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A client in Seattle asked me to build a shelf without any visible fasteners | Carpenters - Discusd

A client in Seattle asked me to build a shelf without any visible fasteners

I was doing a custom built-in for a house in the Queen Anne neighborhood last month. The homeowner, a quiet guy in his 60s, kept pointing at the wall and saying 'no screws, no nails, I want it to look like it grew there.' I figured he just wanted a clean look, so I planned for dados and glue. But when I showed him the joinery, he got this big smile and told me his dad was a shipwright. He said his dad always told him 'the best joint is the one you don't see, but the one that holds when the sea gets rough.' It wasn't about hiding mistakes, it was about making the structure itself the strength. I've been thinking about that a lot on my last few jobs. How many of you have had a client give you a piece of advice that actually changed how you approach a build?

4 comments

4 Comments

grace_johnson96mo ago

That idea about the structure being the strength sounds nice, but I've seen it go wrong. Sometimes hiding every fastener means the build can't handle real weight or movement over time. I had a client insist on something similar and the whole thing shifted and cracked within a year. There's a reason we use screws and nails, they work. A clean look is one thing, but making it look like it grew there can mean making it weak.

jordancoleman6mo ago

Used heavy duty french cleats, like matthew122 said, works for real weight.

matthew1226mo ago

Ever notice how the "floating" shelves in those fancy design magazines always seem to be holding, like, three art books and a single seashell? Try putting a real set of encyclopedias up there. The whole hidden bracket thing falls apart when you move from a photo shoot to actual life. It's the difference between building a prop and building furniture that holds your stuff without giving you a heart attack.

olivers286mo ago

Built my own set using thick plywood and a solid internal frame. They hold a ton of cookbooks without any sag because the shelf itself is the structure. Forget the hollow boxes and trust the material.