Do any of the hardware manufacturers make standard brackets for building “floating” shelves with hidden brackets.
I am looking for the look you see more and more in the magazines of ~1″ thick shelves about 12″ deep that have no visible brackets. I have considered using steel rod epoxied into the studs and into the shelf, but I hate having to find out why it won’t work after installation.
Load on the shelves will be plates and glasses.
Replies
Steel rod epoxied into a stud would work. I've seen steel rod welded to a metal plate support floating stairs, shelves and counter tops with great success. Also, a torsion box is another method for floating shelves. However, I'm not aware of any hardware to accomplish the task.
I don't know of special hardware, but you don't need any. The shelves are made hollow. They consist of a framework covered by thin plywood faces. The back side of the framework is left out. It is fastened to the wall with regular screws through the piece into the studs, then the shelf is slipped over the piece and screwed down through the back of the top into the frame piece.
A French Cleat made out of metal (aluminum) will to the trick. Lee Valley sells a product called Z clips. Just rabbet the back edge of the shelf to hide the hardware and create the appropriate leverage.
http://www.leevalley.com/hardware/page.aspx?c=2&p=41869&cat=3,40914,50427&ap=1
I didn't pay close enough attention to your shelf dimensions and now realize that the French cleat would be too wide for a 1" thick shelf.
Hi Lightening,
The 2-in-thick DFir shelves in this photo http://gwwoodworking.com/ferk/images/ferk3_jpg.jpg are supported by 1/2-in-diameter stainless rods epoxied in 2x6 studs. I placed them in each stud before the stone was laid. The rods extend 8-inches beyond the stone to support the 12-in-deep shelves. The cantelevered oak shelves in the attached photo were done with the same technique. The trick is to lay out and place the rods precisely perpendicular to the wall and then drill the shelf accurately.
Hope this helps,
Gary
http://gwwoodworking.com/
I saw some interesting stuff at The Container Store. They seem to be all over the country and online.
I installed some floating shelves a few months ago. I threaded two 8†lag bolts into the wall and then cut the heads off. I marked and drilled out corresponding holes in the ¾†shelf. The shelf slipped right onto the two bolts. I scribed the shelf to wall to get a tight fit and used some caulk to get an invisible connection to the wall. The trickiest part is making sure the lags went in perfectly straight and at a 90° angle to the wall. I am using my shelves to display some small items so weight was not and issue. I would not recommend floating shelves if you want to put the Encyclopedia Britannica up there.
I have heard that Ikea sells floating shelves and what some guys do is buy that kit and use just the hardware to work with their specific shelf design. They chuck the cheesy shelf.
Finally, I work in NYC and recently HD opened their second store. It’s a nice store but they focus heavily on apartment décor and remodels. I was in there poking around at lunch the other day and saw some new interesting hardware for installing floating shelves. It’s a two part hardware kit. There is a bolt that screws halfway into the wall and then a steel rod that threads onto the protruding end of the bolt. I can’t remember the brand name but maybe a search on Net will bring it up.