I'm a total novice when it comes to wood working. I'm looking to build a large shelf inside an 'entertainment center' that was built into my house. The dimensions I'm with here are 60" wide by 28" deep. The front, obviously is open. If I use planks for the top, what I can I do to prevent it from sagging?
Some ideas (you can combine some of them)
1) Use really thick planks 2) Run a cleat along the back that it can rest on 3) Build a "torsion box" - that is use fairly thin plywood for the top and bottom surfaces and inside use some wood (say 1x2) on edge inside. This gives a very stiff and light shelf. Depth is the key in resisting bending/sagging 4) Put a support in the middle - effectively cutting the span in half. 5) Use very stiff materials - like steel. 6) Fill whatever is resting on the shelf with helium.-Jack
Jack's suggestions are good ones. If you are going to put anything even remotely heavy on the shelf, #3 would be the one to try. If you're going to put something really heavy on the shelf, #3 is still best but use larger lumber inside--or maybe steel.
Good luck.
Peter
Sixty inches is a large span. A 3" lip on the front and another on the back should provide some stiffness to the large shelf. But in theory, there will be some sag directly related to the load.
You need to make the shelf as light as possible but as deep as possible with as stiff a material as possible. Make a fairly thin shelf, say about 1" thick and screw steel strips say 2" x
1/4" onto the front and back edges. Then cover this with wood, possibly the same as the top. The key is in the depth. Without going into detail, double the depth = 8 times the bending strength. Steel is best here as wood can creep over time. You may want to consider a strip of steel in the centre of the shelf as well.John
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