# Hey look I made some shelves



## DaPhault

*Short version:* Hey look I made some shelves.










*Long version:* Hey look I made some shelves... like this...

My family room has these two silly niches in a partial-wall dividing the room from the living room. The niche for the TV goes to the floor, but the other one has a dry-walled floor. I couldn't find anything to put in there so I decided to make my own.

Initially I intended stacking shelves that would be independent of each other and rest on satin nickel spikes, but it ended up looking pretty stupid in reality. So I drew up many more designs, but finally decided on one that have the vertical supports on the side with the shelves extending past the cross support.

The frame is built with 10 series t-slotted aluminium framing -- the 10 indicates a side profile of one inch. The load for each shelf of carried by two cross braces running the full width between the vertical supports. The vertical load is transmitted to half inch think plates which can accept a variety of different feet, casters, carpet spikes, etc.










The shelves are laminated beech sold as counter tops and are a little over 1 inch thick. The top shelf extends to the edge of the frame while the other shelves fit between the vertical supports. All were cut down to depth of 20 inches, sanded, stained, and varnished. At the sides of the shelves, except the top, there is a framing section adjusted to be even with the top of the shelf. These doesn't carry load but keeps the vertical supports from splitting away from each other or collapsing towards each other. They are also partially cosmetic since I could easily get away with them only at the top and bottom, considering the expected load.










In an effort to help hide the cables and cords running between the shelves, from each shelf hangs a black, textured HDPE panel. The panels don't extend all the way to the underlying shelf so cables can be passed under them. They are affixed by threaded inserts set into the rear of the shelves and some brackets.










The varnish for the middles shelves is still drying, but I'm pretty happy with how the project turned out.










I'm happy to answer any questions.


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## schmiddr2

Definitely stronger than it has to be and good attention to detail. That's how you build something that lasts.

I assume there are studs in the walls, so did you consider building the shelving to the wall? Just thinking you could have done something that has no legs at all and could look like it was there all along (kinda gets into full fledged carpentry/drywall work though). And I do like the slightly industrial/dark wood look of what you built. Very good work.


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## robbo266317

That's a great job keeping it simple but attractive.
Do you find any need for cross bracing? It would have been easy to make the cable hiding panels attach to two shelves to prevent sideways movement. (Maybe cut a hole in them for the cabling.)

10 out of 10. :T


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## ALMFamily

They turned out really clean - very impressive! :T


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## gorb

Wow, those look fantastic. Modern/clean/simple lines always look great.


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## typ44q

Those look great! I like the use of the threaded inserts for the back panels.


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## Andre

sigh...my idea of design and build shelve envolves layering cinder blocks and plywood...

Nice Job...


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## BD55

schmiddr2 said:


> I assume there are studs in the walls, so did you consider building the shelving to the wall? Just thinking you could have done something that has no legs at all and could look like it was there all along (kinda gets into full fledged carpentry/drywall work though). And I do like the slightly industrial/dark wood look of what you built. Very good work.


That would have looked pretty cool, too. Not answering for the OP, but if it were me, with shelving like that I would like the option of moving it somewhere else in the house for whatever reason (or another house if I moved...I wouldn't want to leave something that cool behind!).


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## Tonto

Very nicely done, I really think they match the area/other equipment perfectly.

DaPhault, is that an S-15 for power management? You don't have your equipment listed.


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## DaPhault

To all, thank you very much for the kind words and comments. Design is subjective, but it's still nice when other people like it too.

@schmiddr2 Yep, definitely stronger than it needs to be. I threw a sheet of MDF on the top of the frame and loaded it up with 800 pounds just for fun. The middle two shelved could carry over 300 pounds evenly distributed without a problem. For anyone interested, there are smaller versions of structural framing from MicroRax, MakerBeam, and OpenBeam.

It honestly never occurred to me to consider doing a built-in solution; I always envisioned it as a piece of furniture instead. My reasoning is exactly what _BD55_ mentioned: using it in other rooms and/or taking it with me when I sell the house. It also allows me to easily change the shelf material. Initially, I wanted to use this product http://www.richlite.com/stratum/ but they want $720 a sheet plus freight. It's grass, paper, and resin for crying out loud.

@robbo266317 Can you please elaborate on your cross bracing question? Regarding the cable hiding panels and the sideways movement, are you referring to the cables being able to move back and forth?

@Tonto It's a H15. Luckily I don't need the battery backup of the S; power may go out here once a year at the most.


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## robbo266317

I had another look at the system you use and it looks like the double bolt system at the sides is to minimise sideways movement so no bracing is required.
On mine the rear panel goes from top to bottom and is connected to each shelf to provide lateral bracing.


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## Prof.

Very nice job..Well done! :T


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## JQueen

Very creative looks great


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## Picture_Shooter

Nice clean looking setup. I likey!! Great job using the space  

Looks like you can add more components if needed


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## Infrasonic

Looks great, well done!


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## Owen Bartley

Great looking shelves, those are worthy of being up front and seen! I love the combination of the aluminum and the dark wood, very classy and stylish. Not to mention sturdy, at 1" you'll be hard pressed to find equipment that it can't handle. Very nice solution to your odd space.


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