18mm plywood + maximum groove depth

[Mjward]

Previously have surface mounted LED strips, hiding them behind shelf lips on angled profiles.

This time I'm looking at backlighting for a subtler effect, using a straight bit to router a groove the whole length of the shelf near the rear.

I'm a little apprehensive about the depth required for these recessed LED profiles. 8mm required (of my 18mm plywood shelf thickness). It's only for a 16mm width but was just look for guidance/comfort from those that might have done similar?

Thanks in advance

 

[Bingy man]

Edit ..How wide and deep is your shelf ? What is it going to be supporting-weight wise ? and finally where in the shelf do you plan to route the slot ? Towards the back I assume. Sorry for the questions but 10 mm is a reasonable amount of meat left on the bone if it’s for lightweight purposes. You could also opt for the self adhesive led strips that can be joined a specific points available in multiple colours inc remote control but the profile is only a few mm. Hope this helps ..

 

[Mjward]

Edit ..How wide and deep is your shelf ? What is it going to be supporting-weight wise ? and finally where in the shelf do you plan to route the slot ? Towards the back I assume. Sorry for the questions but 10 mm is a reasonable amount of meat left on the bone if it’s for lightweight purposes. You could also opt for the self adhesive led strips that can be joined a specific points available in multiple colours inc remote control but the profile is only a few mm. Hope this helps ..

It's a wide one... Around 1100mm x 300mm (with a 20mm depth x 45mm vertical height hardwood lip at the front). Sagulator has me in the acceptable range and to be honest will be light load stuff, the room is next door to the library I've just built ie those shelves are taking the heavy load. This is just the odd random decorative item.

Towards the back is right re slot, probably 50mm or so from the back. It's the TV room, lounge so wanting to avoid a distracting light. I always use an opal diffuser anyway.

My gut feeling is that there is unlikely to be any kind of significant load 50mm from the back of a shelf and as you say, 10mm is still decent. And talking myself around, it's not a hollow gap either, will be filled with an aluminium profile that will offer some structural rigidity.

 

[Bingy man]

It's a wide one... Around 1100mm x 300mm (with a 20mm depth x 45mm vertical height hardwood lip at the front). Sagulator has me in the acceptable range and to be honest will be light load stuff, the room is next door to the library I've just built ie those shelves are taking the heavy load. This is just the odd random decorative item.

Towards the back is right re slot, probably 50mm or so from the back. It's the TV room, lounge so wanting to avoid a distracting light. I always use an opal diffuser anyway.

My gut feeling is that there is unlikely to be any kind of significant load 50mm from the back of a shelf and as you say, 10mm is still decent. And talking myself around, it's not a hollow gap either, will be filled with an aluminium profile that will offer some structural rigidity.

Well I’d most likely just go for it , I take it the profile will be glued in place with some type of adhesive or glue so as you say it will add a little more strength. Look forward to seeing the end result. I’ve been repairing an old slate roof the last few days and climbing up and the ladder to access the scaffolding is not much fun in the rain - I’d sooner be in my little workshop but Needs must .. ️️️

 

[Mjward]

I'm envious that you're able to do that. I've got a slate roof in dire need of repair but I'm useless at heights. Have a roofer booked in for 2025 but that's a 5 figure repair I'd love to have tackled myself.

Only last week treated myself to a 6m extension ladder and my knees were shaking only half way

Will start a new thread in the Projects section at some point. Today I need to finalise calculations & plans because I'd love to get the timber order delivered whilst it's dry this week.

 

[Bingy man]

I'm envious that you're able to do that. I've got a slate roof in dire need of repair but I'm useless at heights. Have a roofer booked in for 2025 but that's a 5 figure repair I'd love to have tackled myself.

Only last week treated myself to a 6m extension ladder and my knees were shaking only half way

Will start a new thread in the Projects section at some point. Today I need to finalise calculations & plans because I'd love to get the timber order delivered whilst it's dry this week.

As with most of my skills it’s a mixture of being shown how to do it , having the confidence to tackle a slate or tiled roof and a lot of other skills ( brickwork , carpentry for example) the heights thing for me is ok as long as I feel safe , so I insisted on scaffolding for my safety and that of the carers constantly visiting my friend . The other part is knowing when out of your comfort zone and stopping. If you start a thread I’ll be very interested in what you need doing that a 5 figure job. My work on this particular roof is limited to replacing some tiles at the lower edge of the roof and some ridge tiles on the hip if that’s the correct term as they are extremely thin and in danger of sliding off the roof .finally new soffit and facias then cladding and new guttering/ and a new soil pipe oh and new tv Ariel

 

[Mjward]

Scaffolding is a must for sure, £3500 of my quote is for that element, it's an Edwardian property ie you're about 7m off the ground before you start at the lowest part of the roof.

It's not too dissimilar to the work you're doing. Access is incredibly restricted and thus it's all but impossible to do regular maintenance to the exposed timber. It's now all rotten, with the crows reminding me each day by ripping a piece out. Additionally, the roof joists that extend beyond the brick externally have rotted to a point that the roof is now sagging on the ends. Throw in multiple lead valleys that need replacing plus a fair few broken slates, it was one of those jobs I debated getting the scaffolding and doing myself but don't have the knowledge at this point and more importantly, I've been on scaffolding before and remained unsteady unfortunately.

 

[PerryGunn]

You can save another 1mm if you want to, I've used the white version of these - only 7mm deep including the diffuser strip

https://www.buyledstrip.com/en/aluminium-profile-1-meter-7mm-high.html

and I used dotless COB LED strips like these (you don't see the individual LEDs because they have something like 300 LEDs/m)

https://www.instyleled.co.uk/products/led-tape/white-leds/5w-cob-dotless-led-tape/

 

[deema]

For me, when I’ve done roofy stuff it’s a scaffold tower, anchor points drilled into the wall and then a fall arrest harness just in case. I too hate heights, but when you know there is something to gentle stop you if you fall, it gives you confidence.

 

[paulrbarnard]

If the slot is along the length it is going to have a negligible impact on the strength.

 

[Bingy man]

Scaffolding is a must for sure, £3500 of my quote is for that element, it's an Edwardian property ie you're about 7m off the ground before you start at the lowest part of the roof.

It's not too dissimilar to the work you're doing. Access is incredibly restricted and thus it's all but impossible to do regular maintenance to the exposed timber. It's now all rotten, with the crows reminding me each day by ripping a piece out. Additionally, the roof joists that extend beyond the brick externally have rotted to a point that the roof is now sagging on the ends. Throw in multiple lead valleys that need replacing plus a fair few broken slates, it was one of those jobs I debated getting the scaffolding and doing myself but don't have the knowledge at this point and more importantly, I've been on scaffolding before and remained unsteady unfortunately.

£3.500 is extremely high but I guess if it’s complicated property then I’m not entirely surprised , if your not good with working at heights , and also as you say your not great with roof work it should be money well spent-however just be aware that from ground level looking upwards 2 floors +the pitch of the roof bodge jobs and other shoddy work can be difficult to spot . Not suggesting you start ascending the scaffold but someone confident who can climb the ladder and get to the top and take photos/ videos/ FaceTime call you so you can take a good look at whats been done . He/ she doesn’t need to climb on the actual slate roof just the top tier to check the work out- fyi my friend has paid £900 for scaffolding erected , left up for 90 days and then taken down .. and I thought that was expensive