Long shelf - Advice needed on hardwood

[Matted]

Hi All,

I'm making a basic shelf that has one long (180cm) shelf, its mostly made out of hardwood ply, but I'm also going to brace the front and back with some hardwood to support it/stop it sagging. Its also going to be painted, so the final look is not all that important.

With that in mind, whats a good, affordable wood to go for. I don't want to spend more than I need to, but at the same time, I want to get something that will do the job.

cheers all

 

[deema]

Beech is one of the cheapest hardwoods and I use it a lot for lipping. I’m assuming the shelf will be painted.
Depending on how deep the shelf will be / weight you want it to take you can laminate two thinner pieces or Ply to achieve your desired thickness, lip with beech on the front and imbed an aluminium L section on the rear. (Rebate the two pieces to take the section thickness.) The aluminium can be used for fixing the shelf / covered with a moulded pieces of the beech.

 

[woodbloke66]

1.8m is pretty long for a single unsupported shelf, even with lippings etc front and back. I would definitely use the Sagulator to work out any shelf sag, bearing in mind that the info provided at the bottom discusses all sorts of stuff about shelf lengths and loadings etc. Personally, a saggy shelf or even one that's up on the wall slightly out of kilter would be enough to give me the screaming willies :lol: - Rob

 

[Matted]

Beech is one of the cheapest hardwoods and I use it a lot for lipping. I’m assuming the shelf will be painted.
Depending on how deep the shelf will be / weight you want it to take you can laminate two thinner pieces or Ply to achieve your desired thickness, lip with beech on the front and imbed an aluminium L section on the rear. (Rebate the two pieces to take the section thickness.) The aluminium can be used for fixing the shelf / covered with a moulded pieces of the beech.

thanks mate, that's super helpful

 

[Matted]

1.8m is pretty long for a single unsupported shelf, even with lippings etc front and back. I would definitely use the Sagulator to work out any shelf sag, bearing in mind that the info provided at the bottom discusses all sorts of stuff about shelf lengths and loadings etc. Personally, a saggy shelf or even one that's up on the wall slightly out of kilter would be enough to give me the screaming willies :lol: - Rob

cheers!

The plan is to support the shelf from 3 sides... Hopefully that will help!?

 

[woodbloke66]

1.8m is pretty long for a single unsupported shelf, even with lippings etc front and back. I would definitely use the Sagulator to work out any shelf sag, bearing in mind that the info provided at the bottom discusses all sorts of stuff about shelf lengths and loadings etc. Personally, a saggy shelf or even one that's up on the wall slightly out of kilter would be enough to give me the screaming willies :lol: - Rob

cheers!

The plan is to support the shelf from 3 sides... Hopefully that will help!?

It might, but then again nearly 2m of shelving unsupported in the middle may sag a bit (or quite a lot?? :evil: ) depending on the wood chosen, the thickness and the total load it's got to support. Supporting it on three sides is going to help, but how much is a debatable question - Rob

 

[custard]

The Sagulator allows you to factor in shelves with three side support

https://www.woodbin.com/calcs/sagulator/

I agree with Woodbloke, 1.8m is an awfully long span. I can't stand any visible sag on a shelf, it just looks depressing. The Sagulator I think defaults to 3mm as the maximum allowable sag, personally I think that's too much and I'd recommend 1.5mm.

 

[Aquachiefofficer]

Thank you Woodbloke for the link. Saved on my desktop.
Regards, Paul

 

[Adam9453]

I couldn’t see that you have stated the depth of the shelf which is pretty critical as to how much it will sag at the front edge but generally I’d agree with the advice above, rebate metal angle into the shelf on the front and back edge and use good quality birch ply combined with beech, maple or tulipwood lippings and it will be solid as a rock. Go thick enough with your shelf to allow you to use a substantial sized metal angle.

 

[MikeG.]

Put a support in the middle. Even with a solid oak/ chestnut/ ash/ beech shelf, I'd want a support at least at 1200 centres, no matter the load. I simply don't understand what the attraction is in making things look like they're not up to the job they're expected to do. If a shelf is supposed to hold a weight, what is wrong with making it look like it is strong enough to hold that weight?

 

[John Brown]

I agree, for what it's worth. I really don't get the fashion for "floating shelves". To my mind they look silly, and seem like a lot of faff.

 

[D_W]

Have a closet done like that. It's supported on the ends, screwed to the wall, and supported at the back. It still sags. since nobody can see the center where the doors are without stepping up to the closet, I literally put a 2x4 stained to match right in the center behind sliding closet doors.

Like custard says, I hate to see a sagging shelf. It's like a dying tree - you look at it and just wonder how much worse it will get and how fast. And even if it stays the same, it's sad looking.

42" is the standard a cabinetmaker here told me at one point - he wouldn't ever put a shelf in anything no matter who was paying if it was unsupported for 42" or more.