I did search on pantries, pretty clear lots and lots of us get roped into building kitchen cabinets with doors on them, then shelves on drawer runners with lots of weight (canned goods) on the sliding shelves. Which is fine, but not my current project.

The wife and I are getting into canning this summer. I am sure someone here has felt the pain I am feeling, this thing has taken on a life of its own. I got to find a place for all these canning jars, and it feels like we are just getting started. We have been paying almost $2 each for new canning jars, then some used canning jars were found at a yard sale for 50 cents each and you know how that ended.

I have been to the sagulator. If I build shelves 15" deep x 24" wide from 3/4 (actual) poplar, and then load them up with 30# per running foot my sag is 0.003" over the 24" run, with 0.02" considered acceptable. So good there. I could use birch, the local stuff is cheaper per board foot, but it is almost all milled to 8/4. By the time I get it resawn I might as well just buy 4/4 poplar up front.

I am a little concerned about how tall I can go with something like this before I have to tie it to the wall. Pic is 12 dozen canning jars stacked in front of the washing machine, with the propane burners on top of them. I am supposed to install an earthquake strap on my water heater per local code, so my thinking is it will be prudent to tie a shelving unit like this to the wall either already or before it gets any taller. I would prefer to build these as free standing units, then attach them to the walls, and take them with us when we downsize from the house.

I am open to any and all pointers here. This is (these are) going in the garage and doesn't (don't) need doors on the front. It should not look like a dog's breakfast, but I don't need to use figured hardwood. I am planning to track the "Boarded Book Case" from CS's "Anarchist Design Book" for the first one with fixed shelf spacing for pint and half pint jars, and limit the height to about 40 inches. I have a lifetime supply of old timey nails, so no added expense there. Also, since it is just the wife and I at home we are planning to process pints and half pints only - we don't have any kids home to need anything we can think of processed in quart jars.

I am fairly confident I will someday be making wooden tray boxes with dividers in them to manage canning jars by the dozen as the factory cardboard gets worn out.

Thanks

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