Adding Chocks To Support Shelves
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The shelves are held up by chocks (2" long pieces of 2x4) mounted to the
front A-frame and to a back spine. Chocks are screwed in with two long sheet-rock screws.
A starter hole must be made with the small drill-bit first, as usual. The chocks are
positioned such that when the bench is assembled, the shelves sit on the chocks. This aids
assembly/disassembly and reduces stress on the bolts. The placement of the chocks is not
critical but must be consistent across a single shelf (else the shelf will be tilted).
Refer to this drawing for the nomenclature I will use for the different shelves:
In this process you are going to measure from the bottom of the helper 2x4 that is
clamped to the bottom of the A-frames, to the top of the chock (top: pretend the A-frames
are standing up in their final configuration). The trick here is to use a C-clamp to hold
each chock in place as you mount it. Use your square to make sure the chocks are oriented
correctly. Use a spare 2x4 to run across the two A-frames at each pair of new chocks (one
on each A-frame) to check the 2 A-frames remain symmetrical. Make sure that the distances
you are measuring for the front of the A-frames is correct by moving the end of the tape
measure along the helper 2x4 as you hold the other end at the top of the chock (or bottom
of the spare 2x4). Be precise. The chocks can be screwed in the middle of the A-frame
part. You do not want to have the chock sticking to the front or back of the A-frame part.
There will be one chock on each front A-frame leg for each shelf. The bottom shelf will
also have a chock on the back A-frame leg
On the front leg of the A-frame you need these chocks:
11", 36", 52", 74".
The 74" chock can be moved up or down depending on how high your A-frame is. The
only detail here is how much space you will have from the 2' shelf to the bottom of the
top shelf. The 36 inch chock could be moved to 40" in order make room for a large
computer display if needed. This is best done at this time. Moving that shelf later will
be much more difficult.
The back legs of the A-frame will each have a chock at 11" mounted on the work
surface leg support 2x4.
This completes the assembly of the A frames.
