The Shelves...

Are finally complete and more or less populated with books and accessories.  Last weekend was prep and assembly and this weekend was putting everything on the shelves (hence the delay).  Morgan's original instructions were more or less correct. However, I did find a few things to be different in our shelving scenario.  Here are a few things I learned:

- The pipe fittings are 1/2" but that is the interior diameter. On the outside they are 3/4", so drilling the shelf holes at 1" (instead of 3/4") allowed for a bit of wiggle room.

- The original list of materials included stain, which is something we did. However, I would add polyurethane to the list. The wood appeared dry and dull after the stain had dried.  We did a spray poly so that we could get the shelves up the same day, but a brushed on polyurethane would probably have given more sheen and protection (not that you can tell once there are books and such on the shelves).

- There is more math involved than you think. You will want to put the T joints and L joints and mounting flanges on the horizontal pipes in order to figure out the best place to drill your holes.  Also, the unit is taller than just the heights of the vertical pipe pieces combined, because of the addition of the various joints.  Finally, in order to accurately calculate the length of the longer pieces (where we omitted a shelf) we screwed the shorter pieces to their joint pieces for the total length.  A 12" high shelf plus an 18" high shelf does not a 30" high shelf make (it was somewhere closer to 31.5" inches). 

- Start assembling from the bottom.  You may want to use towels or something on the shelves to protect your walls initially. Don't be worried that it's incredibly unstable. it will become more sturdy as you add more shelves.  Oh, and we used an extra pipe as a tool to get the various joints screwed in tightly.

Here are some progress shots (notice Scott's amazing protective eyewear). And yes, I did help, but mostly I tried to stay away from the noxious fumes and hard labor.

 The final product ready for action....

 Staged! (well, we need some branches or something in that vase to add height)