Carpentry and Woodworking - Recommendations for a wood wall shelf!!??
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jar4343
01-29-06, 06:04 PM
Hi everyone. I'm new here not very "handy" (but trying to learn) and had a question. I'm attempting to design a generic wall mounted shelf for a class I'm in, that is going to possibly produce/market/sell it and it will be made out of wood. It will just be used to hold nick nacks and the like. Oh, and a KSU Powercat will be cut out of the bottom board. I just would like some recommendations from the experts on here about it. Some things I would like to know include......
best general non-expensive type of wood?
a good general size?
wall mounting methods?
a reasonable cost to ask for it?
You get the idea, basically anything and everything one could think of if a person were researching into building one. I would attach a picture of a Pro-E drawing I made but it says I can't add attachments. If anyone wants me to send it them to help out I can. Thanks so much!!!
best general non-expensive type of wood?
a good general size?
wall mounting methods?
a reasonable cost to ask for it?
You get the idea, basically anything and everything one could think of if a person were researching into building one. I would attach a picture of a Pro-E drawing I made but it says I can't add attachments. If anyone wants me to send it them to help out I can. Thanks so much!!!
flintsilver7
01-30-06, 09:06 AM
Hi everyone. I'm new here not very "handy" (but trying to learn) and had a question. I'm attempting to design a generic wall mounted shelf for a class I'm in, that is going to possibly produce/market/sell it and it will be made out of wood. It will just be used to hold nick nacks and the like. Oh, and a KSU Powercat will be cut out of the bottom board. I just would like some recommendations from the experts on here about it. Some things I would like to know include......
best general non-expensive type of wood?
a good general size?
wall mounting methods?
a reasonable cost to ask for it?
You get the idea, basically anything and everything one could think of if a person were researching into building one. I would attach a picture of a Pro-E drawing I made but it says I can't add attachments. If anyone wants me to send it them to help out I can. Thanks so much!!!
First, branded material can always charge a premium. Shop around at big box stores and see what they charge for "blank" shelving, and then try to determine a fair price for yours.
As far as a good size.....that's not as easy as it sounds. Most wood is fairly cheap and comes in standard sizes. A good size for trinkets would be (6" or 8") x (2' or 3' or 4') - it's entirely up to you. Go check out boards, and see what you think. Certainly don't make it any thicker than 1". 3/4" would be good if you can find it.
Now, as for your choice of materials:
1) MDF. MDF is very heavy, but routes very well and will hold a screw if you need it to. It's sturdy, and you don't have to worry about knots, rough edges, and the like. I'd guess (it depends on your area) that it's reasonably mid-priced. HDF is not only hard to find but ridiculously heavy. LDF would certainly work as well. However, any type of fiberboard needs to be painted. Bare MDF isn't that attractive.
2) Whitewood. Whitewood is usually spruce, but it has a number of problems that make it unsuitable for shelving. Knots might add character, but if they occur on the edges it can get unattractive. This is usually rough-milled, so some of the edges will be rough and will require sanding. Also, another thing that makes it unsuitable for shelving is that whitewood is low-quality and is rarely straight. You can't have your shelf bent up in a corner. If you were buying the materials and building them yourself, you could spend some time at Lowe's or Home Depot and pick out really good pieces. But the knots, occasional splits, rough edges, and warping make me want to stay away from whitewood.
3) Premium Pine / Laminated Pine. These are actually a bit on the expensive side. They have all the good aspects of whitewood - workability, for example. You'll have no problem routing a logo into it. Edges are considerably smoother, and knots will be inconspicuous if they are even there at all. It's a bit more expensive, but is pretty strong.
4) Poplar. Lowe's has Poplar, which is considered a hardwood. It is actually pretty workable - unlike oak or maple, you won't ruin your sawblades in ten minutes. The price relative to laminated pine is similar, though I think they might be somewhat interchangeable. Again, there should be pre-cut boards available.
Personally, I would go with laminated pine or poplar.
For mounting, most home improvement stores have pre-made wooden brackets to use. They are paintable and stainable. Usually in the back they have a metal plate where you can wall-mount it - a screw goes into the wall save 1/4" or so and then the screw head fits in the notch around the bracket. Provided your wood isn't too heavy, you can get away with using drywall anchors for the shelving. To attach the brackets to the shelf, I would countersink two holes per bracket in the shelf and then use two 1.25" wood screws into the bracket.
You could also use standard metal shelving brackets, which range from smaller brass brackets, which looks nice with stained shelving, to larger aluminum brackets that are generally for closet use.
best general non-expensive type of wood?
a good general size?
wall mounting methods?
a reasonable cost to ask for it?
You get the idea, basically anything and everything one could think of if a person were researching into building one. I would attach a picture of a Pro-E drawing I made but it says I can't add attachments. If anyone wants me to send it them to help out I can. Thanks so much!!!
First, branded material can always charge a premium. Shop around at big box stores and see what they charge for "blank" shelving, and then try to determine a fair price for yours.
As far as a good size.....that's not as easy as it sounds. Most wood is fairly cheap and comes in standard sizes. A good size for trinkets would be (6" or 8") x (2' or 3' or 4') - it's entirely up to you. Go check out boards, and see what you think. Certainly don't make it any thicker than 1". 3/4" would be good if you can find it.
Now, as for your choice of materials:
1) MDF. MDF is very heavy, but routes very well and will hold a screw if you need it to. It's sturdy, and you don't have to worry about knots, rough edges, and the like. I'd guess (it depends on your area) that it's reasonably mid-priced. HDF is not only hard to find but ridiculously heavy. LDF would certainly work as well. However, any type of fiberboard needs to be painted. Bare MDF isn't that attractive.
2) Whitewood. Whitewood is usually spruce, but it has a number of problems that make it unsuitable for shelving. Knots might add character, but if they occur on the edges it can get unattractive. This is usually rough-milled, so some of the edges will be rough and will require sanding. Also, another thing that makes it unsuitable for shelving is that whitewood is low-quality and is rarely straight. You can't have your shelf bent up in a corner. If you were buying the materials and building them yourself, you could spend some time at Lowe's or Home Depot and pick out really good pieces. But the knots, occasional splits, rough edges, and warping make me want to stay away from whitewood.
3) Premium Pine / Laminated Pine. These are actually a bit on the expensive side. They have all the good aspects of whitewood - workability, for example. You'll have no problem routing a logo into it. Edges are considerably smoother, and knots will be inconspicuous if they are even there at all. It's a bit more expensive, but is pretty strong.
4) Poplar. Lowe's has Poplar, which is considered a hardwood. It is actually pretty workable - unlike oak or maple, you won't ruin your sawblades in ten minutes. The price relative to laminated pine is similar, though I think they might be somewhat interchangeable. Again, there should be pre-cut boards available.
Personally, I would go with laminated pine or poplar.
For mounting, most home improvement stores have pre-made wooden brackets to use. They are paintable and stainable. Usually in the back they have a metal plate where you can wall-mount it - a screw goes into the wall save 1/4" or so and then the screw head fits in the notch around the bracket. Provided your wood isn't too heavy, you can get away with using drywall anchors for the shelving. To attach the brackets to the shelf, I would countersink two holes per bracket in the shelf and then use two 1.25" wood screws into the bracket.
You could also use standard metal shelving brackets, which range from smaller brass brackets, which looks nice with stained shelving, to larger aluminum brackets that are generally for closet use.
jar4343
01-30-06, 09:44 AM
Thanks for all the info!
The material was a main concern. It will be routed, and we wanted something that would not split with screws and the like also. We had talked about oak, but I really didn't know. Reading your post helped alot! :)
The other issue with the wood is that we are using a CNC machine to cut something out of the middle (like the Powercat I was talking about). We were thinking about cutting it out of the middle of the bottom board.
All things considered I guess it just has to be a failry cheap hard wood. We are making 75 of these possibly! Let me know if you think anything different after reading this post.
Any and all info. will be greatly valued from ANYONE!! Thanks again!!! :D
The material was a main concern. It will be routed, and we wanted something that would not split with screws and the like also. We had talked about oak, but I really didn't know. Reading your post helped alot! :)
The other issue with the wood is that we are using a CNC machine to cut something out of the middle (like the Powercat I was talking about). We were thinking about cutting it out of the middle of the bottom board.
All things considered I guess it just has to be a failry cheap hard wood. We are making 75 of these possibly! Let me know if you think anything different after reading this post.
Any and all info. will be greatly valued from ANYONE!! Thanks again!!! :D
flintsilver7
01-30-06, 10:24 AM
Thanks for all the info!
The material was a main concern. It will be routed, and we wanted something that would not split with screws and the like also. We had talked about oak, but I really didn't know. Reading your post helped alot! :)
The other issue with the wood is that we are using a CNC machine to cut something out of the middle (like the Powercat I was talking about). We were thinking about cutting it out of the middle of the bottom board.
All things considered I guess it just has to be a failry cheap hard wood. We are making 75 of these possibly! Let me know if you think anything different after reading this post.
Any and all info. will be greatly valued from ANYONE!! Thanks again!!! :D
Oak is fine, but it's fairly expensive and really overkill for shelving. It needs to be drilled, though I guess in this situation drilling and screws are going to be required regardless of the material. If you don't need to saw, then you don't have to worry about ruining ten jigsaw blades.
I would still recommend poplar. What I would do is buy a small piece - maybe 1' x 2' - and work with it. See what wood you like. Check out the prices and see what works best for you in terms of price, availability, and suitability for your task. Based on what you said, I think poplar would work well.
The material was a main concern. It will be routed, and we wanted something that would not split with screws and the like also. We had talked about oak, but I really didn't know. Reading your post helped alot! :)
The other issue with the wood is that we are using a CNC machine to cut something out of the middle (like the Powercat I was talking about). We were thinking about cutting it out of the middle of the bottom board.
All things considered I guess it just has to be a failry cheap hard wood. We are making 75 of these possibly! Let me know if you think anything different after reading this post.
Any and all info. will be greatly valued from ANYONE!! Thanks again!!! :D
Oak is fine, but it's fairly expensive and really overkill for shelving. It needs to be drilled, though I guess in this situation drilling and screws are going to be required regardless of the material. If you don't need to saw, then you don't have to worry about ruining ten jigsaw blades.
I would still recommend poplar. What I would do is buy a small piece - maybe 1' x 2' - and work with it. See what wood you like. Check out the prices and see what works best for you in terms of price, availability, and suitability for your task. Based on what you said, I think poplar would work well.
jar4343
01-30-06, 02:27 PM
Oak is fine, but it's fairly expensive and really overkill for shelving. It needs to be drilled, though I guess in this situation drilling and screws are going to be required regardless of the material. If you don't need to saw, then you don't have to worry about ruining ten jigsaw blades.
I would still recommend poplar. What I would do is buy a small piece - maybe 1' x 2' - and work with it. See what wood you like. Check out the prices and see what works best for you in terms of price, availability, and suitability for your task. Based on what you said, I think poplar would work well.
Thanks again.
I would still recommend poplar. What I would do is buy a small piece - maybe 1' x 2' - and work with it. See what wood you like. Check out the prices and see what works best for you in terms of price, availability, and suitability for your task. Based on what you said, I think poplar would work well.
Thanks again.