Pocket holes
Jeremy Osner
>Last night I built and installed a shelf in our bathroom above the sink. I hung it in what I think is a pretty clever way, in that it just uses two screws to anchor the shelf very firmly to the wall.
The sink is in between two doorways, and the moldings come out on either side of the sink 1 5/8" from the wall. Ever since we installed this bathroom I have been thinking a walnut shelf would look very nice running between the two moldings (which are painted yellow). I had been thinking I would mount the shelf on brackets -- either metal L-brackets, which I could then hide under spackle, or triangular pieces of wood that would be screwed into the shelf and into the moldings. But yesterday while I was at work I realized, if I cut pocket holes into the underside of the shelf such that the screw-holes were angled slightly toward the back side of the shelf, then the screws could actually pull the shelf against the wall and stabilize it.
So that's what I did. I never cut pocket holes before but it turnes out to be quite easy. to mark where they should go I drew a line perpendicular to the back of the shelf, about 1/2" in from the end; then rested the chisel on the line, leaned it up on the corner closer to the front, and shifted it a couple of degrees in from the line.
This is the fastest project I have ever done; from initial concept to installation was about 15 hours, only 3 of which were spent working. The three hours is because I carved out a depression in the top of the shelf, so there is a lip along the front so stuff will not fall off. The shelf is curved so it is 1 5/8" deep on the ends, and about 4" in the middle; 20 1/4" long. Finished with shellac.