I built this shelf many years ago with my Grandpa. He and I built it in his basement workshop when I was about 12 years old. I don’t remember the exact year but it was around that time. We used his radial arm saw to cut the dadoes for the shelves. We never put any finish on it. I used this little shelf for many years after that. For the last 15 years or more, it has been sitting in storage and I thought it was time to bring it out.
I am going to pass this on to my daughter so it needs a facelift. The first thing was to sand it all down and get it cleaned up. Then I had to repair a crack in one of the handles. This was an easy repair. I just squished some glue in the crack and clamped it up. A little final sanding and it was ready for some finish. I used Danish Oil for the finish as it is easy to apply and easy to maintain.
I like how it still retained the old look of the shelf and all the dents and dings that I put on it while growing up. I hope it continues to get used as much by my daughter as I used it as a kid.
You can check out a video of this project by clicking the link below.
