Plan

Melting Display Shelves

By Nick Engler
Copyright © 2021 Bookworks, Inc.

S ometime ago, back when woodworkers were just beginning to trade in their old stone
tools for the newer bronze stuff, I started Hands On! magazine. And in the very first issue,
there was an article on making “compound” cuts on the band saw in which I explained old but
little-known trick.
Cut a curve – any curve – down the length of some square stock. Put the pieces back
together to re-form the square, turn them 90 degrees, and cut a curve – any curve – in a
second face. You should now have four pieces. Revolve each piece so what was its outside
corner now faces inside. Join them together with glue. The joined pieces will form a unique
shape that curves through three dimensions. Something like the legs you see on these
display shelves pictured above.

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 Melting Display Shelves
It’s a great trick, but it’s a little hard to
envision a practical use for it. How would
you ever incorporate these odd shapes into
a project? Joinery would be extremely
difficult once you’ve glued the pieces
together, there would be no flat surface to
use as a reference for making an accurate
rabbet, dado, or mortise.
I decided to give it some thought, and forty-
two years later I tripped over the answer.
Instead of cutting the joinery after making
the shape, do it beforehand while you’ve
still got flat surfaces and square corners!
Duh…
One of the results of this insight is these
display shelves. The shape of the legs is a
wave form. As you go from the top to the
bottom, each wave gets shorter than the
last. At the same time, the waves get
bigger. The amplitude increases and the
wavelength decreases. The result is a leg
that looks like it’s melting as it slowly
collapses into the ground.
Top and apron,
shelf spacing coincides
with waves.
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Before you begin…
The opening photo shows two sets of
display shelves. One is just legs and
shelves – as simple as it gets. The other
set has a top and an arched apron. It’s as
easy to build as the simple set, but the top
gives it a classic look.
There is also a difference in the way the
shelves are spaced. The simple shelves
are spaced traditionally – the spacing is
greatest at the bottom and decreases with
each shelf above it. Designers do this to
give a shelving unit more perceived weight
at the base and make it appear more
stable. But on this project, it may be more
interesting to align the shelves with the
waves. This reinforces the perception that
the legs are melting. And that’s what I’ve
done on the second set.
So you have some choices to make. Apron
and top or none at all? Traditional shelf
spacing or the alternate? I’ve provided the
measurements for all these possibilities.
No top or apron,
traditional spacing.
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1. Cut the curves.

Joint and plane the leg stock so it’s
perfectly square. Also check that your band
saw table is square to the blade.
Squareness is very important in this
operation; otherwise the parts of the legs
may not go back together properly.

An Aside: I’m often asked if the stock has

to be square for this technique to work. No,
it doesn’t – rectangular stock will work as
well. But the corners must be square. I’m
also asked if the cuts have to be
symmetrical. That is, do you have to cut
the same curves on both faces? No, you
don’t. The cuts can be as different as night
and day. It just so happens that I’ve made
them symmetrical on this particular project.

Print out a leg pattern, stick it to a scrap of

thin plywood with spray adhesive, and cut
it on the band saw to make a template. The
patterns, by the way, are meant to be
printed out on standard A4 (letter size)
paper, cut out, and assembled so the
pieces overlap at the blue lines. Their
actual size may vary slightly depending on
your printer. To compensate for this, I cut
my plywood to precisely the length I want,
and then fudge the positions of the paper
pieces so they fit the plywood. If you’re
thoroughly old school, you can enlarge the
pattern from the grid on the drawings.
Use the plywood template to mark two
faces of each leg. Cut one face and tape
the parts back together. Turn the stock so
the other marked face is up and cut it
again.

2. Turn the part to create the shape.

Turn each part 180 degrees so the outside
corners contact each other. It helps to
number the outside corners 1 through 4,
and then rotate the parts so the numbers
come together. This will form the shape.
Step 1 Step 2

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3. Cut the inside corner part into several

pieces.
Decide which way you want the leg to face
– this will determine which part will form
the inside corner. Mark that part where you
want the square notches (blind dadoes, to
use the technical term) that will hold the
corners of the shelves and the apron (if
you intend to make an apron).
Cut this part at the marks. Remember to
cut so the kerf is inside (on the notch side
of) the mark. It helps to mark each notch
with an “X” before you cut so there’s no
guesswork about where to put the kerf.
Discard the waste pieces.

4. Glue the leg parts together.

Glue and clamp the parts of the leg
together. I found wooden hand screw
clamps worked best for this operation.
Spring clamps also work well, provided the
springs are strong enough. If you have
neither, cut curved wooden cauls to
prevent the metal jaws of your C-clamps or
bar clamps from biting into the leg parts.

Tip: To help position the inside corner

parts, cut wooden spacers the same
thickness as the notches you want to
create. Use these as place holders during
the glue-up process. Thoroughly wax the
spacers so the glue won’t stick to them.

Repeat steps 1 through 4 for the three

remaining legs.

5. Cut the shelves.

Cut the shelves needed and plane them to
fit the notches. Bear in mind that these
shelves are unsupported, except for the
notches in the legs. Keep them short so
they don’t sag. If they’re 1/2” (13 mm)
thick) as shown in the plans, make them no
more than 20” (51 cm) long. For 3/4” (19 Step 3 Step 4
mm) shelves, keep them to 30” (76 cm).

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 Melting Display Shelves
Tip: The shelves are also unsupported
across their width, and this makes them
susceptible to cupping over time. To
prevent this, use quartersawn stock for the
shelves if you can – this is much more
stable. If this stock is unavailable, consider
fitting the shelves with breadboard ends,
as I did on the shelving unit with an apron
and top. Breadboards are narrow pieces in
which the grain runs perpendicular to the
longer board. Cut grooves in the adjoining
edges of the breadboards and tongues in
the shelving to fit them. Only glue the
breadboards along 3” (7 cm) at the middle
of each shelf so as to let the shelves
expand and contract. You may wish to
reinforce this joint with dowels.
6. Cut the aprons.
Cut the apron boards to size and miter the
ends. Also cut narrow grooves on the
inside surfaces of the aprons near the top
edges to accommodate the clips that will
hold the table top in place. Using the band
saw, create arches in the bottom edges of
the aprons.
Glue the apron pieces together to create a
frame, making sure it’s perfectly square.
7. Cut the top and round over the edges.
If necessary, glue up board edge to edge
to make the wide stock needed for the top.
Cut the top to size, then round the corners.
Also, round over the edges. I cut a 1/2” (13
mm) roundover along the top edge and a
1/4” (6 mm) roundover along the bottom.
This creates a “thumbnail” edge.
9. Finish sand the legs, shelves, apron
parts, and top.
Finish sand the legs, shelves, apron, and
top before you assemble them. These
parts and assemblies will be much easier
to sand while they’re not attached to one
another.
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Page 5
Elongate outboard
dowel holes in
tongue to allow for
wood movement.
Fasten breadboards
to shelves with dowels.
Glue outboard dowels in
breadboard by wiping insides
of holes with glue, but be careful
not to get glue in elongated holes
in tongue.
10. Assemble the legs, shelves and
apron.
Join the shelves to the legs by gluing them
in the notches. I found it easiest to insert
the shelves into two of the legs, add the
remaining to legs to the assembly, then
squeeze the parts together with band
clamps. Immediately after clamping,
thoroughly clean the area around the
notches with a sopping wet rag to remove
any glue squeeze-out.
Let the glue set up, then repeat this
process for the apron, gluing the apron in
the notches at the tops of the legs.
11. Finish the shelves and top.
Do any necessary touch up sanding and
apply a finish to the completed assemblies
– the shelves and the top. Rub out the
finish to the desired gloss.
12. Attach the top.
Attach the top to the shelving assembly
with table clips. Screw these Z-shaped
clips to the underside of the top, fitting the
flanges in the grooves in the apron
assembly.
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Shelves with legs only:

Full-Size Patterns – 1 square = 1/2” (13 mm)

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Shelves with legs, apron, and top:

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Once more, in metric…

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Full-Size Leg Pattern…

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Bonus! Full-Size Cabiriole Leg Pattern…

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Bonus! Full-Size Cyma Leg Pattern…

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