Pez Dispenser Display for Dummies

Pez display case

We've found that some of the worst crapola visited on the 'net by freelancers derives from their attempts to recreate "plans" for DIY woodworking projects on the basis of pictures they've found at eBay or Etsy. We'll be frank: if you don't know how to design and build projects on your own, you sure as heck aren't qualified to tell someone else how to do it. Yet people like eHow.com's Annie Mueller did this on a regular basis, pumping out garbage like her OurPastimes.com post, "How to Make a Pez Display Shelf."

We suspect Mueller's "research" turned up an image similar to the one above, which the vendor says provides space for 196 dispensers in a cabinet that is 46" x 36" x 1½" overall, with seven shelves (eight if you include the top). By our calculation, assuming that the case is crafted of 1-by-2 lumber, the space between shelves is 5¾ inches and each shelf holds 28 dispensers; spacing of about 1¼" each. We'd like to think the vendor has a pretty good handle on spacing, given that he sells the display case for $64 plus shipping.

Mueller had two problems: 1) she didn't know Pez dispensers well enough to know the dimensions of the little guys, and 2) she didn't know how to build a shelf like the one pictured from stock lumber. Here's what gave the English graduate (summa cum laude!) away:

• Her "plans," such as they are, called for spacing of "3 inches per dispenser."
• Annie told her readers to buy "wood trim or plain baseboard [whatever that is] at a hardware store" to make the shelf unit.
• According to Mueller, the shelves "should be 10 to 12 inches apart from each other [redundant much?]."
• Annie thought that "The wood should be 3 to 5 inches deep," although we'd probably have said "wide."

When it comes time to assemble the shelf, Annie says to nail it all together; no mention of setting the nails or even to use finish nails. Also, no glue and no dadoes for the shelves. Oh, and you're supposed to "Install [a] dowel on the frame" to keep the dispensers from falling over. According to her plans, you install it thusly:

"Slide each dowel rod until it is wedged into place about midway above each shelf."

Given that Mueller's suggested dimension was 60" x 60" there's a problem with that: it's very hard to find dowels more than 36" long...

Any poor schmuck who was dumb enough to follow Mueller's suggested plans would end up with something more like a bookcase in a used paperback store (remember those?) than the display case she pretended to be making: the shelves are too far apart, the unit is too deep, and everything's assembled with exposed nails, except for those dowels that are simply wedged in place. 

That's what happens when a Dumbass of the Day who's never built anything from wood tries to turn a picture of a woodworking project into plans. Any questions?

DDIY - STORAGE