Hi
I’m going to be making a shelf for my walk-in closet.
The shelf will go around 3 walls. I’ll be making it out of pine.
Problem is – it’s not clear what’s going to be holding it up. If it were just going wall-to-wall it would comfortably sit on wooden slats screwed into the studs behind the drywall.
But since it’s really 3 shelves, meeting in two corners: one end of each shelf would be mostly unsupported, unless I connect the shelves together.
Being a woodworker I don’t want to just screw a piece of plywood under a 45-degree butt joint, or use a metal shelf bracket. But I don’t have any clear ideas what would work better.
I could try using biscuits, but that’s not very exciting, and would be hard to assemble in place.
Perhaps I could try a spline? Make a dado across all joining edges, and slide in a spline once the shelves are in place?
Are there any better ways?
Thanks in advance.
Replies
Here's a thought. I'm imagining the two sides are longer than the back. So you put your slats in a U. Your two sides are sitting on both the side (the long way) and the back (the width of the side board). Maybe you can also have a short front wall piece if the closet is wider than the door. So now the two side boards are supported on three sides. At the far end of the side board, on the underside, attach a narrow (3") cleat that's the width of the back board minus the the width of the slat so that 1.5" projects outward. This will support the side of the back board on each side while the back slate supports the length of it. Hope that makes sense
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A rabbet and tongue would enable you to drop in the short sections. Could be fastened with short screws.
I would make 3 straight shelves with the center one being installed last sliding over two splines on each end. I would use these invisible supports centered on every beam behind the drywall : https://www.leevalley.com/en-ca/shop/hardware/storage-and-organization/shelf-supports/51933-blind-shelf-supports
Thanks for the suggestions everyone.
I'm trying to avoid solving this problem with hardware. I know that would be the most practical solution, but I like woodworking and I like to solve puzzles and learn new skills.
But I'm not going to dovetail these into each other :)
You could replace the above mentioned hidden hardware by dowels/rods, say 1/2'' dia. and drill 1/2'' holes in the beams and slightly larger in the shelves. Insert the dowel in the beams and slide the drilled shelves. The trick is to drill the shelves in the right location so all dowels align at once, if you elect that solution I will explain the marking and drilling method, its quite easy.
How about making the shelf a hollow torsion box.
Use solid edges and ply top and bottom.
Not only is this cheap, it would allow you to make it thicker so as to contain the hardware needed to mount to the wall and hold considerable weight yet still be invisible.
Google floating shelf for the idea
Gulfstar, that sounds pretty good!
The pine I have will end up about 2cm thick planed, but I think that will still be enough to do what you suggest.
How would you drill the holes?
I'll start with surfacing one shelf, to see how far out of straight those walls are. And if this mounting trick doesn't work - I can easily cover up the holes I made to try it.
I guess it would be critical to have the dowels mounted perfectly horisontal into the studs?
That is thinner shelves than the hardware system I showed but if you plan to use dowels or rods, you could drill 3/8'' 3 inches deep in your beams and use 3/8 rods extending 4 inches in the edge of the shelves. To drill the wall, first you need to hit the center of the beams, Then you draw a perfectly horizontal line , I did mine with a laser that intersects the beams centerline. then you drill a 1 1/2 thick block of hardwood on a press drill to serve as a guide for drilling straight and square in the beams. Then comes the trick to mark perfectly the holes in the shelves rear edge. In the 3/8'' holes already drilled in the wall, you insert a pointed pin, could be a nail in the end of a dowel or a 3/8 rod with a pointed end. This rod is inserted in each hole with the point sticking out and you press the shelve rear edge on the point so you get marks exactly in the right place. You then drill the shelves with a 7/16'' drill . These shelves I have just installed are installed with the hardware from Lee Valley, the plate screws in the beam and there is a set screw that you press the shelves against so it leaves a mark, the set screw then gets a 5 '' threaded rod screwed over it. You need al least 1 1/8'' thick shelves for them to work.
A viewpoint from and old guy contractor. Use and develop your woodworking skills on fine woodworking. Build the shelves.
Using 3/4" boards limits your options, but you can have no visible braces. If as suggested, you can support both ends of the long boards, the support needed is in the center. Using a 5/16" steel rod set into a center stud and projecting about 2/3 the width of the shelf. An alternative is to install a face board with width strength to support the center. If one end is open, you can use the rod method there also. For some elegance you could use a molding compatible with your house for the undershelf cleats. You should check the walls for straight and the corners for square. If needed scribe and trim. Fit the long shelves first and you can make a tight fit for the cross shelf. Install it with pocket screws and plugs. If you put an edge on the shelves, don't forget that the inside corners will not mate unless you do them assembled.
Hope that helps, and hope to see a woodworking project from you.
Thank you, I'll see whether I can get this done. Would be pretty coold if I did.
Weird that I get email notifications about replies that don't show up on this page here.
If you're not seeing replies it might be that they were spam and I zapped them!
I built the shelf and installed it.
The wood (pine I think) wasn't thick or strong enough to allow for a groove like yours Gulfstar, but once I put the side shelves in to measure - I realised the solution is dead simple.
See the photos attached. The side shelves are screwed into the slats on their back, and have their fronts floating on the side slats.
Once I saw that it was immediately obvious what I need to do - glue an extra short piece of wood to the frame of the side shelves to support the middle shelf.
Now every shelf is supported on 3 sides, and has the fourth side reinforced to minimise sagging from the weight of the contents on top.
And this system also allows perfectly for wood movement. In the summer the shelves on the sides can expand into the gaps I left between them and the middle shelf (which has the grain running perpendicular).
The shelves can /almost/ hold my weight, and have no trouble whatsover holding as many books as can fit. The original MDF shelf on the bottom is sagging under its own weight :)
It looks fantastic too. Just Spar on top. I expected it to look not so nice given that this is the cheapest wood at the lumber yard.
I'm very happy with this. In the summer when I can get more wood like this I'll replace all my shelves in the entire house with these. It's not even that much work.
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