First Project - Library shelves - Help Please

[toplink]

I have been commissioned by SWMBO to build some shelves for all our books which are in about 35 boxes at the moment.

I was thinking of making it in a light oak, or similar, in the fashion of a Welsh Dresser, that is shelves on top, cupboards underneath. The cupboards are to hide a lot of A4 box files.

I want to use the whole wall of our dining room which is 3.4m wide and 2.4m tall, no restriction on depth, and the room is quite dark as it only has a small window.

The main problem is this will be my first big project so any suggestions or design tips will by most welcome. :?: :?: :?:

 

[Shultzy]

toplink, just to start the ball rolling, shelving for books should be at least 18mm thick and should not span more then 1m to stop bending. You can make them fixed in housings or movable with shelf supports.

 

[George_N]

The Sagulatorcalculator is useful for working out optimum shelf length/thickness. I think I'd want to build what you describe in four units, possibly with separate top and bottom boxes, simply for ease of construction and instalation. You can hide the joins between the units with face frames and mouldings if desired.

 

[lurker]

As 90% of the "structure" will be hidden by the books, what about building it out of decent ply and then facing the exposed edges with nice wood?

Advantages : cheap easy build. Little sag or movement because most is ply. Easier to match with the inevitably wonky walls

Disadvantages: slighty less satisfying, cant take it if you move.

Edit: I missed the cupboard bit in your original post

 

[JFC]

Have a look on the projects section , there are quite a few ideas on there .
Heres one of mine

 

[DomValente]

And one of mine

https://www.ukworkshop.co.uk/forums/view ... highlight=[/url]

 

[jasonB]

Or something a little more contemporary. Mostly veneered MDF, see the end of the album for a few more pics of it in the workshop.

Jason

 

[engineer one]

as the amatuer who looks with awe at the other guys work, i would make the following suggestions.

make the units no more than 1.2 high and put one on top of another.
this way you can move them on your own, they are more rigid, and easier to finish if this is your first time. other reason is mistakes are easier to rectify.

i often make bookshelves in 18mm mdf, which i am able to run up to 600 wide, with minimal sagging. but they are generally only 300 wide. remember that your books have different heights, and sometimes look better with different heights on the same level. i have found that often it is a good idea to have a gap between the bottom level and the first layer of books, so you can look at a book, and add ornaments which swmbo will always want to add..

again i would tend to make the box with a fixed middle shelf. even if not specifically in the middle. it will make the whole unit more stable and sturdy.

given your initial ideas, i would make the base unit 600 deep, and about 1000 high, that way you would get 3 sets of box files in the lower cabinet and 2 deep back to front. 850 wide would make a box that is easy to move. and not to expensive in terms of materials.

are you going to put doors on the upper unit?

good luck

paul :wink:

 

[tim]

and another

Cheers

Tim

 

[engineer one]

nice one tim, wondered why i hadn't seen it before looks good.

when are you going to build the bookshelves for the doll's house :lol: :twisted:

paul :wink:

 

[toplink]

Well What a response. A lot of good ideas.

I like the use of lipped ply for the shelves, that makes a lot of sense to me.

The base units I think will have raised panel doors and leave the main shelving open, a bit like Tim's fantastic example.

I don't know if it is best to have shelves housed or adjustable, if I go for the latter, what sort would you recommend ?

I am still not sure what wood to use as I don't have a huge budget to play with, however I don't want to cut to many corners just to save a penny or two.

Please keep the suggestions coming.

Many thanks

Simon