Woodworking Tips Index

Drying Rack for Shelves Adjustable shelves can be a pain to finish. Since the top and bottom faces have to be finished separately, they can take twice as long to finish as any other part of a project. But here's a drying rack that lets you hang the shelves vertically so the entire shelf can be finished in one shot. Best of all, it only takes a few minutes to build. To make the rack, start by drilling a series of 1/2"-dia. holes about four inches apart down the center of a scrap, as shown in detail 'a' at right. (I used a piece of 2x4 stock.) Then rip the board in two, cutting right through the holes.

By tacking a cross brace at the top of the rails, you end up with a rack for holding the shelves, see drawing. Shop Note: The length of the cross rails is determined by the width of the shelves. Now to make it easy to hang the shelves, partially drive a small nail or screw into the sides of each shelf near the back. With the rack leaning against a wall, you can finish and hang several shelves at the same time without taking up a lot of space.