Shop shelving

This half-round shelving was planned as the show-stopper in the shop area. I wanted to give tiny visitors to the sugar shop a real visual wow. But how to get the large half-rounds to "float" in the space?

I finally settled on taking a large, 1 1/2" dowel that I had around, slowly and carefully splitting it in half the long way (that was the hardest step), then slicing partly into it and partly into the shelves, to they could dovetail together, so to speak. With gravity and a tight fit they held pretty well even without glue but I glued anyway, knowing they would eventually hold lots and lots of goodies for sale. Once the goodies are on the shelves, the half-round support is almost invisible except at the top of the "log."

When I stained the dowel I decided to dip it into my can of stain, rather than getting out a brush (trying to save time anywhere I could by this point in the process), and this had the unexpected, but delightful effect of making the stain soak in differently at the center of the half-dowel than it did at the edges... one of those little details that only the builder notices (and patient family members who have it pointed out to them), but when you're up close the effect looks like a rustic log's aged, weathered tree rings.