Branch shelf brackets

Last time I made shelves out of live edge wood I bought shelf brackets. At 7.99 a piece it negated my free wood.

This time I decided to make some out of the dead sequoia branches I knocked down a few months ago.

I have used the sequoia branches for cabinet trim, I put a piece in my countertop, and drilled holes in  the biggest straight ones to hold up the shower curtain rod.

Any branches will do if they are at least 1 and a half inches thick. Sequoia wood is prettier in the middle anyway, the outside looks like it could be cedar.

First cut your branches to size. The vertical ones can be pretty short, but I did the width of the shelf which is 8 inches. Now you need to cut the diagonal one. Each end gets a 45 degree. I cut one 45 degree then eyeballed where it would hit the shelf and cut the other 45 degree. I cut all the diagonals to this one.

If I didn't have my shelves made I would put another horizontal piece to make a triangle but really I don't need it. These shelves are holding detergent and towels.

Remove the bark. I know, I know, it  is cool to see the bark but especially with pine there are bark beetles or termites that love bark. I used pine for my actual shelves and the bark came off so nice with a hammer and small chisel that you can see the texture it left. My sequoia branches did not come off so easy except for the wet ones. I used a sharp knife and essentially shaved the pieces. Then I used a sander with 60 grit to get the rest off. I let them dry in the sun a bit.

I pre-drilled all the holes. Two in each vertical and one at the top and one at the bottom of every diagonal at an angle.

Now find your studs to attach the verticals. I used 3 inch screws to secure one side and then put a long level on top of this one to mark where the top of the other side goes. I used one and a half inch screws to screw the bottoms of my diagonals on.

I set my shelves on and adjusted my diagonal branches to make the shelf level. Then I screwed the tops of the diagonals in. Now I screwed down through the shelf into the vertical branches to secure it and screwed more screws down into the diagonals from the top as well. Now put some polyurethane in the gloss of your choice and you are done.

Yes it took a few hours, mostly taking the bark off was a pain with the sequoia branches. However it gives my laundry room the rustic touch and I will probably do it for my next shelves too.