An idea used for lumber racks may be applicable to your needs: In the
2X4 supports secured to the wall, drill* 13/16" holes at desired shelf height. Insert appropriate lengtsh of 1/2" iron pipe and rest the shelves on top of them. The holes can be angled slightly to have the shelves slant downwards towards the wall if desired.
*Check the size before drilling, I believe 13/16' gives a snug fit for 1/2" iron pipe but my memory is not what it used to be. If you want, you can use 3/4" pipe for more strength, that would probably require a hole in the 1 1/8" range or thereabouts.
On Fri, 16 Feb 2007 03:58:10 -0800, John E. wrote:
Over the years, I've come up with various solutions when I'm building shelves... One solution was to put a 2x4 securely attached to at least every other stud in the wall so that I have a good surface to attach other things to... I'll then put a 2x4 along the back of where the shelves are to be located so that it will support the rear edge of the plank... This gives a 1.5" gap in the rear of the shelf between it and the wall... Using a 2x4 for the rear shelf support also gives you a good surface area to put pegs / nails in to use to hang various tools... For the lower shelves, I'll use 6" cedar fence planks... They're plenty deep enough for most cans and small items... I'll use
12" planks for the upper shelves (i.e. above head height)... These are wide enough to be able to hold 5g cans paint and such... For the lower cedar shelves, I'll cut a 45 degree right triangle out of a 2x4 and glue and nail it to the rear 2x4 and cedar shelf... For the light stuff, this isn't really needed, but I want to be safe... The shelf is glued and either nailed or screwed along the rear edge...
Although you get more strength in compression than in tension, I have designed shelves that used small wire rope attached to front of the shelf and angled back to the vertical 2x4 that is attached to the rear wall...
Another solution that I came up with at one time was to make my own shelf brackets out of 1/2" square steel bar or angle iron... In some ways, angle iron is easier since you don't need to weld any attachment plates onto the back of it or drill holes through 1/2" of steel... Personally, I believe that I should at least be able to suspend all of my weight from a shelf without it breaking... Steel bar and angle iron are fairly cheap when you buy them from a steel supply shop... You definitely don't want to go to Home Depot or Lowes for this... The steel supply shops sell it in 20 ft lengths, but they'll do rough cuts for you so that you can fit it in your vehicle if necessary... For the steel bar solution, I start with a piece of bar that is the depth of the shelving plus the distance from the bottom of one shelf to the top of the shelf that is below it... I then put this piece of steel bar into a bender and bend it at a 90 degree angle at the same distance from the end as the shelf is deep... At this point, you need a way to attach it to the wall and shelf, so I either drill 2 holes in the vertical and horizontal portions (i.e. 4 holes total), or I cut out 4 thinner metal rectangles (about 1.5" x 3/4") to which I weld / braze these to the back of the bracket... I usually use 1/8" metal for these or whatever I happen to have around the shop... With a 1.5" wide piece of metal, you end up with a 1/2" tab on each side of the bar to which you can drill a hole and attach a screw... At this point, you have an "L" shape bracket with tabs welded near the top & bottom of the vertical support and tabs welded near the front & back of the horizontal shelf support... At this point, I measure the distance from the ends of the "L" and cut 2 pieces of 1/2" steel bar of that length plus about an extra half inch or so... These pieces will become the angled support members... I place them on the sides of the "L" shape and weld / braze them in place... I then take an angle grinder and grind them flush with ends of the "L" portion of the bracket...
I have also made brackets out of 1/2" square bar with 2 of the "L" shapes and a single 1/2" square bar running between the ends as the angle support... With this solution, you still have 1.5" tabs, but instead of putting a screw on each side of the bracket, you have a space to put a single screw in the center of the bracket...
Of course you could use 1/2" square tubing instead of square bar, but the cost of the tubing is nearly as much as the square bar, so I don't see a real advantage to it...
With the angle iron solution, you basically just need to cut notches in the angle iron, bend it at the notches, and weld the ends of the notches together... You also need to drill some holes in the non-notched areas of the angle iron for attachment to the wall or shelf... If you have a angle iron notch cutter, this is a very quick and easy solution... Personally, I like the look of the 1/2" steel bar brackets... Being made from 1/2" steel bar, they'll virtually last
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