Hanging Shelves

A modification to Bruce Winterbon’s design found in Popular Woodworking #223, resulted in this hanging shelf design. Based on a hyperparabolic shape, Cypress shelves were enlarged by 4 inches in length to accommodate an easier attachment of the supporting French Cleat to the wall studs. The vertical Ash support uses 2.5 inch finish screws through each cleat to provide the critical structural support. This vertical “bow string” anchors a laminated “bow” made from two 0.25 inch lamination of mahogany around a 0.25 Red Oak core lamination. Each shelf attaches to the bow with a hand-hewn copper nail. Not designed to hold heavy objects like books, it is a nook for displaying l’object d’art.

Experimenting with the design lead to a single shelf design. A Black Walnut board with straight from the sawmill surfaces was the obvious choice to showcase the ideal.