Shoe shelf

The three-tier CNCed shoe shelf

In an attempt to learn how to design for and use the Multicam CNC router at work, I decided to create a shoe shelf for our apartment. Our shoe “collection” was getting out of control and you could find a chaos of shoes stacked by the entrance. I wanted to create something big enough for all of our shoes (unfortunately it wasn’t even close), as well as someplace to put the mail/keys when we got home. It was a fun experience with lots of learnings, more expensive and time-consuming than buying something off the shelf, but the “I made this” feeling is hard to beat. When we moved back to Europe the shelf found a home at our friend’s place (who was eager to have it).

Features.

I wanted to maximize the size of the shelf with the space we had in our hallway, so three tiers seemed like a good number. There’s a lip at the front of each shelf to stop shoes from slipping off. There’s a gap between the back of the shelves and the wall to make high heels sit securely. The angle of the shelves was mostly an aesthetic choice, but helps avoid ending up with stacks of shoes again! There are also routed slots in the legs for the shelves to sit in for extra stability, which helped with assembly.

Process.

Having little to no experience with CNC routers as well as CAD software I attempted to make something simple, both design and construction wise. This could easily have been made with some woodworking tools and a hand router but I believe the end result was much cleaner than if I were to attempt doing it “manually”. Design as well as cutting were both swift processes and assembly was a dream. I counter sunk the screw holes before drilling them in to keep them flush with the surface. My partner and I spent a whole weekend sanding, filling holes with timber putty and applying two coats of paint/lacquer - painting was the most tedious part of the entire process.

Tools.

• Fusion 360

• VCarve

• Multicam Full sheet CNC Router

• Wood filler/putter

• Sand paper

• Drill