I need to build some bookshelves out of 3/4″ melamine for a nonprofit group.
The length of the shelf wont exceed three feet, I was going to apply a hardwood strip to the the shelf edge to stiffen it and hide the raw edge of the melamine. What is a common width for the trim to add stiffness. 3/4″, 1″ ?
Also would I be better off to use the shelf track and clips vs shelf pins in a commercial / office setting. This project is nothing flashy it just needs to be strong enough to hold reference material and supply books.
Any advice would be appreciated.
Replies
stiff shelves
For shelves that may have some weight put on them (as in "unknown" in a commercial environment), 3/4 x 1 1/2 (i.e. "1x2") might be safer, especially with melamine shelves. I'd also support the back edge of the shelves with either clips or pins, assuming the back panel is hefty enough.
Another option for back support would be to add the 1" x 2" cleat to both edges. Since white and yellow glue won't adhere to melamine surface, unfortunately the cleats can only be glued to the exposed 3/4" edges, and the particle core really absorbs glue.
A commonly used method is to rabbet the hardwood edge to the shelf. This can be done to just the front, front and back or all around the perimeter. Width of the edge is up to you, I normally go between 1 1/8"-1 1/2". Shelf standards are often used in commercial work.
The weight of books.
The weight of books is a big factor. The best material I have found for adjustable book shelves has been yellow pine stair tread. Of course that only works for built in and painted book shelves and doesn't help you with melamine at all. I have used shelf track and clips by routing in the tracks so that they are flush with the sides of the uprights.
The picture below is after twenty years of dead weight books on adjustable shelves supported only by track clips, two at each end. I know nothing about melamine but I know books make most shelves sag over time if they are not supported well, with the one exception that I found, yellow pine stair tread.
I have another one of these in my family room.
Only works for painted pine.
I knew I forgot something. Not sure what magical powers paint has for holding up books.
: )
I just gotta be a butt.
Here is a nice contrast to your beautiful built ins. These puppies were made to take down and put up. I won't use the M word because it makes me twitch and then I can't type. So does the sight of a U-haul.
The thing I was going to add before I got so silly was :
I agree with you ! Real wood shelves are much stronger than that funny stuff. These were made with pine from Home depot. Been up for well over a decade ( here and there ).
The first pic is "special" because it shows a shelf with a slight upward kink/bow that I went a head and used cause I liked it some how. Added character to the shelves. Anyway the upward ness didn't sag down ! ! ! Still the same as the day i built the shelves.
Added other pics for the heck of it. First two cases left to right are dadoed with screws; then I got wild and crazy and used sliding dovetails only. ( no glue anywhere for easy take apart.
None of the shelves sagged much at all and as you can see I am taking it to the limit thinness wise. I went with standard formula for shelving span for given material.
I don't have any reason to respace shelves. I just measured tallest books and went to town.
I would recomend if using sliding dovetails to get thicker sides and thickness to spec. The ones I used were ever so slightly cupped and that caused problems. Nothing a bit of wax and a mallet couldn't take care of (end of shelves pulled cup flat ) but still.
Backs are thin plywood.
Paint as a structural element . . . hmmmm . . . who'd a thunk it ?
Sorry I'll stop now.
: )
Paint as a structural element.
It hurt to cover up the beautifully figured grain in that bull nose yellow pine stair tread {: ) but the client (wife) wanted it to match the walls and the added magical powers of paint on top of Kilz primer was just icing on the cake. The neat thing about this build is that the ends of the crown molding across the top were coped and I was able to pry it off the wall, build the unit, and put the crown right back on. The crown on the side walls just go right thru the coped ends and on to the back wall, hidden by the top row of books. I needed to be able to move shelves around as my book collection is quite large and varied.
Nice cases, roc. More like Fine Woodworking than mine, which are more like Fine Homebuilding or construction.
Thanks Everyone for the good advice. I plan to use a hardwood stiffener on the front and backs of the shelves as per request. the client doesnt want backs on the cases. So I planned to turn the stiffener on the back of the shelf upside down creating a lip or stop for books.
I think I will use the standards and clips and planned to recess them into the sides.
I am using melamine due to cost, its prefinished, and I have leftover material from the related desk I built for the same client in the thread -desk project complete.
I am not sure if I could cut the width down to 32 inches due to the nature of the project. these cases are to sit in a 7 by 9 foot tall nook. I have lattitude for design though, I might be able to persuade them to reduce the overall width and add another smaller case.
Thanks again for advice. I am sure I will be asking more questions.
Webby,
You don't mention how deep the shelves are and that will affect their strength, but there are a number of other factors in determining if, and how much, a shelf will sag. There are different types of cores used with Melaine and some are stiffer than others, but in general Melamine is not a particularly good choice of material. You said that the shelves would be supported by pins or clips, but neither method does much to prevent sagging. Your latest entry indicates that there won't be a back on the bookcase, so that further eliminates opportunities to provide support. I would be very concerned that 36" Melamine shelves installed in this way to provide storage for books and reference material would not be up to the task. You can see for yourself if you check out the Sagulator (http://www.woodbin.com/calcs/sagulator.htm). Insert the relevant information and see how much the shelves are going to sag once they are loaded with books. I don't think that a 3/4" piece of hardwood glued to the edges will make a lot of difference. If you decide to go ahead with it anyway, I suggest that you make up a sample shelf and load it up with books before building the whole bookcase.
Jim
Let me suggest that the first thing you do is develope some actual data on the weight the shelves will need to support. Books can be very heavy.
Get a bathroom scale and pile 36 inches of the books and/or material that will be going on the shelves. Then go to http://www.woodbin.com and click on the "Sagulator". Input your data and your species and see if you have enough strength to eliminate sag.
Another way is to make a mock-up of your shelf, set the shelf ends on 2x4", place the books on the shelf and measure the sag. Keep reinforcing the shelf until you eliminate all the sag.
Melimine is really particle board and PB has little resistance to sag .
Using a "ballpark" weight of books of 35# per foot an unreinforced melimine 36" shelf will say over 1/2". With a 3/4"x 2" oak edging front and back, your sag will be almost eliminated.
Be sure to do your own calculations though.
Thanks everyone for the suggestions. I am thinking the shelves will finish at 12" deep with a 3/4 by 1-1/2 inch stiffener on front and back. I will suggest however that we reduce the overall width. This shelf set is nothing fancy just in a storage area part of an ofice.
the client requested no back on the cases. and that it be done as cheaply as possible. Given that I have melamine leftover from their reception desk, and that is predominantly what they use for office furniture I really cant argue that.
I might rabbet the front stiffener slightly to "catch' a little more weight. then biscuit and glue and pin. I really dont have a clear picture of the weight these cases might bear other than the client has said not much, just stuff the want to keep out of sight.
The client also rewuested that they be constructed so that they can be assembled up in Pittsburgh. Similar to RTA furniture. This may be a challenge. On the desk I used confirmat screws, and the fastedge self adhesive screw covers from Mcfeelys. They seemed to work really well as did the fastedge self adhesive edge banding. As well as buglehead and pocket screws
RTA
Are we going to see Webbia stores popping up around the country? ;-)
Lol.
No, I am afraid not, at least not RTA stuff. :)
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