A little carpentry never hurt anyone.

The wife wanted a shelf on the counter top for spices and such. And while I was at it could I remove the Lousy Susans and put a shelf there too?

Sure! Why not. Doesn’t have to be fancy and doesn’t have to impress anybody. I can do that.

Problem number 1 (Lot’s more where they came from)

Problem number 2 (stuff always falling off and jamming the carousels)

 

Always good to have a plan. Grid Paper
Not that I’ll use it much.

I’ve got my dimensions and have a solution. Time to get wood and go to PaxSpace!

 

I purchase some cheap pine at Lowe’s. Could have bought red oak, which would match the cabinets, but at $50+ per board? No thanks. Could have sawn some red oak in the back 40, but would have to wait 6 months or more for it to dry. Wife won’t wait that long. So, cheap pine it is.

I got my first pieces cut. Jim Shelton (former President of PaxSpace) walked over and asked perplexed “You cut that with a hand saw?” (notice the table saw in the background?)

Yes, Jim I did. Why? Because I can! It helps to keep rust from building up on my trusty Craftsman handsaw.

 

So I don’t forget. It helps to know this.

I made my marks for my dado to give a little more strength to the shelf.

 

 

I was going to hand saw and chisel the dado, but I forgot my chisel. I’m on a tight time frame here! (not really) So, adjust the table saw to correct depth. 1/4″ looks about right.

 

A bunch of passes over the saw blade yielded this.

And then this.

 

My first shelf built.

 

So the next shelf needed two short legs.
I cheated and used the 12″ band saw to cut the legs (because I can)
and I’ll hand saw for the final big length cut.

 

  I have a set of drill/countersink bits for several size wood screws. Of course when I want to countersink the holes to do this project I couldn’t find the right one . While I was at Lowe’s I was going to buy another bit or even a kit like last time. I have at least 5 of everything (no, really), but am lucky to find one when I need it. Lo and behold Lowe’s didn’t have any! BUT, they did have a nice HSS(High Speed Steel) counter sink set !

These are designed for counter sinking into metal.
I have a lathe. I have a mill.
I could put these to good use down the road. And I can use them for wood too!

 

Second shelf done.

From the time the wife said “I want” to the time I took them home from PaxSpace: less than 3 hours.

 

Wife cleaned out the cabinet and I removed the Lousy Susans and it’s ready for the shelf.

 

First shelf set on the counter. Wife likes it, but could I recess it back further? Forgot about the granite back splash.

 

Back to PaxSpace (because I can). Mark once.

I cut once. Let’s hope it’s right.

 

Don’t forget to clean up! Housekeeping. It’s not just for maids any more.

 

Back to the house I go and…

 

That looks better.

     And that makes her happy as well. Then we can all be happy!

Now about those bird houses the kids wanted to make…