Hexagon Wall Shelves

Since the bathroom remodel is done, it seems we are moving on to redecorate the master bedroom. These shelves were one of the first requests.

I really love the look of these, but it was a lot of repetitive, production-style woodworking! They are pretty easy to make: the only potential tricky spot is making accurate 30 degree bevels. I use a digital angle finder for my table saw. They are inexpensive and quite accurate.

I began by cutting strips for all the sides. I used 1/2″ (12mm) plywood for these.

Since the angle gauge is on the outside angle of the blade, I measured it to 60 degrees, the complementary angle to the 30 degree angle on the other side.

Once all the sides were cut to size, I used my dado blades to notch out a rabbet along one edge of each board. It is 3/4″ (18mm) deep. This leave enough room for the 1/4″ (6mm) plywood back to be inset, allowing space for 1/2″ (12mm) french cleat hangers.

I used duct tape to clamps the hexagons together. I lined up the six sides, and taped them together. The I flipped them over and applied glue in each of the v-shaped notches formed between each board.

The I just folded it up into its final hexagon shape, adding more tape for extra clamping power.

I traced out the shape of the back five times on a piece of 1/4″ plywood and cut these out on my bandsaw.

Using spray adhesive, I pasted scrapbook pages to the hexagons. I glued and tacked these into the rabbets on the rear of each box.

Once everything was dry and sanded smooth, I glued the boxes together and hung them on the wall using french cleats.