Deep curved shelf

SWMBO wants the TV on a shelf, rather than on the stand it came with, so she can put things under it. It needs to go in the alcove created by the chimney breast, which is 36cm deep. Unfortunatly, the TV is too big to go on a shelf 36cm deep, so I need the shelf to get wider as it goes away from the chimney - and my instructions are to try and get a curve. At the far end (1.3m away), it will need to be 65cm deep.

I drew a picture, in case my description isn't very clear - it's at

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I have a bench saw (present from someone who had "upgraded") and have used this to make shelves out of pine (finished with wax) in other parts of the room - but clearly I can't cut curvy lines with it! Also, it must be fairly obvious that pine planks don't come 65cm wide!

So, I have 2 problems: What should I make this shelf out of? Is there any board that I can cut and treat so that it matches the other waxed pine shelves, or should I just get some MDF and paint it to match the skirting board/door frame? I'd be happy with ply, even though the front edge would be stripy, but I don't know what sort of ply/etc I'm looking for. And what tool do I need to cut it? I guess a jigsaw, but I'm a bit limited on budget, so does anyone have any recommendations? Many thanks!

Reply to
Stephen Gower
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How about some edge laminated softwood board.

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you could borrow a jigsaw or approach someone in the university workshops to cut it for you?

Either draw out your curves with geometric constructions and a 'pencil and string compass' or get a thin strip of plywood and use it like a big flexicurve holding the strip in a nice smooth curve whilst a trusty assistant draws a pencil line to cut to.

Reply to
Bob Minchin

Limited budget and tools lends itself to MDF. 18mm would be ok if supported enough. The 'good' thing about MDF (yes there is one!) is that it is very easy to work with. A cheap jigsaw and some good sandpaper (and mask) will be produce a nice edge indeed. I have used it for boxing in and found it paints very well with water based gloss and a roller - with fine sanding between a couple of coats.

Scott

Reply to
Scott Mills

Do I know you? Just wondering how you know I'm a university employee (well, actually college employee, but we have a full workshop and maintenance team). It's a good point, I'll try to call in a favour - thanks!

Reply to
Stephen Gower

FWIW your message header contains the sender address " snipped-for-privacy@calculus.wolf.ox.ac.uk" - if you want to attempt to reduce spam to your work account you might want to see about masking that...

Reply to
Jeremy Collins

Lots of information in the headers of eMail and usenet postings... Your in/at/asscoiated with Oxford.

Reply to
Dave Liquorice

Our house came with shelves made from 0.5" mahogany veneered chipboard glued on top 0.5" ordinary chipboard, with 0.5" thick strip nailed to the front. Those were certainly strong enough, so when I was given same requirement for the TV as you, I used 12mm plywood glued on top of 12mm chipboard, with a strip of pine on the front.

24mm plywood would probably work as well, and you might be able to glue and nail a thin strip to the front of a curved shelf. 60cm rather than 65cm deep would make things a bit easier.
Reply to
Nick Finnigan

picture?

Looks very professional and the sort of thing I might like to get for a forecoming birthday :-)

Reply to
big al - Peoples Pal

CorelDraw. I've been using it since version 2 and it's now on version 12, so I often use it for tasks where perhaps something more CAD like would be appropriate - but I know the way it works, and know how to get it to do what I want quickly!

Reply to
Stephen Gower

True, but that 5 cm depth allows me to turn the TV through 12 degrees more while keeping the base on the shelf - which gives a much more pleasant angle for watching! Thanks for the advice, everyone.

Reply to
Stephen Gower

Ah right, I've used CorelDraw 8 (or was it 7 - just changed my 'puter from my old 350MHz K2, so don't remember or have it anymore) a few times, but nothing that looked as professional as that. It was very useful for drawing scale plans for my conservatory flooring project, it helped me keep waste to a minimum while ensuring no set of corners met at a heavy traffic area.

I have found the learning curve for CAD to be just too much for my needs, guess I'll call in a few favours from engineering and architect mates when I need to know.

Reply to
big al - Peoples Pal

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