C&R Storage Rack

While I wasn't impressed by how the top shelf turned out, thankfully there's still a few more steps to go.

The rifles don't need to sit in a 2-1/2" deep "u" cut, they only need to sit in a slight recess. If the "u"' cuts were left as deep as they are, I'd be concerned that my rifles would get damaged just by taking them in and out.

I'm going to leave the far right and far left of the top piece alone, but everywhere else I'm going to remove 1" from the leading edge, and this will make these cut-outs not only shallower, but also eliminate any proof of my poor workmanship on this. Double bonus!!!

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After a few more steps, I'll also bevel each corner, again to avoid damaging the rifles when they're put away.

Everything looks much better after the last cut.

While the current state of affairs is improving, there still needs to be some sanding. Now, this isn't a tip that you'll find in Fine Woodworking Magazine, but I'm going to use the belt from a belt sander, as it fits in the cut-out perfectly, will give me the correct shape, and clean everything up real pretty.

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The hot mess has now become a hot YES. There's still a few issues, but I'll touch these up momentarily. After I'm done with putting a couple coats of shellac on everything, I'm also going to glue a felt insert (the fuzzy side of Velcro) into each of these cut outs, so any screw ups won't be visible.

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You're almost ready for the hardest part - deciding how to display your rifles on it!
Assuming it will hold 8 rifles like the original pic you posted, and that you have 8 rifles to put on it now, you will have 40,320 different ways to display them. Which will look best? Swap em around once at breakfast, lunch and dinner every day and you will have your answer in just under 37 years.

If you wanted to match the inside of your safe with your felt inserts, this is an exact match in my Liberty. https://www.amazon.com/dp/B07MTLPV42/ref=dp_prsubs_1. I built more shelves with it in my safe, as well as ripped off crappy door organizer that came on it, covered the fireboard with it to match. If you only need a little bit I have some left over I can mail you a few squares - free to a good home. EDIT: Just noticed the pic of what you already have. Sorry I didn't offer sooner.

Getting really close now. We'll need to do a couple of touch ups before we start final assembly; most of these are on the top shelf.

There were a total of four areas on the top shelf that I wasn't happy with, so I basically just cut and/or chiseled out the bad section, cut a small piece of wood for the repair, then glued it on. Since these pieces end up being pretty small, I just used CA glue. White glue takes too long, and epoxy is too messy.

Once the CA activator has been applied and the glue set, its just a matter of cutting, shaping and sanding.

Repairs will never be totally invisible, but these are so small, nobody will ever see them. I also think this is a good skill to practice, as it comes in handy when fixing cracked rifle stocks.

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Of course the first repair, which happened to be the largest, also had a crack right below the leading edge. I didn't see this at first, and then it blew apart when I started finish sanding. There's been quite a few cracks in this wood.

Once the repairs have been made, I'm just going to hit all of the sharp edges a few times with some sand paper (150 grit), just to knock off any sharp edges. This will keep my rifles from getting scratched.

I use an eraser as a sanding block, as it gives the paper some flexibility. Don't tear the sandpaper - you'll get a better result if it's cut. While I'm sanding, i say to myself cha-cha-cha, then another cha-cha-cha, and that's all the sanding I need. Alternatively, 1-2-3 followed by 1-2-3 works well also.

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A few minutes over the top piece with the orbital sander and we're good to go. i can't think of a single thing else to do. It's time to move on to final assembly!

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I wish I could do such things.
But I’m really not skilled in such jobs...
Bravo, really a neat job!

In my last post, I stated that we were ready to start final assembly. Actually, I wanted to have some plausible deniability for what comes next.

Worst case, I figured I would leave the country and delete my account after this. This has been a really long post so far, and it would be lame not to take it to conclusion, aside from being mighty inconsiderate if anyone is actually following along with my ranting.

We're going to make trim. Not just any trim, racing stripes. I like racing stripes.

I'm taking out my "ugly stick" for this next part. I forget what this type of wood this was supposed to be, but I think it was sold as some form of fancy mahogany, imported from deep in the mahogany jungle, located in the wilds of uncharted mahogany land. I may however, be thinking about a different piece of wood I bought. I'm just going to call this piece of wood mahogany for the sake of this discussion.

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This piece is so ugly, that I'm going to have to mill each of the four sides, just to make a useable piece of wood.

I'll do one face and one side on the jointer, the second face on the planer, and the final side on the table saw. After that, we should have a good piece of wood to work with.

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Once we have to wood milled to a useable form, I'm going to start cutting slices to use as trim.

The board is 2-1/2" wide, and I've planed it down to 3/4" thick. I'm now going to cut a few 1/4" strips.

Safety note!!! Notice that I'm using a special jig here for ripping this wood. Done this way, my cut-offs are falling away from the blade on the left side. Kick backs can be super dangerous, and if you pinch one of these pieces while cutting, you can have the wood launch back into you, and you can get really, really hurt.

I haven't said this enough, but please practice safety at all times and make sure to wear the correct PPE!

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Remember earlier, when I showed a table saw that I had set up for dados? I'm going to cut some groves in these pieces and lay these wood strips in. Makes everything look fancy. Nice finishing touch.

I want to leave the strips slightly proud of the surface, and then I'll sand them flush. Better to be slightly over in this case, than slightly under.

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I don't know if anybody saw the big knot on the top shelf, but I did. Problem solved.

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I was also complaining about the glue line that was on side panel. Problem solved as well.

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Here's all the pieces cut, and ready for gluing. They're a super-tight fit, so I don't think I need any clamps, and that also means I can sand them while they're drying. This helps fill in any voids, as the sawdust will mix with the wet glue.

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First piece done.

This is a lot of sanding, but that wood insert really pops. Only 3 more to go.

I'm down to only 220 grit sanding disks, so I may have to call it a night and start again tomorrow.

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