Expert: Jamie Yocono - 5/22/2008

Question
Hi,

I am making shelves for a cabinet and am going to use metal pins (that the shelves will rest on) that fit into metal sleeves that are inserted into holes predrilled into both sides of the cabinet (2 pins per side). I will either use the pins that are like tiny little rods about 1" long, or the ones that are flat outside the hole but round inside the hole. I have seen shelves that have small depressions somehow cut out on the underside of the shelves so when the shelves sit on the pins and you look at the shelves dead on from the side you don't see the pins as they are up in the depression. How do they make these depressions. Is there a special tool? I just think it looks so much cleaner than seeing the pins.

I have checked all over the net and can't find any info on this.

Thanks!

Answer
Leon,

Those little depressions on the underside of the shelves (where the pins sit) can be made with a forstner bit, which is a drill bit that drills a flat bottomed hole. Here is a picture of one:

http://www.rockler.com/product.cfm?page=10615&filter=forstner%20bit

You have to be mindful of three things when drilling these holes -

1- These work best in a drill press, but I have used these in a cordless drill. Practice first on scrap

2- When drilling those recesses, you're going to locate the center so that the hole runs off the edge of the shelf. It's sort of hard to describe here, but you need part of the hole to be located where that shelf pin is going to hit the edge of that shelf. Did that make any sense?

3- Drilling these holes TOO deep will significantly weaken the holding power of your shelf. So only drill the recess deep enough to accommodate the shelf pin, and not deeper, or your shelf could split apart form the weight.

OK, hope this helps, it's a great question. Good luck,

Jamie Yocono
Wood It Is! Custom Cabinetry
Las Vegas, NV
www.wooditis.com
My woodworking blog: www.wooditis.blogspot.com