01/12/2019:
Summary: Today I cut a 2×6 and three 2x4s to extend as shelf framing from wall 2 to wall 3. I then fastened those four boards in place.
Full description: Today at Jacobhouse, I started off with planning. Padre and I had already determined yesterday that shelving would be a great way to close in and fortify the gap between the second and third walls, so I knew I was going to need a bunch of 30.5″ 2x4s with internal angles of about 45 degrees at either end. The new bit that I / we thought of this morning, though, was to make the bottom support a 2×6 for added strength (also would bring it flush with the bathroom’s 2×8 base).
So, with this all in mind, I brought a 12′ 2×4 and a 16′ 2×6 (the only size of 2×6 that I had) outside along with all my cutting equipment. Next, I obtained a 40″ piece of leftover 2×4, and using the farmer-angle-finding method I described yesterday, I was able to mark the sides of the 2×4 with angles quite close to what I needed. I used the square (now I know it’s called a speed-square) to find out that the angle was actually quite close to 45 degrees on both sides. The skill saw has an adjustment that makes the blade go exactly to a 45 degree angle, so this worked out quite well.
I cut the 2×6 and the three 2x4s, and then brought them all inside. To begin attaching them, I shimmed up the 2×6 with a couple pieces of cedarwood so its top was equal to the bathroom’s base 2×8. It was mostly flush when I attached it (a little bit unlevel on the left side on account of the bathroom base board being slightly warped), and afterward, I measured 15 ½ inches upward from both ends to find out where the next shelf went. Originally, this 15 ½” was to account for the 3 ½” of a 2×4’s width (making the gap between shelves 1 foot exactly). I messed up, though, and attached the bottom of the first shelf at 15 ½”.
I discovered this before I had put in the second screw, but then as I was taking out the first, I got a good look at what I had done and discovered that the 15 ½” distance actually made an asthetically pleasing first shelf. The lowest shelf is supposed to be the largest, after all. So, I ended up putting the first screw back in, fastening the other side, and leaving the mistake as it was. The next shelf up, though, I did ‘correctly’, fastening the base 12″ above the top of the lowest shelf.
Just after I had fastened the second shelf, I took a small break to check the beef cows with Padre. Superb weather has once again returned, it seems, for I was able to comfortably ride the segway in a thin jacket, ‘t-shirt’, and shorts. The sun was shining brightly, the sky was a bright almost Caribbean blue, and the grass was surprisingly quite green for mid-January. There were happy cows out there today.
I returned to Jacobhouse soon after to put a couple more pieces of frame. These ones went in even more easily than the first two. I suppose I was getting better at the process of attaching the duck clamps, leveling out the shelves, and then fastening them with deckscrews. I think it also helped that I had padre there for the last couple to aid the duck clamps in holding the ‘target’ boards in place as I drilled in the screws.
Tomorrow, I will endeavor to cut and fasten in four more shelves / support boards.
The spacing looked right to me too