Shelf ledgers

[Ted Friesen]

The answer may be obvious to you seasoned woodworkers, but why cut a dado in the lower stretchers and rails to install a ledger to support the lower shelf.  Would it not be less work and perhaps even stronger to cut a rabbit in the stretchers and rails instead?

 

Ted

[Eric.]

I see no reason why you couldn't use rabbets instead, but I also see no reason to deviate from the plans.  Any strength that might be gained would be completely unnecessary, as the ledgers provide enough strength that you could stack a pile of bricks on the shelf without fear of it giving in.  And the time savings would be minimal...cutting some strips and gluing them in takes all of about ten minutes.

 

If you go rabbets instead of ledgers, I'd still be sure to cut them deep enough so that the shelf boards lay about a quarter inch recessed in the rails so that things won't slide off  the shelf.  Also you may need to slightly modify the deadman runner if your rabbets are any wider than about 1/8"...by modify I mean you'd have to rip off the inside edge a little bit to flush it with the inside of the rabbet, but I don't think it would have any functional effect.

 

Jameel put a lot of thought and trial and error into the BC Roubo plans...there were times that I was struck with the urge to deviate from the plans for one reason or another, but whenever I looked deeper into what impact those changes would have, there was always some other element of the design that would be effected.  So ultimately I just followed the plans exactly as they were, and I've not had any regret about it.

[Ted Friesen]

Thanks for the reply Eric.  I appreciate the advice, unfortunately it's way too late to tell me to stick to the plans.  Like the Pirates of the Caribbean, I thought of the plans as more of a guideline.

 

Ted