuff is really heavy, finished on both sides, and quite stiff. (It also looks great.). I will cut the sheet lengthwise on my Sawstop PCS (3hp) 14.25” wide, then recut to 28” and have enough left over for one shelf. I will then must another strip 14” wide with enough for two more shelves. I intend to span the gap by cutting a 3/8” dado on the interior of both sides to accept the shelves and glue them and clamp them. (I will also put 1/4 oak ply on the back with a small rabbit cut on the sides and top to accept it.) I will then stain and lacquer it with EM 6000, my go to for almost everything because it works great.
My main concern is whether the shelves can hold the weight an unthinking 18 year old may place on them. I know I can put in center supports with the one on the bottom resting on the desk like the sides with two more, but I think that would mess up the desk space.
So, am I overthinking this? Any suggestions on how to make the shelves stiffer? Could pocket screws be as strong as the dados?? Any other thoughts? BTW, I thought about just making it out of red oak, but I do not think it would be any stiffer over 38”.