Shoe Rack Number 2

   On June 25, 2013, I blogged about building a shoe rack for our closet.   I indicated that sometime in the future I would build a couple more.   Since Pam had more shoes than I did the thought at that time was that I would use the wooden rack for my shoes and she had an old plastic rack that she would use for hers.  As time moved on, the plastic rack took a trip to the dumpster and my shoes (since I have less) lost rights for space on the wooden rack.

   The day has arrived that we both agreed the time has come for another shoe rack.  The previous racks were made out of soft maple.  For this time I planned to use some of the walnut that I had worked on last week.   The racks are made in sets.   Last time I built two sets.   This time I decided to build three.

   The plan actually calls for screws to go through the outside and into the rails.    Like before, I used my kreg jig system and screwed into the inside from the bottom of each rail.   (It looks nicer.  You never know who will crawl into your closet and look over your shoe rack.)  The picture to the right shows the bottom of a side of the end of one of the racks.
   Lately, I am trying to focus a little more on sanding.    I try to spend a little more time doing the dismal tasks of working out the scratches and little glue marks with the power sander and even hand sanding a little.

         I keep thinking that my desire to sand wood will start improve with each project as I do see the benefits of taking the extra time and effort to do it right.   (The desire that I long for is still on the far horizon and not smacking me head on just yet.)
   Something different this time is that I use a "Wipe On" poly for a finish and I like the looks of that.  Plus it is a little easier to clean up.  I like using an oil product when working with walnut and with this "wipe on" stuff one just uses a piece of rag to apply it and when you're done you just toss the rag away.

   To stack the racks on top of each other I drilled holes into each side and use dowel pins between each set to firmly hold them together.   I don't glue these in place in case I would want to dismantle the racks in the future.
    I finished these racks and I think I will allow the finish to dry another day before Pam and I pile all those shoes on it.    (Hopefully at the end of piling shoes there is not an empty space left which I suppose would mean we would have to go shoe shopping...  sad face - sad face.)