Expert: Jamie Yocono - 6/15/2007

Question
Hello Jamie,

We recently had new kitchen cabinets installed and the cabinet maker left me an extra shelf (we weren't sure we were going to use it while they were here).  They left the shelf and four pins that require drilling into the sides of the cabinet and then pushed in.  The shelf should rest on these four pins.  I can't ask them to come back and do it, they are quite far away.  I am pretty handy, but I would like to know the proper way to go about drilling the holes.  Can you advise?  Thanks, Clark.

Answer
Hi Clark,

Drilling those shelf holes is a pretty easy task, especially if you are handy. But there are a couple of things to know.

First, the location is somewhat critical. You're going to be drilling 4 holes, and you'll need to accurately mark their location. Your ceiling might not be level, so you can't simply measure off the ceiling. The same is true with the cabinet bottoms. So when I drill shelf holes, I start with putting a small piece of masking take down roughly where the shelf holes will be drilled, and marking the holes off the ceiling. Then I measure them off the bottom. If the marks are in the same place, you're set. If not, try to determine which location will give you the most level shelf placement. The tape simply protects the cabinet surface from having a bunch of pencil marks on it.

Next, try to use brad point bits for drilling the holes. The sharp brad point will allow you to hit the center dead on. Also, these bits cut the outside of the hole very cleanly. Use a stop collar or even a thick wrapping of masking tape to mark your bit, so that you don't drill too deeply and accidentally pop through the other side of the cabinet. This is important. I can't stress enough how badly you DON'T want to drill all the way through your cabinet side. So use some method for knowing how deep you're drilling.

Last thing- if you get the holes drilled and the pins in place, and your shelf rocks or teeters, that means one of your holes is off. It's not a big deal, so don't freak out. The shelf pins are usually a little asymmetrical. So figure out which hole is "off" and rotate that pin slightly. The pin should have a side that is a little higher than the flat side. It's sort of hard to describe this, but if your shelf pins are the common type, rotating it just a bit should help.

It's all about proper marking of the location, proper drilling (a clean hole that doesn't pop through) and then "fine tuning" the pins if the shelf isn't perfectly level. It's an easy task, you should be fine with these tips.

OK, good luck, I hope this helps. Please feel free to write back if you have any further questions after reading this. And if this answer was helpful... please take a minute and rate my service. Thanks!

Jamie Yocono
Wood It Is! Custom Cabinetry
Las Vegas, NV
www.wooditis.com