2-by-4 Shelf Brackets for Dummies

2-by-4 shelf bracket

Among the staffers here at the Antisocial Network, quite a few count themselves as competent carpenters. Suffice it to say that if we wanted to build a house, we could field a pretty good framing crew (some have framed for Habitat for Humanity, in fact). Never mind hanging drywall or painting, but framing? sure. But even though these folks definitely know their way around 2-by lumber, they were all completely bamboozled by the "instructions" written up by Jason Brick for the HomeSteady.com article, "How to Build a Shelf Bracket With 2X4s."

When that question was put to our staffers, every man and woman jack of 'em envisioned a triangular wooden bracket such as the one above. You make an L of two lengths of 2-by-4 and miter the ends of a third length to serve as an angle brace. Simple, yet sturdy. You can either butt the joint of the L or miter it, your choice.
Brick, however, didn't see it that way. Our problem was that we couldn't figure out what way he did see it, at least from his instructions. Those are, for what it's worth.

• Cut three one-foot lengths from a 2-by-4 "beam" with a "power saw." Yes, eHow.com demanded that contributors use nouns for dimensional lumber, such as "plank" and "beam."
• "Set two beams perpendicular to each other, with the 2-inch side of one beam abutting the 4-inch face of the other. The outside edges of both beams should be flush with one another, as should both ends of each beam." – That sure sounds like he wants you to make a 12-inch-wide L about 3½" by 5"...
• "Lay the remaining beam down on the "L" formed by the two connected beams, with its 4-inch face resting on the ends of the other beams. The back end of this beam should be flush with the edges of the other beams." – Everything is supposed to be assembled with 3-inch screws (glue is not mentioned).

We'll be honest: it took everyone here at least three read-throughs to figure out what this putz was trying to say. Once we'd figured it out, we decided that the bozo had attempted to repurpose directions written for 1-by-4 or even 1-by-6 lumber. That size might work, if the shelf being supported was narrow enough. But the triangle design above? It's VASTLY superior, since the weight of the items on the shelf is supported by that angled brace instead of held by a couple of screws..

So Jason picks up his second Dumbass of the Day award, and the seventh (so far) for the Brick family.

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