Asymmetrical Shelf Build

I recently completed an asymmetrical shelf unit for a Denver Custom Furniture client, and let me tell you, it was one of those projects that looks simple on the surface but requires serious attention to detail from start to finish.

Getting the Basics Right

I always tell people that the second most important thing in woodworking is starting with good, square lumber. If your material isn’t properly milled from the get-go, your project is probably doomed. But here’s the thing—the most important part is actually selecting the right grain pattern. I don’t care how perfect your joinery is; if you’ve got ugly grain, your end result will look bad.

For this build, my client specifically requested rift-sawn white oak. They wanted that tight, contemporary look and were trying to avoid the cathedral grain pattern you see in more traditional, country-style oak furniture.

Prep Work Never Ends

Like any furniture project, I spent what felt like forever on material prep. I ripped all the boards to width for the shelves, then moved on to getting the legs ready. It’s tedious, but it’s necessary.

To keep the shelving unit from rocking and ensure everything came out square, I set up a stop on my miter gauge. My process was simple: square one end, flip the stop down, then cut the leg to length. Using that stop meant all the legs came out exactly the same length, which dramatically increases your chances of ending up with a square, stable piece.

The Joy of Working with What You’ve Got

Once I had all my shelves glued up, they were a bit too wide to cut accurately on most of my equipment. So I broke out my “underpowered” Festool track saw to cut them to length. Hey, it does the job pretty well. I just used my handheld square to make sure the track was square to the material and took my time with the cuts.

Getting Into the Joinery

The joinery between the shelves and legs required two different approaches. For the corner legs, I went with a bird’s mouth half lap joint. I set up a little template with the exact shape I wanted and used a pattern bit on the router. The key was taking several passes and routing toward the end grain to prevent tear-out. Go the other direction, and you’ll get a mess.

For the leg sitting in the field of the shelf, I did a standard half lap on the table saw. Safety first—I attached a tall plywood backer to my miter gauge because trying to hold up a tall shelf while pushing it through without it tipping can get dangerous real fast.

I also used a stop block on the fence as a spacer. Since the half lap required two passes, having that stop set at the right thickness meant I could make one accurate pass, remove the block, and make the second pass. Of course, I figured all this out with test cuts before hitting record.

The beauty of this setup was that I could use it for both the shelves and the legs since I’d milled everything to the same thickness at the same time. It’s all about accuracy and not wasting time on unnecessary setups.

For the corner legs with the bird’s mouth half lap, I created a sled that was basically a saddle holding the leg at a 45-degree angle, then made my cuts the same way.

The Dry Run

Before any sanding or finishing, I did a complete test assembly. This might seem like a simple project, but there are a lot of parts that all have to come together at once. Without a solid clamping strategy, a simple build can turn into a complete disaster if something doesn’t fit right during glue-up.

Custom Finishing

Once everything fit perfectly, it was time for the finish. We went with a custom stain blend I created specifically to complement other woodwork in the client’s house.

The first step was what’s called a ceruse finish. I painted the piece white, then rubbed off the excess—but here’s the trick: you rub against the grain to push the paint into the pores. After the paint dried, I sanded the pieces, removing the excess paint but leaving it in the pores for that distinctive cerused look.

Then I applied my custom stain color and topped it with a semi-gloss finish, if I remember correctly.

Assembly Time

With the finish dry, it was glue-up time. I used a slow-set epoxy because, honestly, there’s no need to rush. If you know, you know.

Since everything was prefinished, I used a rubber mallet for assembly and even raided my sock drawer to put socks over the clamps to protect the wood from any marring or scratching.

The Full Story

Here’s a fun bit of context: at the beginning of this build, I mentioned a case that sits on top of this stand. That case was actually built years ago—before YouTube even existed, for this same client. It was designed to fit a specific architectural feature in their old home. They’ve since moved to Texas, so they needed a stand for the case, and that’s how this project came to be.

I know it’s hard to believe, but woodworking actually existed outside of social media back then. That’s just how we did things before YouTube.

Luckily, the client sent me a photo of the finished piece after I shipped it to them, showing the stand and case together in their new home. It looks great, and I’m pretty happy with how it turned out. This is another example of how I build high-end custom furniture in Colorado and ship it nationwide. To get it to Texas, I used a Denver-based shipper, Craters and Freighters. They built a crate for it and shipped it out.

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