Floating Solid Wood Shelves

[krisdl]

Hey there people

Job: Make and fix a solid wood floating shelf to a concrete/block wall.

My wife wants me to put up some solid wood floating shelfs but I have no experience doing this, I am looking at the Hafele webpage and I see these http://www.hafele.co.uk/shop/templates/hafele/products.asp?param=9179&ig_id=11627&loginfirst=true but what I don't understand is why the shelf doesn't slip off these rods, this may sound dumb but I just cannot see how this works but hopefully someone here can shed some light on this for me because every mount I look at looks like you just slide it into a deep drilled hole in the back of the shelf and thats it no fixing.

Thanks for your help in advance

Kris

 

[nanscombe]

Install shelf on support as far as the knurled section

I would imagine that the knurled section, part way down the rod, is slightly larger than the rest of the rod and provides just enough resistance to stop it sliding and thus hold it in place.

 

[Glynne]

If it is the same fixing that I have, the screws are slightly offset from the rest of the rod to allow for small adjustments in case your drilled holes aren't completely horizontal. The effect of this is that they "grab" the holes in your shelf. Hope that makes sense?

 

[Steveshj]

Hi,

Glynne is correct, the fixings I have used have a standard threaded section for insertion in a standard rawl type plug and a knurled outer section, the two are very slightly epicyclic.(slightly off the same axis) The small section between the threads and the knurled area has a hexagon shape designed to be turned with a spanner until the knurled section grips the shelf. Once the fixing has gripped the shelf it can be pushed fully home (with the help of a rubber hammer in my case!)

Using these fixings it is extremely critical that the holes are not drilled oversized and are accurately located, there is next to no give at all in them.

They do look good though and are very strong, mine support a 2 x 6 x 36 inch solid meranti shelf for bottles.

Hope this helps.

Cheers

Steve

 

[mtr1]

Depending upon how much weight you intend to support on top of the shelf, those type of fixings are prone to levering off the wall. A stronger way, at least in my experience, is to use threaded rod cut to length, and drill into the shelf and wall. You can the use chemfix in both holes, then pop the threaded rod into the holes and support level until fixed.

 

[krisdl]

Thank you everyone for the replies, I believe I understand how it works now and that there is a need for precision drill the holes both dead on size and direction. I did think about using the threaded bar but I want to be able to remove the shelfs if it is needed without causing too much damage.

Thank you again

Kris