Hello folks.. Its been awhile since I posted.
Does anyone have a lead on easy metal brackets for supporting shelfs (5/4×11.5″) I have looked around internet suppliers. Rockler and Lee Valley offer a 5″ concealed support that is for 8″ shelves.
We are currently at new 2×6 studs and will be installing horizontal 1×6 T&G CWRC and then 5/ 6’x 11.5″x 1.5″ shelves onto the cedar.
http://www.rockler.com/product.cfm?page=17507&filter=hidden%20shelf%20support
I need a bit bigger. I was thinking of sinking re-bar into the 2×6 but they probably wont get level enough. Any ideas appreciated.
thanks
arthur
Replies
Fabricate your own supports out of 3/4" square-section mild steel extrusions. Fabricate a 4" x 1.5" plate out of 1/8" mild steel; punch a 3/4x3/4 square hole centered in it; and weld the extrusion in the hole with a 4.5" tail coming out the back of the plate. Don't just tack weld it; run a bead all around the tube on both faces of the plate.
Make sure the plates are pependicular in both planes to the extrusion tubes.
Cut a 1/8" dado in the edge of the stud to recess the plate flush with the stud face. Then drill a 13/16 x 4.75" hole in the stud for the tail, and drive the thing into place. You might want to file the leading edges of the tail to sharpen them a bit.
Secure the plate to the stud with two #8x1.5" flathead wood screws.
Dinosaur
How now, Mighty Sauron, that thou art not brought
low by this? For thine evil pales before that which
foolish men call Justice....
Edited 10/5/2009 3:19 pm ET by Dinosaur
I have done it with rebar and thick epoxy. Oversize the holes and use props to keep every thing level until the epoxy sets up. It is not easily removed<G>
We'll have a kid
Or maybe we'll rent one
He's got to be straight
We don't want a bent one
He'll drink his baby brew
From a big brass cup
Someday he may be president
If things loosen up
Lag bolts. Sunk into 2x6 framing. Cut the heads off and then fit shelf over. Silicone inside shelf holes.
I'm with clinkard. Lag bolts are available, cheap and fast in almost any length or diameter you need.
Thanks allI'm not sure I get the lags idea. Not sure they are long enough. I need to be able to support pottery etc on 12" deep shelves.Dino did give me a good idea. I dont even have to attache to the face of the stud, since the studs are open, if I just weld rod onto plates, I can screw the plates onto the side of the studs and let the rod stick out into the room. That way I can level them perfectly (probably slightly tilted back) and so be accurate when drilling into the shelves material.I guess I was shooting for something off the shelf that was bigger and so avoid the metal work time.Thanks again for all ideasarthurhttp://www.thesmallbuildingcompany.com
Get some 3/8" by 12" lags, drill holes in the studs, sink the lags in 3 inches or so, cut the heads off, drill holes in the back of the shelf and slide them on. I've never even used glue. I've hung 6" X 12" X 6' mantles with two 3/4" lags that you could sit on.
Makes more sense now. Thanks Florida
arthurhttp://www.thesmallbuildingcompany.com
That sounds like a good solution. Two details come to mind...keep the studs parallel.How difficult was is to slide the wood onto the 9" projected studs?
You have to tweak the bolts to get them lined up straight and then use a little persuasion. If you're careful with drilling it works real well right out of the gate.
Yep. Rounding the ends slightly with an angle grinder and taper-reaming the first inch of your hole helps, too.Now try mounting a corner shelf this way! A 45º drilling guide made from a 2x4, and a piece of a refrigerator box to transfer my bolt locations to the shelf, and I was done.Well, I did have to ream a couple of hole oversize, and squirt a gob caulk into them before I slid the shelf on.AitchKay
I think the metalwork is a little over the top.
Instead of trying to mount to the surface of the wall, make the shelves 16.75" deep. Put blocking across the back and front of the 2x6 stud bay so that the bottom is supported in the front and the top is blocked in the back.
After you put up the T&G, you will still have 11.5" of shelf exposed through the wall.
If you are worried about the hole in the T&G finished surface, you could make the shelves in two parts - an interior 3/4" thick that goes through the stud bays and an outer shell covering of two layers of 3/8".
Tu stultus es
Rebuilding my home in Cypress, CA
Also a CRX fanatic!
Look, just send me to my drawer. This whole talking-to-you thing is like double punishment.
Using 1/2" rebar for concealed shelf support 16" deep
I just finished a project similar to this. In my garage I wanted cheap, strong shelving, 16" deep with a minimum of support structure, for storage of heavily loaded 12 gallon tote boxes.
I cut 20 foot lengths of 1/2" rebar into 20" lengths (using a SawzAll). Used a laser level to project a horizontal line at shelf height and a Portalign drill guide to make sure I was drilling a 3" deep hole at right angle in center of every stud at the horizontal laser line. I sank each rebar 3" deep into the 2x4 stud. The 1/2" rebar is actually a bit oval shaped, slightly larger than 1/2" in one plane, so I used a belt sander to shape 3" of the end of each rebar into a more circular shape, and I relieved the sharp edges of the cut end of the rod so it would slide into the wood without catching.
I lubricated the insertion end of the rebar with Dove soap to make it slippery and drove it into the holes using a 3lb dead blow plastic hammer. I marked the rod at 3" so I would know when to stop driving it - otherwise you could drive it entirely through the stud and into the adjacent room.
Shelving material is 1/2" wafer board (OSB). I cut three 16" wide shelves (8ft long) from each 4x8 sheet of OSB. I laid the OSB on top of the rebar and joined the butting ends of shelves together with nailing tie plates (StrongTie HTP37Z) and 1/2" truss screws (underneath).
In spite of using the PortAlign, some holes were not 90 true and there were minor variations in the true level of the rebar sticking out of the stud. For garage storage, I did not bother to correct the issue. Although I could slip a pipe over the rebar and bend it to be level, the variations were relatively minor so I didn't bother.
Each 16' shelf is now loaded with twelve 12 gallon flip-top tote boxes, each weighing about 40 to 55 pounds, for a total weight of approximately 600lbs per shelf. They are placed on the shelves so the narrow end faces out and they actually hang over the front edge of the shelf a few inches. One wall of my garage has 6 shelves, 16 feet long so the total wall load is 3,600 pounds.
This shelf system cost me about $1.15 per linear foot (in 2013). It's not completely rigid - with the loading described earlier, the front edge of each shelf deflects downward about 1/2". The shelves bounce up and down slightly when putting boxes on them.
A structural engineer would probably not be happy that I drilled six 1/2" holes 14.5" apart in the studs of a support wall, and then loaded one side of that wall with 1.8 tons of weight.
If I was doing this for decorative shelves indoors, I'd probably use plain steel 1/2" rod which is more rigid than the rebar. Rather than trying to drill a hole edgewise into a shelving plank, I'd probably rout matching grooves in two boards and then face glue them so the grooves face each other and form holes to be slid over the rods sticking out of the wall.
Several times I had to remove rods that I had already pounded into the stud. I grabbed the rod with a large ViseGrip and pounded the ViseGrip outward with a dead blow hammer. It's imperative that the rod end has been lubricated with something like Dove soap to make it easy to insert and remove.
Obviously, this shelving system is not adjustable - or at any rate, I would not advocate drilling 1/2" holes every two inches up and down studs in a bearing wall in order to provide "adjustable" spacing.
It should be easy and cheap to do this for an 11" shelf, and probably the rebar would be plenty stiff in such a short length and less loading. I would advise using every stud you can locate.