It’s good to remind oneself how much longer maple is to saw, chisel, plane and how easily it splits. On the plus side when you get it right it is hard (durable) and strong. Also has some weight to it.
This project was more about the design to make it useful. A shoe/boot rack for the entrance closet.
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Sawing a tenon, straight and square, must be the new glasses!
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Low flex maple means you can saw ‘off the bench’ at 13 degrees. Got to use my Lee Valley large shoulder plane, one of my favourite tools.
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Eight tenons later, two ends joined with 30 ft of planed 4 sides strips. The position of the strips keeps the spacing consistent for the lower three rows. Shouldered tenons for the strips was not an option!
Instead slots were used and the ends fitted to be snug. They were then locked with oak dowel.
The bottom row has shoe supports to keep the sole off the floor if it is wet.
The ‘shelf’ at the back is near the wall and stores taller boots, making them reachable and using the otherwise dead space. Lower two racks height is 5”, upper racks 4”. My feet are much larger than my wife’s. Depth spacing is 11” for lower and 10” upper.
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Yes the wood looks anemic! However I’m resisting a stain as it will wear and eventually rub the stain off requiring major work to fix. Occasional re-varnishing is all that is required. It also makes it visible in the dark closet.
A few coats of varnish will moderate the anemia, will post a pic when I get that done.
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