And more floating shelves

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Willemjm

Willem
Corporate Member
Can’t stay ahead making these.

All the builders around here want them, this one was for a home owner we did a cabinet install for.

764A9B45-6C1F-4EAE-934F-E26E65337BF5.jpeg
 

Graywolf

Board of Directors, President
Richard
Staff member
Corporate Member
Yep, they are the hot item these days. Cute kitchen!
 

Wiley's Woodworks

Wiley
Corporate Member
Willem--Those are as clean an installation as I've seen, especially considering the relative thinness of the shelf boards. If this is not asking you to reveal your trade secrets, could you describe how you attach the shelves, or maybe send a link to Google, You Tube, etc. that has a video showing your attachment technique? Thanks.
 

Willemjm

Willem
Corporate Member
Willem--Those are as clean an installation as I've seen, especially considering the relative thinness of the shelf boards. If this is not asking you to reveal your trade secrets, could you describe how you attach the shelves, or maybe send a link to Google, You Tube, etc. that has a video showing your attachment technique? Thanks.
No trade secrets, a few cabinet suppliers are making them.
In the picture below you can see the frame which screws into the studs in the wall with cabinet screws. The sleeve then slides over and we use a couple of 23gauge pin nails so it does not slide off. At first I was concerned about flexing and load carrying, but they are surprisingly stiff and stable.


2199D428-A5E7-4988-B31F-4AC38604B40B.jpeg
 

Sourwould

New User
Taylor
No trade secrets, a few cabinet suppliers are making them.
In the picture below you can see the frame which screws into the studs in the wall with cabinet screws. The sleeve then slides over and we use a couple of 23gauge pin nails so it does not slide off. At first I was concerned about flexing and load carrying, but they are surprisingly stiff and stable.


View attachment 196575

This is interesting. I'm building some right now. I'm timberlocking a 2x4 on the wall (long face level) and my shelf is a sleeve that slides over that and gets screws. I guess I went a little overkill.

How much weight do you figure this holds? We're going to put dishes on ours.
 

Willemjm

Willem
Corporate Member
This is interesting. I'm building some right now. I'm timberlocking a 2x4 on the wall (long face level) and my shelf is a sleeve that slides over that and gets screws. I guess I went a little overkill.

How much weight do you figure this holds? We're going to put dishes on ours.
I have tested a 2 1/2” thick at 200lbs. Non issue.
 

Willemjm

Willem
Corporate Member
Is the box 3/4? I was worried about deflection more than anything. We have droopy shelves right now, they don't look great.
I use to make the frames out of 3/4 ply, but now use 4/4 Maple as it is actually cheaper at the wholesale prices I get.

The sleeve is 4/4 Maple rails, one along the length and two along the depth cut to the thickness of the shelf. The horizontal panels are two 1/4” Maple ply MDF core.
 

Sourwould

New User
Taylor
I use to make the frames out of 3/4 ply, but now use 4/4 Maple as it is actually cheaper at the wholesale prices I get.

The sleeve is 4/4 Maple rails, one along the length and two along the depth cut to the thickness of the shelf. The horizontal panels are two 1/4” Maple ply MDF core.

Nice!

I had been trying to figure out how to get my shelf thin enough but still have strength. I used 1/2 ply for my sleeve and milled my cleat down to 1-1/4. Hadn't thought to use 1/4. I was afraid of telegraphing from the ribs, but obviously that's not an issue.
 

Willemjm

Willem
Corporate Member
LOL!! Sorry, but thats funny! Unless youre just talking about supporting the shelves on the ends and not as mounted to a wall....
Let me try better English
Mount frame to wall, two cabinet screws in each stud.
Slip envelope over frame and pin with a few 23 gauge 1” pins.
Place 200lbs (4x50lb bags)on shelf. No noticeable deflection, no failure
That was not a voluntary test, we had a customer who specified that as a condition and he wanted to see that.
What is funny about that for you?
Actually, if you have overseas first year college students, they will be able to calculate that with reasonable accuracy.
That is taught in Strength of Materials 1.

Want to give it a go?
 
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ck1999

Chris
User
Not to hijack thread but out of curiosity how deep are the shelves? I would think after a point they would deflect down in the front unless you go thicker ? But to clarify I have never made one, but thinking about making 2 for a bathroom.
 

Willemjm

Willem
Corporate Member
Not to hijack thread but out of curiosity how deep are the shelves? I would think after a point they would deflect down in the front unless you go thicker ? But to clarify I have never made one, but thinking about making 2 for a bathroom.
For 10” deep, I do 2 1/2” thick. The frame is 1 7/8” thick and does all the work. That was for this install. If we go 12” deep, we do a 3” thick shelf.

The frame is pretty solid and loads are normally somewhat uniformly distributed. If we have drywall between the studs and the frame, the last time I looked the crushing strength of 1/2” drywall is around 400lbs per square inch.

Once I had to do less than 36” wide for a builder and we could only get one stud. I used cabinet screws in the stud and drywall screws on the other end. There was a bit more flex than usual, but the result was still satisfactory.
 
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Henry W

Henry
Corporate Member
Willem, thanks for explaining your non-secrets, that's very helpful.
Floating shelves are all the rage, and the only time I have made them I used this general method (no expensive hardware) with different materials sizes. Your sizes make very good sense.
 

chris_goris

Chris
Senior User
Let me try better English
Mount frame to wall, two cabinet screws in each stud.
Slip envelope over frame and pin with a few 23 gauge 1” pins.
Place 200lbs (4x50lb bags)on shelf. No noticeable deflection, no failure
That was not a voluntary test, we had a customer who specified that as a condition and he wanted to see that.
What is funny about that for you?
Actually, if you have overseas first year college students, they will be able to calculate that with reasonable accuracy.
That is taught in Strength of Materials 1.

Want to give it a go?
Yea, Id love to see a free body diagram of the load path on that.
 

Willemjm

Willem
Corporate Member
Yea, Id love to see a free body diagram of the load path on that.
The challenge was yours. But we don’t need a diagram. The maximum stress point is a 3 minute free hand calculation.
I am cautious spending time for no reason.
Experience has taught me that those without a formal technical background have no respect for applied math and physics, they believe what they believe.
 
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JimD

Jim
Senior User
No need to calculate what has already been tested. Thanks for the dimensions. If I understand, the top and the bottom of each shelf is 1/4 inch thick?
 

chris_goris

Chris
Senior User
The challenge was yours. But we don’t need a diagram. The maximum stress point is a 3 minute free hand calculation.
I am cautious spending time for no reason.
Experience has taught me that those without a formal technical background have no respect for applied math and physics, they believe what they believe.
Good luck with that
 
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