I had wanted to get another wall cabinet to mount to the left of my window above the lathe, but I couldn't find a matching cabinet for one thing, and for another- I did think that it might feel a bit too cramped with a wall cabinet up there. That made me think about why I put the cabinet up in the first place. I had hoped that it would be a good place to store the books/magazines I've collected on machining, but the cabinet is just a bit too small for this. Naturally, that made me consider some shelves for the left side of the window. I wanted something industrial feeling to match the theme of the room- but I also wanted it kind of raw- like a guy turned some pallets into shelves one day, you know?
A buddy of mine happened to have some 1" thick rough sawn ash that he donated to my project. The board started out at 13" wide, and I did want to use the depth of shelf but reality hit and it was just too big for the small room. I made the lower brackets 10" deep and the upper brackets 9" deep. I thought the slight smaller shelf on the top would allow more light down to the bench.
The brackets were made out of 2" wide 1/4" flat steel stock. This is a design I spotted online for big money and decided to make myself. My steel supply can cut to exact length, and even has a brake. They were able to put the hook in the end for me for a nominal fee (a worthwhile cost as there's no way I could have bent the 1/4" steel at home).
The brackets were welded up on my new Harbor Freight welding table. Sure, it's no beefy 1" thick steel plate table top, but it's far better than the plywood table I've been using. It made the project much easier.
Unfortunately, the shelves did kind of darken this corner of the room, but I think I have a plan. I can put another overhead light on the second truss in from the wall, which will land the light just in front of the drill press. That should be perfect anyway. I have been thinking that a light above the drill press is kind of needed. I'm finding myself using this shop more and more and absolutely loving it! Even as bright as it is, we can always use more light though!
The rough cut lumber provides exactly the "feel" I was going for. I'm really happy with how these turned out!
I bought some vintage 1/2" square drive lag screws to bolt the shelves to the wall. I haven't installed them in the shelf planks yet, and I may not; we'll see. I was considering the fact that this is actual hardwood and generally it's not a good idea to lag hardwood in a way that it can't expand. So while I had a plan to put some of those super cool vintage screws into the shelves, it might not be the best idea after all.
Like I said above, the more time I invest in getting the shop setup- the more I find myself in there working on projects. So far it has been SUPER fun, and I continue to be floored at how far it's come. Not bad for a seldom used bedroom, right!?