# Basic shoe rack



## mikeintexas (Oct 25, 2011)

I'm a bit embarassed to put this in "Project Showcase" since it's dog-simple compared to the wooden awesomeness that gets posted here. But a few of you helped me out with construction suggestions and I said I'd post a thread of the finished project; I'm a man of my word, so here it is. 

A buddy with three left thumbs (love the guy!) asked me to build him, er, his wife a simple shoe rack so that she could get her shoes out of the pile in the corner of the closet and off the floor. He drew up what he wanted on a napkin and I just went with it.

The construction is total overkill for a shoe rack. 19/32" BC plywood (a little less than 5/8" thick) with dadoes for all the shelves. The dadoes are 1/8" deep, done on the TS. Shelves and dividers are dadoed in and glued. No nails or screws. The sides are screwed on with 1.5" wood screws. The back is pegboard to allow for some ventilation. I just went to town with the brad nailer to put the back on. The thing probably weighs 50 pounds and is bombproof. I forget the exact dimensions, but each cubby measures 10" x 7". I had not planned on feet, but realizing that the rug in my buddy's closet is pretty thick and the bottoms of the lowest cubbies would sort of be buried in the carpet, I added the feet and made the side panels longer to raise all the cubbies up a bit. I had a leftover scrap of oak that I used as a "beauty strip" across the bottom to hide the feet (2x4's). You can't see the feet now that it's in place in his closet.

Buddy didn't want it painted or varnished, so that cut total construction time by 75%. I hate the finishing part, so it worked out for me. He bought the wood. My payment was a bottle of my favorite libation. :yes:

Figuring out how to keep all the dadoes aligned was a brain buster for me, as I'm a noob. Got help with that from you guys. The top/bottom/shelves were all made in pairs from one larger piece of wood. Say I needed each shelf to be 40"x12". I cut a 40"x25" piece, cut the dadoes on the TS and THEN cut that piece into two 40"x12" pieces with a tiny bit of scrap for margin of error/just in case. Worked like a charm.

Pics or no shoerack, right?


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## cabinetman (Jul 5, 2007)

That came out great. Planned out nicely. So, is your buddy happy?









 







.


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## Rashed (Oct 15, 2012)

Good job, it dosent matter how simple it is, its wood and talking , thanks for sharing.


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## mikeintexas (Oct 25, 2011)

Thanks guys. Buddy is very happy as is Mrs. Buddy. He also wants me to build him a side table for when he has poker night at his house...needs a place for beers/chips. My table building skills are sorta limited to 2x4's and plywood...but I'm learning as I go!


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## shopman (Feb 14, 2013)

Although the project seems simple you are utilizing measuring and construction techniques that carry over into all types and level of projects. be proud of what you made. you did it yourself and did a good job.:thumbsup:


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## mikeintexas (Oct 25, 2011)

Thanks for the kind words, shopman. I am proud of how this turned out. For the first minute after completing it, I was more shocked that it turned out right than proud. LOL!

I am hoping to tackle some much more detailed projects in the very near future. Like small keepsake/jewlery box for Mrs. Mike. What really intimidates me is the finishing part. I can slap a coat of paint on something as good as the next trained monkey, but all that sanding b/t coats with different grits and in different directions etc just goes right over my head. :help:


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## rayking49 (Nov 6, 2011)

Very nice job!


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## Midwest Millworks (Nov 20, 2012)

Looks good Mike. A customer saying they are happy is one thing. That same customer asking you to build something else is at another level. When somebody wants you to do more work, there is no doubt they were happy with the last job. 

It's always good to get experience on somebody else's dime too.

Each time you do something your confidence level will increase. Before you know it, you will be building things you would have never imagined.

This is how it all starts. Be careful. LOL.

Mike Darr


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## RogerInColorado (Jan 16, 2013)

Very nice, Mike. Joints obviously fit perfectly and therefore will stay strong. Tough to build something like this with this many joints and have it be square and not zig-zag. You can be proud of it.


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## LearnByDoing (Jan 18, 2012)

Sweet, I like it. Nice job. I need to build one of those for my wife.


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## mikeintexas (Oct 25, 2011)

@Mike Darr: Yep, I've already got another two projects on the burner. How I wish my shop was bigger! Then I could store wood and possibly not have to roll my machines in/out of the way each time I want to use something.

@Roger: Yessir, it worked out well, thanks to your suggestion on how to make the dadoes line up! :yes: Thanks again! I've got a lot more confidence in my building techniques now...though I still can't sand/finish for squat. I'm currently working on some PA speakers that require compound miter cuts and that's a whole new ball of wax for me. They'll get a rolled-on coat of Duratex, so my Cromagnon Man finishing techniques won't come into play, thankfully.


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## mikeintexas (Oct 25, 2011)

LearnByDoing said:


> Sweet, I like it. Nice job. I need to build one of those for my wife.


There's probably 10 different ways to build this thing, but the way I did it is probably the most foolproof way (very good for a fool like me).

Make the top/bottom shelves all the same width. 

Cut the dadoes for the dividers with either a TS or a router with an edge guide/guideboard as I described in the last paragraph on my original post. 

Make sure the dadoes fit tightly. When I built my stack dado for a 19/32" cut, it was too loose. IIRC, I removed a .020 shim and then it was snug. Make test cuts in scrap first.

Cut all top/bottom/shelves at the same time without moving the TS fence. That way they are all the same width. Same for the dividers. I used a stop block on my TS sled for this. Stop block on a radial arm saw would work too.

I glued the bottom, first level of dividers and first shelf, clamped that and let it sit for a few hours. Repeat until all shelves are built. Assuming you were careful in glue up/aligning/clamping, there's almost no way it cannot be straight. Dadoes are level/flat-bottomed. Dividers are all exactly the same size b/c you used a stop block. It's gotta be level.

Because the top/bottom/shelves are all the same width and the assembly is square, the sides should just screw/nail right on. I used two, 1.5" woodscrews per shelf/top/bottom. I wanted to dado the shelves into the sides but decided that it was strong enough as is. If this was going to be used to hold boxes of screws/metal parts, I'd have done that.

The back adds a lot of torsional rigidity. Once the back is on it's never going anywhere.

Hope this helps! This thing probably took me 12 hours total time to build. I could do another one in half that now. :yes:


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## gus1962 (Jan 9, 2013)

You are good and your project is really nice! Smashing good job! That's very functional.


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## Chaincarver Steve (Jul 30, 2011)

Mike, don't be embarrassed to post ANY of your work here. Even the members who specialize in fantastic works of woodworking perfection and master-hood don't make only furniture grade projects. Some things are made for their utility usefulness. I think it came out just fine :thumbsup:

My wife is in want/need of a large shoe rack. I'm still looking for ideas and designs that will work for her needs.


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## mikeintexas (Oct 25, 2011)

Thanks, CS. Someday I want to be able to do furniture-grade projects and realize I've gotta start somewhere. I'm already a master at bolting large pieces of wood together that don't necessarily have to look good. So I guess I'm making progress. LOL!

Luckily, my buddy and his wife are utilitarian people and are quite happy with their storage bin shelf unit...er, shoe rack. Because that's pretty much my level of woodworking skill ATM. Addtionally, I am horrible with finishing. Paint/stain/sanding b/t coats...I'm all thumbs with that.

My wife would love a custom shoe rack...but MY WIFE...she wants the rack made of alternating-height dowels that that the heels delicately rest on and different heights b/t levels for short, medium and high heels AND the dowels different colors to aid in shoe-sorting and selection AND and heights interchangable AND "Oh! I got a splinter...make it more smooth and soft!"...and now you know why I specialize in plywood-garage-bench-quality-construction. :ninja:


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## ddreese (Aug 16, 2012)

Looks great. I wouldn't have thought to cut the dados for the shelves like that. I will have to remember that for in the future.


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## MagGeorge (Jul 5, 2012)

A great looking and sturdy shoe rack! Like the great build and joinery. A great project to be proud of.


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## EWerner (Oct 14, 2010)

I like how all the joints are nice and tight so you must of done some test fitting before cutting all gazillion dados. Nice job. Is twenty cubbies enough?:smile: My wife would need two of those.

Eric


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## sanchez (Feb 18, 2010)

Looks good, nice project. The fact that it is nice and square with all those joints means you're doing something right!


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## mikeintexas (Oct 25, 2011)

EWerner said:


> I like how all the joints are nice and tight so you must of done some test fitting before cutting all gazillion dados. Nice job. Is twenty cubbies enough?:smile: My wife would need two of those.
> 
> Eric


Ironically, my buddy emailed me today and asked me to build another one. Seriously. LOL! The next build will be done in half the time this took, now that I have half a clue of what I'm doing.


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## mikeintexas (Oct 25, 2011)

ddreese said:


> Looks great. I wouldn't have thought to cut the dados for the shelves like that. I will have to remember that for in the future.


I didn't either. Credit goes to RogerInColorado for that one. :thumbsup: It works VERY well.


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## <*(((>< (Feb 24, 2010)

Nice work Mike, add 4 legs some trim and crown and you just built what I built, that you had commented on. 

Should have made two of those :laughing:

I'm sure your buddies wife will be self conscious about her smelly feet around you with the breathing holes you put in that rack :laughing:

I'm sure your buddies wife will love it, very functional


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## BZawat (Sep 21, 2012)

That came out great! You built it exactly how I would have. Was going to toss my 2 cents in on your other thread but Roger said all that needed said. A job well done! Keep em coming


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## kjhart0133 (Feb 4, 2009)

Very nicely done. I'd suggest, if you haven't done so already, adding a 'shim' or some appropriately dimensioned piece(s) under the bottom shelf to prevent sagging over time, which it will definitely do if not supported.

Kevin H.


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## Smith Brother (Dec 9, 2012)

Looks like it will hold 60-80 pairs, or more, maybe a purse or two, or three, or a zillion. LOL It's a GIRL THING...... 

Nothing wrong with building/sharing a basic build. Nice job.

Dale in Indy


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## rayking49 (Nov 6, 2011)

shopman said:


> Although the project seems simple you are utilizing measuring and construction techniques that carry over into all types and level of projects. be proud of what you made. you did it yourself and did a good job.:thumbsup:


+1 to this, and as I said it looks great.


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