On Thursday, November 9, 2017 at 8:10:39 PM UTC-5, John McGaw wrote:
On 11/9/2017 4:35 PM, -MIKE- wrote:
On 11/9/17 3:04 PM, wrote:
On Thursday, November 9, 2017 at 2:17:52 PM UTC-6, John McGaw wrote:

For the shelves 3/4" alone probably won't be sufficient if you are
actually going to put books on the shelves so plan on some form of
stiffening (or center support).

Agree.Â* I have some white plastic coated bookshelves.Â* Particle board
or MDF, not sure.Â* Shelves are 3/4".Â* 30" width.Â* The ones with heavy
books in the middle do have noticeable bow.Â* 1/4" bow probably.
Noticeable.Â* Plywood would likely be stronger than my cheap particle
board or MDF shelves.Â* But strong enough to avoid bowing?


It's very common practice to put hardwood edging on the front of 3/4"
plywood shelves.
It does two things.
It obviously keeps the shelves from sagging.
It also looks better in most cases.Â* I've never liked the look of 3/4"
thick shelves.Â* They look cheap.Â* They look WalMart or Ikea.
Adding a thicker hardwood front edge to a 3/4" shelf doesn't just *make* it
more sturdy, it makes it "look" more sturdy.
It also has the advantage of matching the thickness of the face-frame.
Again, all subjective but that's my opinion on it.


Yes, it certainly is common and it is common sense in most cases. Of
course, if you look at the picture the OP provided, the shelves look to be
rather thin so perhaps he wants that look.

No, you're looking way too deep into the picture I posted, but I posted
it, so I'll take the blame. ;-)

Look no further than 2 matching units, each with a 2 door base cabinet that
is a few inches deeper than the book case. One on each side of a window.

I built in 16 feet of
floor-to-ceiling bookshelves across my downstairs room and they have rather
stout 2-1/4" edging to stiffen them up but that does give them a _very_
heavy look. At a 34" span in each bay there is no detectable sag even with
a full load of heavy books.

Each unit will be ~34" in total width, so ~32" shelves. 3/4" would be too
wimpy both in form and function, so there will definitely be some edging
used. Not 2-1/4" though. :-)