On Thu, Sep 2, 2021 at 11:54 AM Greg Isola wrote:

> Hi John, and all:
>
> I'll add one more lower shelf option that has worked really well for me:
>
> Screw narrow battens to the inside faces of your long lower stretchers and
> then fill in the shelf space with short boards with tongue and groove
> joints between them. This has several advantages. First, it was an
> opportunity to use my matching T&G woodies. Always fun. Second, no glue or
> fasteners for the actual shelf boards, making it easy to pull one out to
> sweep out the shelf area. (I never do this, but it would be easy if I did!)
>

I second this idea from Greg. My lower shelf is exactly as described,
except that mine is made from maple T&G floor boards from my old 1886 house
that were removed in a renovation.

I remember a discussion from somewhere about the height of the bottom
stretchers and how their placement affected the anti-racking power of the
stretchers (lower is better, I believe). Thoughts?

Brian