Floating shelves

[driftwoodman]

Hello folks
I would like to make some floating shelves & have been searching the forum for ideas & advice. JasonB technique of sandwiching 12mm moisture resistant mdf between two layers 12mm veneered mdf looks a good way to go.

I would like my shelves to be 1100mm long, how many 12mm steel rods would I have to put in to prevent sagging? & what could the maximum depth the shelf be?
I plan to put quite a few books on the shelves

Any ideas would much appreciated

John

 

[Hudson Carpentry]

I don't trust the floating shelf brackets you get that just screw to the wall. I always by some steel rod between 6-10mm dependant on thickness of shelf. Drill the correct size hole 1/2 inch less then the thickness of brick/stud then most of the way into the shelf. Insert rods into the wall then tap the shelf on to rods. I drill the holes in the shelf at a slight angle, this causes a very tight fit so the shelf will not slip off the rods which means there really are no visible fixings as no grubs required.

My method is limited with stud walls as you can only place rods where studs are. However if the stud is 3" or above one rod fixing holds my 15 stone weight. So just two rods would be strong enough for a metre span if you can place the rods 6 inch in from each end (or around abouts) and you use a thick chuck of redwood or better. I doubt very much that just two rods will do if the shelf is MDF.

In brick walls I place one rod for every 400-600mm. Again if your using MDF and placing books on them then one every 300-400mm.

 

[jasonB]

I'd use 3 rods on that length shelf and you should be able to go 225-250 deep.

J

 

[markturner]

A much easier way is to make a box frame of 25mm softwood with some cross noggins, fit that to the wall by normal plugs and screws, then clad the front , top and bottom with whatever thickness of plain or veneered MDF you like and voila......


cheers, Mark

 

[driftwoodman]

I'd use 3 rods on that length shelf and you should be able to go 225-250 deep.

J

Thanks Jason

How deep would the steel rods have to go into studs & brick work?

 

[tomatwark]

A much easier way is to make a box frame of 25mm softwood with some cross noggins, fit that to the wall by normal plugs and screws, then clad the front , top and bottom with whatever thickness of plain or veneered MDF you like and voila......


cheers, Mark

I do them this way when I can't talk the client out of it ( I am not a big fan either ), and if I have a old wall with dodgey plaster and stone I glue some 10mm threaded rod in the wall with resin and the fasten the box on with nuts and big washers.

Tom

 

[jasonB]

I'd set the rods in 100mm

J

 

[driftwoodman]

How do you retain the shelf onto the rods, do you grip fill the the gap within the shelve & push onto rods or do you grip fill back of shelve to wall?

Also can you use polyester resin to fix the rod into studwork
thanks

edit: for clarity

 

[driftwoodman]

Bump

 

[jasonB]

If the shelf is loose on the rods then just a dab of gripfill or similar in the hole will do that way you can get the shelf off again if needed for decorating etc.

Yep resin will work in studwork as well as masonary. One thing I should add about the depth of hole when using resin is don't drill all the way into the cavity otherwise you will just push the resin out the back of the hole when you push the stud/rod in. with a blind hole the resin will get squeezed back out and surround the rod/bar.

J

 

[chippy1970]

Digging up an old thread . Ive got a floating shelf to make and fit for a customer later this week. The shelf is solid ash 40mm thick x 300mm deep and 2100mm long.

Im going with threaded rods resin fixed into the wall around every 500mm. At first I thought m12 rods would be fine but Im contemplating m16 rods now. I dont want any sagging obviously, its only for books and files. Has anyone here done a similar size/weight floating shelf ? Can I get away with M12 am I over doing it with M16.

The rods will be 100mm in the wall and 200mm into the shelf.

 

[Jasper42]

A much easier way is to make a box frame of 25mm softwood with some cross noggins, fit that to the wall by normal plugs and screws, then clad the front , top and bottom with whatever thickness of plain or veneered MDF you like and voila......


cheers, Mark

Agree with this method, simple, cheap and takes a fair load.

Regards
Austin

 

[Gerry]

Digging up an old thread . Ive got a floating shelf to make and fit for a customer later this week. The shelf is solid ash 40mm thick x 300mm deep and 2100mm long.

Im going with threaded rods resin fixed into the wall around every 500mm. At first I thought m12 rods would be fine but Im contemplating m16 rods now. I dont want any sagging obviously, its only for books and files. Has anyone here done a similar size/weight floating shelf ? Can I get away with M12 am I over doing it with M16.

The rods will be 100mm in the wall and 200mm into the shelf.

take your four 12mm rods and put them together in a vice with 200mm protruding. I bet you can't bend them using your bodyweight alone.

Gerry

 

[chippy1970]

Digging up an old thread . Ive got a floating shelf to make and fit for a customer later this week. The shelf is solid ash 40mm thick x 300mm deep and 2100mm long.

Im going with threaded rods resin fixed into the wall around every 500mm. At first I thought m12 rods would be fine but Im contemplating m16 rods now. I dont want any sagging obviously, its only for books and files. Has anyone here done a similar size/weight floating shelf ? Can I get away with M12 am I over doing it with M16.

The rods will be 100mm in the wall and 200mm into the shelf.

take your four 12mm rods and put them together in a vice with 200mm protruding. I bet you can't bend them using your bodyweight alone.

Gerry

Yeah guessing you're right Gerry , tend to always over do things lol.

Hopefully customer is going to go with some nice brackets instead. Measured up the wall and it's quite thin so I advised going with brackets instead [WHITE SMILING FACE]

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[n0legs]

I used shield anchors and changed the bolts to 10mm studding. Screwed in until tight then cut off leaving about 200mm sticking out. I think the shelves are 1.1m and I used two rods on each shelf. The daughter has the shelves filled with cookery and cake making books, dvds and cds. Zero movement

 

[chippy1970]

I used shield anchors and changed the bolts to 10mm studding. Screwed in until tight then cut off leaving about 200mm sticking out. I think the shelves are 1.1m and I used two rods on each shelf. The daughter has the shelves filled with cookery and cake making books, dvds and cds. Zero movement

Yeah I spotted that technique on Google. Less messy than resin.

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[n0legs]

Less messy than resin.

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But the best part is you don't need an angle grinder to move them if certain people decide they want them in a different place, ABBIE!!!!!! :evil:

 

[chippy1970]

Job done

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