Easier shelf-building

Secure drilling: Easy fixing of shelves

Author: S.B., Düsseldorf, Germany

Online since: 05/10/2009, Number of visits: 492423

When I assembled a file shelf I found that the back panel, a 3 mm thick fibre board, stuck out a little bit from the shelf due to slight tension. This created a gap between the back panel and the self. I contemplated how I could fasten the back panel to the self with a screw.

When you look at it from the back, all you see is a an even surface without clues or indications. Sure, I could have measured at a right angle or with a water level where to drill, but then I came up with a more elegant and convenient idea!

At my last order I also got some W-05-N magnets. Six of them became my "indicators". Two would be enough, but blocks of three are just easier to grab.

Shelf with magnets

The first block of three I placed in the centre of the shelf at the back of the back panel. You can clearly see the annoying gap here.

Back panel

As soon as you even come near the inside magnets with the other block of three on the back panel, it almost pulls your hand towards the right position. Now you have to pull the magnets a little bit down, so the inside magnets really rest on the shelf. And there you have the right spot!

The rest is simple. Since I had 16 mm flake boards, I just had to make a mark on the back panel about 8 mm underneath the bottom edge of the magnet.

I made a quick pilot hole at the mark (the magnets should not be there anymore, otherwise it could be difficult to put the drill in place :-))

Now, you just screw in the screw.

All done. Thanks to the precise indication, the screw is exactly centred in the shelf.

The previous steps can be repeated on all shelf levels. And the file shelf is ready. The back panel is now fastened without gaps, which adds additional stability to the shelf.

As you can see, the gap is gone. And all that accomplished in no time, without a ruler, right angle or water level. Thanks to the W-05-N, no screw got off-target. The advantage of the magnetic cubes: they rest well on the shelf and don't roll away. Of course, I could have used bigger magnetic cubes as well.