Materials: EKBY Tryggve and EKBY Valter
Description: For a recent photography exhibition I decided to showcase a book next to some framed work. While a RIBBA picture frame shelf would have sufficed, I wanted something a little more conducive to page turning while the book was stationary, so... I got hacking.
You'll need the following, give or take a few items:
- 2 x EKBY Tryggve 31 1/8" x 7 1/2" wooden shelves
- 2 x EKBY Valter 7 1/8" wooden brackets (I used black here to match my photo framing)
- Buzz-saw or handsaw
- Detail sander or just sand paper/brick
- Biscuit joiner
- 2 x biscuits
- Misc. wooden dowels (approx. 5/8" thick)
- Wood glue
- Wood filler
- Tack nails
- Hammer
- Tape measure
- Pencil
- Mounting hardware
- Paint (if desired)
- Lacquer (if desired)
Total time: ~1-2 hours (minus glue and paint dry time)
Total cost: $14 for EKBY items (all other materials were in kind)
1. Measure EKBY Tryggve shelves to desired length. For this hack, we cut the pre-existing 31 1/8" wide board down to 18 1/2".
2. Place you book on the shelf to get a sense of where it may sit or rest. Here we determined that there was too much space on the top so we reduced the 7 1/2" depth/height to 6 1/2" for each shelf piece.
3. Use a piece of scrap wood or dowel if you would like a retaining lip on the bottom of the shelf.
4. For added stability to your shelf cut a biscuit joint, glue and clamp.
5. Once your boards are joined and stable, attach dowels to the ends of the shelf. This will create a cleaner edge to the unit. As you can see, we have also added the bottom lip, for retaining the book. Smaller dowels are also glued and nailed to the bottom of the shelf for added support.
6. Fill in any gaps or holes will wood filler. Sand for smooth surface.
7. In order to mount the shelf at an angle, the EKBY Valter brackets must be used upside down, so that the angled part slopes downward. See image above for TOP and BOTTOM of where the wall mounts are.
8. Using a handsaw, cut off the unwanted end of the bracket.
9. Sand down the end of the bracket.
10. Align the brackets to the top of the shelf and mark where they should be glued and nailed.
11. Glue and nail!
12. Here is the completed shelf, pre-paint.
13. Paint as desired. I used a Behr glossy oil based paint. Several coats. Followed by a spray lacquer finish.
14. The finished and installed product!
Have fun and happy hacking!
~ Angry Alan, Providence, RI
. It is also multi-functional since my wife also sometimes uses it as a cookbook holder. 
