Shelving alcoves - narrower at front?

[bobblezard]

Hi just a quick one to see if anyone has experience of my current problem. I'm shelving two alcoves and planned torsion boxes made from 9mm ply to fit each.

The ones on the left fit fine unfortunately I have now noticed that the right hand alcove is narrower at the front (by about 25mm) than the back so won't be able to slide the shelves in... I haven't glued them up yet.

Any ideas as to how to glue up in situ (particularly the backs!?) or any other fixes? SWMBO is expecting them in by the end of the day...

Thanks in advance, happy Saturday, Bob

 

[monkeybiter]

Can you put the completed shelves into the alcove above any preinstalled supports with one end lower than the other, so they'll go into the alcove, then when you reach the back level them up. Sounds too simple, perhaps I've misunderstood the problem.

 

[bobblezard]

Hi Mike,

Yes - unfortunately the supports (10mm battens) are already on the wall and the design was to leave a groove on the edge of the boxes so they slide on and hide the supports. School boy error I know but the ones on the left look great without visible battens/supports so have to try to match them up...

Thanks for the reply

 

[busy builder]

Hi just a quick one to see if anyone has experience of my current problem. I'm shelving two alcoves and planned torsion boxes made from 9mm ply to fit each.

The ones on the left fit fine unfortunately I have now noticed that the right hand alcove is narrower at the front (by about 25mm) than the back so won't be able to slide the shelves in... I haven't glued them up yet.

Any ideas as to how to glue up in situ (particularly the backs!?) or any other fixes? SWMBO is expecting them in by the end of the day...

Thanks in advance, happy Saturday, Bob

really ??

 

[Steve1066]

I wood cut the unit down to the narrowest point. Fit in the alcove as you intend, then scribe an infil down each side to finish with nice fit
Ps I would do the same with the other side so they match
Hope this helps

 

[bobblezard]

Hi Steve,

Thanks, yes thats 'plan B' - might have to go that way...

 

[nanscombe]

Not quite the same but I recently had to make a project to fit in a cupboard where the finished article was wider than the doors so I built the project in two halves which were subsequently fixed together when they were in their final position.

 

[woodbrains]

Hello,

I think some are misunderstanding the problem, there is no cupboard or anything, the shelves just fit the alcove with hidden battens supporting them from the sides and back. I made this type of shelf a lot for an architect who was keen on them. There is no solution that I can think of in all the times I did them, though 25 mm taper is extreme. Any gaps I came across were just caulked and painted with the wall colour. It is surprising how big a gap can be done like this and not be noticeable, the fronts are really the only thing people look at. Is your taper all along one side, or is it split between the two. 12 mm gaps either side will probably be doable with caulk and painted in.

Mike.

 

[woodbrains]

Hello,

If your shelves are to be painted (?) then just cut tapered filler strips and glue them on. Just make sure the batten on that side is deep enough to span the gap. The ones I did were veneered, so this wasn't a good option, though might be the only one here.

Mike.

 

[busy builder]

What you need is a sliding bevel.
Measure back wall, find centre, measure from centre to each corner.
Take shelf, mark centre at back edge, then mark each side (from centre) length as per alcove.
Take sliding bevel place against rear corner in alcove to get correct angle of wall, place on shelf at same corner, scribe line same as bevel angle, do exactly same on other corner. Cut shelf as per marks.
You now have a shelf that should fit the alcove, if it's slightly out then plane down to suit.

 

[Chrispy]

Make up a wedge to fit between the wall and the batten, make the wedge the same width as the shelf is thick tapering to nothing at the front to 25mm or more at the back so that the shelf is slightly tapered the other way so that it tightens as it goes home, then put a small v grove at the join, this will make it removable as well if required.

 

[bobblezard]

Thanks Woodbrains,

You've got my dilemma - unfortunately the taper is pretty much all to one side. I've put thicker battening on and managed to reduce the shelves to fit and wedge them. Will now glue a thin strip full width and caulk the sides as suggested...

Busy builder - I had already used a sliding bevel and cut the boards to fit - but test fitted them by dropping them in. what I hadn't realised was that, once the shelves were glued up they couldn't be pushed in level because the chimney breast continues to veer outwards in front of the shelf. Its a pretty deep chimney breast and not one wall in the place is straight so I should have known but having gone to effort to fit the shelves neatly its a bit annoying to have to cut chunks off them to fit them.

Yes I am a rank amateur but learning all the time...

 

[nanscombe]

Hello,

I think some are misunderstanding the problem, there is no cupboard or anything, the shelves just fit the alcove with hidden battens supporting them from the sides and back....

I did start off "Not quite the same but ..". The key bit to what I said was that I built the project in two pieces so they fit, through a doorway in my case, and be fixed together in situ.

For your shelf, if it were in two pieces the first half could be made so it was tapered on one side and straight on the other which mould mean the other half could be straight on both sides. Tapered half in place first, straight half slid into place and attached to the first piece.

This would be just a different, possibly more complex, way of doing things compared to a single shelf with two straight sides and a filler piece attached to one side.

 

[woodbrains]

Hello,

Once I was asked to make some of these by the architect I mentioned, and he said he would have a stud wall built for them to fit between. So I turned up on site with half a dozen of them only to find the stud wall was built so poorly, it was narrower at the front than the back, similar to your problem. And this was meant to be made for the job, they get you all ways. Anyway I questioned the builders ability to see straight, as you do, and he just used his steel capped boots and kicked the stud wall wider at the front! Of course then the wall just tapered from floor to ceiling as well as from wall to front. Needless to say, that building company went bust. Don't be hard on yourself, problems will always arise, some more avoidable than others, you can't be blamed for the chimney breast. :lol:

Mike.