I want to create a little shelf for a microwave. Nothing too fancy, but I am tired of buying cheap furniture that is thrown away the next time I move. Grid beam looks very interesting and flexible.
I did do a woodworking course last year, so I am not a total noob, but please close to being one. So I could really use some help to get started.
I am based in Germany, Europe. So I probably have to use a metric based grid beam system.
How do I go about planning my project? What materials will I need?
You can measure just to start with. It’ll take a while to make the first lot of beams! This is how I first made mine.
You’ll definitely need a drill press as getting the holes perfectly 90degrees to the face isn’t easy by hand.
Making a jig for marking hole locations is definitely worth doing. As you’ll probably need to mark holes on at least two faces of the timber. Drilling all the way through the backside of the beam can leave you with a rough hole. If you want a nice looking beam you may have to drill in halfway for each hole which means 120holes for a 1200mm beam.
Drilling all the way through the backside of the beam can leave you with a rough hole.
Thanks! Is that true even when you have something under it?
Making a jig for marking hole locations is definitely worth doing.
Actually I was thinking of making a jig with an index pin. A 7,94 mm (5/16") index pin exists. If I can get that in a piece of wood somehow then I just need to drill the first hole, then put that over the index pin, and keep moving the beam until I’m done.
I don’t really know yet how I’ll make this jig. Or if I need to make a drill table. There’s a repair cafe in my town with handy people so I might go there and get some help from them. Quite excited about my project
