using oak worktop to make shelves

[andrewf75]

Hi all,
We have quite a bit of oak kitchen worktop left over from our new kitchen. We planned to get some shelves made from it but having spoken to a carpenter he has warned us off saying they might warp in time and aren't really suitable for shelves.
Would you go along with this?
Cheers

 

[Burnerman]

The carpenter may well be right, but no one really knows until the timber is sawn.
So long as the oak is fixed to the bearers rather than just placed there, you may get away with it!
Unfortunately, even if the timber has been stable for years, once it's sawn it can warp badly.
John

 

[foxhole]

Depends how they are used and prepared, whats to loose, if they warp throw them, if not you have your shelves.

 

[andrewf75]

Depends how they are used and prepared, whats to loose, if they warp throw them, if not you have your shelves.

his concerns were that the warping may cause damage to the walls eg ripping out plaster

 

[SimoninEaston]

All I can say is that I once made bookshelves out of a load of scaffolding boards, left in my garden after the roof was done and they've done sterling service for years!

 

[AronSearle]

Kitchen worktops are normally held down, and so some warp is restrained by the fixings, however you don't normally get significant warp in properly dried and laminated sections.

If ripping laminated oak down in width or lenght, I wouldnt expect them to warp much,

If you plane them to a thinner section then you change the 'balance' within the construction.

I've got some beech kitchen worktops that I have used for various things, beech is a larger movement timber than oak, they are all free from warp.

 

[andrewf75]

Thanks all,

I'm inclined to think there isn't really much to lose so may as well go for it

 

[andrewf75]

OK, thinking we will definitely go ahead with this. Can anyone recommend some brackets? Don't really know where to start

 

[AronSearle]

For brackets?

Pick what you like, it only gets tricky if you start doing small or hidden brackets as they generally take less weight.