In message , Terry
Casey writes
In article , newspost-c-
says...


But unless you really have the urge to build it, or want it to fit a
particular place etc. you might want to look up the prices of decent
flatpack ones compared to the cost of the boards. Cheap ones from Argos
etc. can be pretty rubbish. But the IKEA Billy ones are strong and
sturdy, and quick to put together. Unfussy and do the job well.

I should have pointed out in my previous post that the screws (actually
specially made fixings but you do screw them in!) are only used to clamp
the shelves to the sides to make the structure rigid - the main fixing
is two dowels in each end of the shelf so, as Chris says, strong and
sturdy.

yup, they use those cam fixings, which pull everything together nice and
tight, whilst being nicely hidden.

I think the veneer is sealed with a melamine product, unlike veneered
chipboard you would buy, which is just unfinished veneer, and it
certainly makes the veneer strong as well as looking good

According to the webpage, it's an acrylic lacquer.

The shelves are rated for 30kg, and are plnety good enough for 90% of
the books we have them. It is possible to over do the load on the
shelves, if you have a shelf full of large heavy books, I relocated a
shelf of my wife's medical references to the bottom shelf when I noticed
a small amount of bowing.

But any DIY shelf made with similar boards would probably be worse.
--
Chris French