Determining appropriate design for a ladder shelf

[Jim Becker]

For me, joinery first with "non curved" material and then trim to the concour. I think I'd embrace pattern routing to clean up after roughing to shape with a bandsaw and/or jig saw and then round/chamfer the edges to suit preferences. Good point about your daughter potentially moving for frequently for awhile. The "four post" design will be a lot more flexible for that.

[Michael Jasper]

For me, joinery first with "non curved" material and then trim to the concour. I think I'd embrace pattern routing to clean up after roughing to shape with a bandsaw and/or jig saw and then round/chamfer the edges to suit preferences. Good point about your daughter potentially moving for frequently for awhile. The "four post" design will be a lot more flexible for that.

Hi Jim -
Not sure I followed that - are you suggesting to create the top part as a straight horizontal section, join it to the vertical and then contour it? Or to cut out a contoured section on bandsaw, smooth with router, and then join to the verticals? I think the latter is probably what you meant.

By the way, is there any good way to create a joint that would allow easy breakdown for moving without using Ikea style hardware? Would a mortise/tenon that is not glued be reasonable, or is that not really stable enough? It's probably hard to see on that photo I posted, but it looked like they might have done something like that for shipping (of course, that was a commercial one that was shipped unassembled). I was thinking if I could allow it to be separated into sections along the verticals, it would be easier to put into a car.

Thanks!
Michael

[Jim Becker]

I would build each side as a unit and then do the shaping of the curved parts at the top...the rail would have to be oversize. Then remove excess "proud of the line", clean up and do edge treatments. Alternatively, do the same but not glue it up so the parts could be shaped close before final assembly, cleanup and edge treatment. To make this knock-down, I'd likely handle it via the connections between the sides and the shelves. There are quite a few ways to do that, ranging from stopped sliding dovetails to fancy knock-down hardware methods. I would not make the sides break down, however. Any mechanical fasteners can be largely hidden with careful design and coloration.

[Mike Ontko]

Michael, I'm just offering another possible design suggestion. I'm currently building (for my daughter) a Mid-Century style bookcase based on the photo below. When finished the general dimensions are approximately 71" h x 38" w x 14" d.

mcmBookcase.jpg sketchupDiag_mcmBookcase.JPG

[Michael Jasper]

Thanks Mike! Nice sketch and design. What do you use for the sketches, by the way?

[Charles P. Wright]

I made this one and a matching vanity for our bathroom. As Jim pointed out, the back legs are forward to avoid the baseboard. I did not do any complex joinery, I just put screws into the sides of the shelves, which are not visible unless you turn over on your back and look up. They are edged with 1x2, but the middle is just 3/4" plywood, so it is a convenient place to hide the screws. If you use glue instead of making it disassemble, I think floating tenons would be a pretty easy way to do it.

[Mike Ontko]

Thanks Mike! Nice sketch and design. What do you use for the sketches, by the way?

Sorry for the slow follow-up, I'm out of the daily habit of checking for updates in SMC :/

The image I'd included on the left came from the original image photos that I found through Pinterest. The image on the right is what I drew using SketchUp, so I could figure out some of the dimensions and angles for the side frames. I'd be happy to send the file if you're interested.