Daft idea for building shelving unit?

[damson]

I want to build fitted book shelves with adjacent desk unit into a corner of our hall. I'd like to keep costs down by reusing some existing panelled mdf faced folding wardrobe doors that we inherited when we bought the place. I plan to cut them down the middle to act as the shelves - and face the top and bottom of the doors with either 3 mm mdf or ply to cover the panelled sections. I'd then face the fronts of the shelves with pine.

Would this work? Any tips for making sure it looks good? Or am I just making a lot of work for myself - would I be better off just building the whole structure in 18 mm mdf and fixing pine edge strips to bulk out the shelf depths?

This is the rough design I have in mind.
View media item 43173 Please ignore the dodgy angles and drawing but this is the overall effect I'm going for. Quite chunky looking shelves basically. Are there any important points I should consider when building it? I'll have to ensure that the shelves are strong enough to support the fairly long span - that's what the coloured uprights are for but I probably need more of them, right? The left hand wall for the computer unit is 1.17m long and the wall with the shelves is 1.95m long. I can't quite decide whether to include skirting board in the design or not - the rest of the hall will have skirting board with a torus profile.

I'd really like to include a glass shelf and a metal upright for the shelves for the desk unit but I've never built with these materials before and not sure how best to fix them to wood.

Thanks for any thoughts and suggestions.

Damson

 

[leeco]

What tools do you have?

 

[damson]

Thanks for the reply leeco -

I have the usual hand tools plus router, jigsaw, drill, circular saw, angle chop saw, biscuit jointer - no table saw. I've made various fitted bits of furniture before including shutters, wardrobes and drawer units but I've learned the hard way it's good to ask advice before I start!

thanks

Damson

 

[gregers]

as its mdf you have forgotton DUST MASKS,

but as you seem to have enough tools to do the job,then give it a whirl.

oh get a decent long straight edge and some clamps.

 

[damson]

Thanks Gregers

Very good point!

Are you therefore recommending mdf over ply to face the wardrobe doors (which will become shelves)?

Any tips on how to attach glass and metal to wood?

thanks again

 

[leeco]

Thanks Gregers

Very good point!

Are you therefore recommending mdf over ply to face the wardrobe doors (which will become shelves)?

Any tips on how to attach glass and metal to wood?

thanks again

If you are good with the router you could cut a groove in the mdf all around the edge of the glass shelf so it could slot in and be supported. I would do that with the shelves too.

 

[damson]

Hello again and thank you for the advice so far ...

So I've refined my design and now want to make the shelves thinner. Still looking for more advice - pretty please! I have 4 questions ...

View media item 43422
1) In the middle the big blue shelf is supposed to be a desk - I was thinking of using batons to attach 3 and a half of the sides to the supporting walls (both plaster and mdf). Is this going to provide enough support to attach this big glass desk shelf or would just routing grooves in the mdf be ok? I think the sagulator says that a 43" span of glass that's 12" deep and 0.2 inch thick should be ok from a sag perspective.

2) Is the way I've staggered the middle supports for each shelf in the two blocks of shelves either side of the desk going to be ok from a sag perspective? The maximum span of each shelf without one of the supports would be 18 inches. I'm using 18mm mdf. I've checked on the sagulator and it seems ok but I'm not sure whether the staggered nature of the supports reduces the benefit of the supports?
All the shelves are going to take books.

3) Also what's the best way to attach the shelves to the uprights? Should I route grooves in the sides (and also for the middle supports), then predrill holes for screws, and also use glue?

4) As the wall behind the shelves is newly plastered could I get away with no backing board - or would even nailed hardboard provide some extra stiffening and be worth using?

thanks again for any advice and help!

Damson

 

[damson]

Anyone got any tips at all? Especially about the staggered supports!

Thanks again in advance

 

[damson]

I am hoping to start work on this tonight. I have found the following information on another forum which I have distilled as follows but still need advice on whether staggered supports will work or not!

Please can anyone provide further thoughts???!!!

Use No 8 x 2" screws [4mm x 50mm] and a 3.5 mm drill bit (for pilot holes)
draw plans and cutting list (for simplicity and economy go for 1220/811/608 where possible for the sides and uprights)
cut mdf (18mm) cut the longest components first so if you make a mistake you can down size: some times it can be more efficient by cutting a few strips off one edge then an end and often back again
sand edges
paint in primer
number all uprights
Mark uprights 1 and 2 together with 2 lines each side of where the shelf will sit
then mark 2x3 as a pair etc
drill centrally between the lines if your shelves are say 6" deep then one screw at 1.5" and 4.5"
drill a slight countersink on the other side where the drill bit breaks through
paint
sand
paint again
assemble the sides as a series of combs then you won’t need an angle driver
when assembling use a dead flat surface otherwise when you screw the shelf in if there’s a 4mm hollow you middle shelf will drop into the hollow
when screwing stop a few turns short and finish very slowly with a hand screwdriver or the battery drill at low revs
when you go to screw through into the shelf if you are using 12mm then a clamp on the shelve in the area you are going to drill will help avoid delamination
you drill the shelves through the sides and into the shelf in position between the lines
just drill one hole [and countersink] glue the shelf and screw into position then drill and countersink the other screw
if it was a lot wider with several screws your second one secured would be between the centre and 3/4 distance then you would drill and countersink all the other screws
fill screw holes

And also ....
Make yourself a decent straight edge for cutting and use a blade with at least 90 teeth. Blades which do aluminium are very good.

Straight edge............cut a strip of 18mm MDF 12inch wide by full length.
Cut strip of 6mm MDF 18 inch wide by full length.
Screw 18mm down on top of the 12mm MDF. Now you have a P profile straight edge.

Using the edge of the 18mm as a guide, run your circular saw along it so you cut a strip off the 12mm MDF. Throw this strip away. What you now have is a straight edge which can be used for all cuts. All marking out can be exact as your saw will always cut along the edge of the 12mm thick MDF.

 

[big-all]

looks like the rubbish i would spout

 

[damson]

Brilliant rubbish big-all!

Any thoughts on the staggered support option?

cheers!

Damson

 

[big-all]

its much easier to stagger as you can screw every section otherwise you can screw one section and you need to dowel the other part

i personally think staggering looks better as in random sized "boxes but you need a back on the unit or every other shelve minimum fully supported otherwise the weight will give you shelves looking like the waves at the seaside and lots off cracking sounds as the bottom shelve give in

 

[damson]

Thanks Big-all so glad you think it will work!

I am using 6 mm mdf as the backing board and will pilot and screw into this too.

thanks again

Damson

 

[big-all]

just be carefull where you put heavy items
go for a selection off sizes and place heavier items in the small sections

you can always add further partitions at a later date if a span starts to sag noticeably

 

[damson]

Thanks Big-all

Given that these are going to be bookshelves, I think maybe I had better build in more supports from the start.

Can I ask whether the effectiveness of a support is compromised by being staggered? Logic tells me that it would but I'm not sure. The sagulator suggested that the span of even the longest section would be ok but better to be safe than sorry???

thanks again for your thoughts

Damson