Since Gastronomia Furlan is fictional, I’ve chosen to combine all sorts of food shops into what I think would be the ultimate in Italian food shopping. One type of shop in this mash-up is the panificio, or “bakery” (the kind that specializes in breads, as opposed to the pasticceria, which makes pastries). To display the numerous types of bread that I’ll eventually make, I’ve custom-built these shelves with slanted trays.
I made the trays using a base of 1″ x 1/16″ bass wood and sides of 1/4″ x 1/16″ balsa.
For the shelves, the main section is a length of 1″ x 1/8″ bass wood, and the brackets are cut from 1/4″ x 1/8″ strips. The angles on the brackets were the most difficult part of this project. My miter box would only cut 90° and 45° angles, and given the uneven sides of the triangle I wanted to create, I needed the ability to also cut 30° and 60° angles. I couldn’t find a mini miter box that would allow me to do all of that, but I did buy a really awesome one that cuts 90°, 45°, and 60° angles. With some creative problem-solving, I came up with the solution of inserting the diagonal pieces perpendicular in the miter box (luckily they’re small enough to fit) to get a 30° angle as well.
In order to tilt the trays, I created a raised ledge along the back. I used two strips of 1/8″ x 1/8″ wood stacked vertically for this. In hindsight, I realize I could have used a 1/4″ x 1/8″ piece instead, but it was tricky to hold all the loose strips of wood in place while figuring out the optimal sizes for everything. (Initially, I thought I’d need to stack a 1/16″-thick strip on top rather than another 1/8″ piece.) To hold the trays in place, I gave the shelves a lip of 3/16″ x 1/16″ wood.
I built two identical shelves like this, each with seven bread trays. (It’s hard to see the slant of the trays in these photos.)
