Shelf with ball and bat holder

A very satisfied customer just picked up her order. She wanted a shelf to display her sons autographed baseballs and a way to store his bat, glove and cap. It took me a long time to figure everything out but with the help of some French curves, I managed to make the whole thing look pretty good.

The shelf has a groove routed along the rear so picture frames will have something to grab on to and lean back against the wall. The braces have t slots cut in each for mounting. I also pre drilled two holes through the back on 16 in centers for mounting if she can find the studs. I gave her the proper screws to mount into the studs and a couple of hollow wall anchors to use if no studs are in the spot she wants to mount the shelf.

The lower shelf holds two balls, and two bats. Baseballs or softballs will fit. The shelf is mounted via mortise and tenon and screwed in from the rear with three wood screws. Nice and tight.

The furniture in her sons room is the unfinished style with just a clear finish so that is what she wanted…unfinished.

I used White Pine from the local big box store. The shelf is 36 inches long. I ripped it so the shelf and back came out of the same piece. The ball holder came from another piece that I ripped two out of.