Shelving in alcove

[treds1]

I am looking to fit a series of solid oak shelves into an small alcove, and would like to try and minimise the visibility of the battons that will support the shelves.

I was thinking about routing a recess in the under side of each edge in which the battons would sit making their appearence less obvious.

The shelves will be around 25mm thick with a span of approx 600mm, so I was planning on making a 12mm deap recess and using a 12mm * 12m batton screwed to the wall.

I am rather concernd that this system will not be strong enough to support the shelves so would appriciate any advice or alternative methods.

Thanks in advance

Nick

 

[Random Orbital Bob]

The variables in this are what weight you expect the shelves to support? If books then I wouldn't trust that arrangement. If a few ornaments then it could work. On balance, it sounds risky to me as 12mm isn't a lot of wood. Have you thought about making the batons a decorative feature ie part of the charm. Here's some oak shelving I made for my sons bedroom where I celebrated the supports by making oak gallows brackets (next post while I find them)

 

[Random Orbital Bob]

In no particular order here are some snaps of my sons shelving project. All in solid AWO. Apologies for the quality of the pics.......twas that devil invention.....an iphone. I also failed miserably to take any of the finished job before he stuffed it full of lego etc so the in situ shots are a tad busy on the eye!

 

[MMUK]

How about using the floating shelf principle with a steel bar fixed to the wall with protruding studs. The back of the shelf is routed and bored so that the shelf slides on and finishes flush to the wall. If you're using 25mm thick oak then a wall plate of 20mm wide x 2mm thick would be ideal with 12mm steel studs.

 

[AndyT]

I think your idea could work, if the load is a few paperbacks and ornaments, not a set of encyclopedias. 25 mm thick oak should be plenty stiff enough to span 600mm even if it's reduced to half the thickness at the ends.

You will need to work quite accurately for the supporting battens to disappear properly, which will be much easier if the inside of your alcove is flat and square, which they rarely are.

I suggest fitting as normal with the full thickness shelf resting on top of a batten at each side. Then you can mark the rebates by pencilling along the battens, on the underside of each shelf. That should help cope with variations in squareness. The shelves will need to be a tight fit in the length.
.

The battens themselves will need to be good stiff hardwood as they will be quite slender. It might help to use one more screw on each one than you normally would, or even make them of strips of metal.

 

[The Bear]

Nick
I have done something similar with no prob at all. Done it in both oak and thick reclaimed pine on slightly longer spans. Loaded with hardbacks without sagging. Mine are probably slightly thicker however but not a lot.

In fact I have gone one step further as my alcoves are ever so slightly narrower at the back so both back angles are slightly bigger than 90 degrees. I routered the ends to give a groove so there is shelf above the baton but also a very thin bit underneith as well. Slide over the batons so the baton cannot be seen at all as its buried in the shelf. And way easier IMHO to level than those massive pins protruding from the back wall

go for it

Mark

 

[treds1]

Guys

Thank you for all your advice, I think I am going to give it a try, I like the idea of completely hiding the baton, although I think I want as much meat on top as possible, though I will give it some thought.

Thanks Again

Nick

 

[deema]

If Your using oak, you will need to use either stainless steel, or give it a least a couple of coats of paint. The acid in the Oak will eat away at the steel, and could produce dark marks in the oak shelf where the ratel is located.