Shelving support braket spacing calculations

Dan Steely · 2 May 2023

Hi All,

After 30 years pressure from management we now have a small walk-in larder with a 1060 x 730mm footprint and a 2560 height.

I'm planning some Spur type shelving on 2 sides.

The long shelf will be 1050 x 290 x 18mm in WBP ply with an oak lip of 10mm on the front edge on 2x 270mm supports.
The short shelf will be 426 x 240 x 18mm, again with an oak front edge on 3x 220mm supports.

The contents of the sheves will vary from cornflakes to cast iron pots.

So my question is what would be the optimal spacing of the supports on the long and short shelves?

Is there a published benchmark for this kind of thing?

Many thanks,

Dan

Jones · 2 May 2023

The shelving system will give you a max weight. Spacing is usually 800 mm so only two uprights needed on the meter run.

BillHoughton · 2 May 2023

You might find this helpful, although it's optimized for materials in U.S. (that is, inch/fractional inch/Imperial) measures: The sagulator calculator.

Tie the shelves together at the corners, where the short shelves contact the long ones. A cleat underneath wide enough to screw to both shelves, for instance, will help support each one and will allow items to span the two shelves without tipping.

Phil Pascoe · 2 May 2023

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

Sideways · 2 May 2023

You would get all of that out of a single sheet of 18mm birch ply.
Of all the shelves we have, the ones that have held up to sustained loads over 20years and more are solid wood (by far the best), followed by 18mm birch ply (not too much sag considering).
I'd spend the extra for something that will be a proper working item for many years.

Dan Steely · 2 May 2023

Many thanks for all your help. I'd love to use birch ply but at £134.00 a sheet (+VAT = £160.80) I can't justfify it. Using 3 supports for a 1m shelf is a bit ott but as the WBP ply is only £25.00+VAT it will add rigidity and reduce sagging. Having the oak edge will also give the apperance of somthing of a higher quality. It'll also add some robustness to the leading edge.