How to Build a Ladder Shelf

Keeping the blanks in this staggered orientation, position them so the cut lines clear the edge of the workbench. Clamp the blanks to each other and to the workbench. Measure the distance from the blade to the edge of the base of your portable circular saw. At that distance from the cut lines, clamp a straightedge to the legs. Cut the tapers, guiding the saw along the straightedge. Save the triangular front-leg cut-offs. Use them to help clamp the front and rear legs flat to your work surface for gluing and fastening them together.

Glue and clamp the front legs (B) to the rear legs (A), aligning the tips of the front leg angle cuts with the tops of the rear legs. After the glue dries, drill countersunk pilot holes through the front legs and into the rear legs (Project Diagrams) for #8 × 2-inch and #8 × 3-inch flathead wood screws. Make the countersinks deep enough to allow a 1/8-inch covering of wood filler over the screw heads. Drive the screws.

To angle-cut the bottom ends of the front leg blanks (B) to length, lay a leg assembly on your workbench. Using a carpenter's square and a straightedge, mark the bottoms of the legs where you'll make your cuts. Repeat for the other pair of legs.

Here's a way to assemble shelf frames without lots of clamps. First arrange the sides (C) and ends (D) on your workbench with the outside faces up and the miter tips touching. Align the part edges with a straightedge and stretch masking tape to bridge the still-touching miter tips.

Flip the taped parts and apply glue to both faces of the V's formed by the taped-together miters and to both end miters. As you fold the parts into a rectangular frame, the tape should pull the miters tightly together. A piece of tape joining the end miters will do the same. Remove excess glue with a damp cloth. Place the frame on a flat surface and check it for square. To ensure that the frame stays flat, place weights, such as quart cans of paint or varnish, on the corners. Repeat with the remaining sides (C), lower middle ends (E), upper middle ends (F), and top ends (G). After the glue dries, remove the masking tape. To check the frames for square, measure the diagonals. If one diagonal is longer, squeeze the frame across this diagonal. When the diagonals are equal, the frame is square.

From 3/8" square poplar dowels, cut the side cleats (H), bottom end cleats (I), lower middle end cleats (J), upper middle end cleats (K), and top end cleats (L) to length. Glue and clamp the cleats to the inside of the respective shelf frame with the bottom edges of the cleats and frames flush.

From 1/2" birch plywood, cut the bottom panel (M), lower middle panel (N), upper middle panel (O), and top panel (P) to fit within the trays. Finish-sand both faces. Apply glue to the top surfaces of the cleats in each shelf frame and place the panels on them. Clamp the panels in place, using scrap wood blocks inside the frames to transfer clamp pressure to the panels. Finish-sand the outside faces and top and bottom edges of the shelves. Ease all edges with fine sandpaper and a sanding block.

Cut four 10"-long scrap-wood spacers, place them on the edges of the bottom ends (D), and place the lower middle shelf (C/E/H/J/N) on the spacers. Align the back of the shelf with the back edges of the rear legs and clamp the shelf to the legs. Drill countersunk screw holes through the ends into the front and rear legs and drive screws. Repeat with the upper middle and top shelves.