Which material for shelving?

I have to erect some shelves: 22 inches wide, supported at the ends by heavy-duty bookcase-type uprights and brackets. This is to hold fairly weighty audio-video equipment.

Given an equal thickness (18mm? 20mm? More?) and a choice between MDF, plywood, veneered chipboard, solid timber or something else, would any particular material be preferable? 22 inches isn't much of a span, is it? And appearance isn't really a factor.

Many thanks.

Reply to
Bert Coules
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I try to use solid wood as I find it stiffer under heavy loads. Some softwoods are not much better than ply. MMDF I find sags with time as do some chipboards.

Reply to
Capitol

All of those & more would work. They all have their pros & cons.

NT

Reply to
tabbypurr

Thanks for the speedy replies. I'd like to use solid wood, though the size might be a problem: I don't at the moment have the facilities to glue and clamp narrower pieces together to get the necessary depth, not to mention the difficulty of finding good enough straight and true timber to begin with.

Most of the gear is the standard 19" wide so at least the weight will be concentrated close to the supported ends of the shelves rather than nearer the middle.

Reply to
Bert Coules

You could use pineboard or not glue the pieces together. You can also glue without clamping if the wood is straight, you pressit together a little with household objects and aren't looking for consistently good glue strength.

NT

Reply to
tabbypurr

I have used solid wood for shelves intended to carry significant weight, but as you say, you have to glue narrower pieces together as you can't easily get the depth on single planks these days (well, I couldn't, locally). Can't remember how I clamped them but it might have simply been flat on the top of the Workmate, although how I did the ends, I don't recall (they were typically 6ft long pieces), but

22" should be easy.

30mm kitchen laminate offcuts are something else I use, cut to size as required, for garage shelving.

Reply to
Chris Hogg

I doubt much of the AV equipment weighs much - with the exception of a meaty power amp.

Plywood is always going to be the strongest material, like for like. MDF probably the easiest to work.

I've got mine on toughened glass. ;-)

Reply to
Dave Plowman (News)

To get the relative performance of different materials look up "sagulator"

If you decide MDF will be adequate for your loading, go for MRMDF which will resist the absorption of atmospheric moisture. It also gives a much superior painted finish.

As others have said simple front edge lipping adds little stiffness. However a deeper batten fixed to the underside of the rear edge between the shelf supports can make a useful contribution to stiffness.

Reply to
Bob Minchin

Pretty sure you can buy ready made shelving made out of real wood strips glued together. Find the most economical length that can be cut to what you need.

The other way would be (as you said) real engineered wood flooring, glued back to back and clamped until dry. An end of range product could be very good value.

Reply to
Dave Plowman (News)

no, but vinyl decks do want a very stiff shelf

except for plain old wood, which has all the grain in the right direction.

a good option, if not the cheapest.

NT

Reply to
tabbypurr

When you look at the time and cost of finishing wood, sometimes it ain't that expensive..

Reply to
The Natural Philosopher

Indeed. And my Revox tape machine is even heavier than my amp.

Reply to
Bert Coules

Ish. A decent deck should have its own suspension built in.

Reply to
Dave Plowman (News)

Dave,

An interesting thought, thanks.

Reply to
Bert Coules

4th grade redwood (1 up from the cheap s**te whitewood) is pretty good. 7x1" (which I used for floorboards) is very solid.
Reply to
Tim Watts

If the shelf is of reasonable depth (say 10" or more) then I find 18mm WBP ply with a softwood lipping works well. (you can make the lipping thicker than the shelf so it under hangs the front if you want extra stiffness or a more substantial look to the shelf). I would not use MDF for shelves, since that tends to sag under its own weight if unsupported.

I built this coming up to three years ago:

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and the ply shelves have shown no visible sag in that time, in spite of some quite heavy loads on them.

In fact I have just temporarily dismantled that to decorate that room, and had to unload all the stuff from it. The piles of books and DVDs from the top section alone were quite surprising:

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(the videos were in one of the cupboards rather than on the shelves)

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Reply to
John Rumm

Whatever you use, it's tendency to sag can be hugely improved by gluing a length of wood to the underside at a convenient point.

Reply to
nospam

Thanks, John.

Reply to
Bert Coules

of course it will. And for good results it needs a very stiff shelf.

NT

Reply to
tabbypurr

I'd say rather it needs isolation from floor etc vibration. And given turntables generally ain't that heavy (in Revox or power amp terms) anything that looks the part should be OK.

Reply to
Dave Plowman (News)

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