I have 9 shelves to put in a cupboard.
each shelf will be 18 x 24 inches
I priced 10mm plywood and was surprised at a £60 price tag for enough to do
9 shelves. (scotland B&Q)

What would be a cheaper (but suitable) alternative and minimun thickness for
those shelves.
Basically for linen so not any major loads.

I have 9 shelves to put in a cupboard.
each shelf will be 18 x 24 inches
I priced 10mm plywood and was surprised at a £60 price tag for enough to
do 9 shelves. (scotland B&Q)

go to a real timber merchants to get plywood at a realistic price, usually a
good half the price Q&Q charges,

What would be a cheaper (but suitable) alternative and minimun thickness
for those shelves.
Basically for linen so not any major loads.

conti board? which is that melamine faced chipboard sold for making shelves
out of,
is the cupboard an airing cupboard by chance? they usually use slatted
shelves to allow the heat to circulate and air the linen placed on the
shelves,
even if it's not an airing cupboard with an immersion heater in it, i'd
personally make slatted shelves for storing linen on, reduces the chance of
it going mouldy where it's sat on a solid shelf and a bit of moisture gets
trapped,

"SS" wrote:
I have 9 shelves to put in a cupboard.
each shelf will be 18 x 24 inches
I priced 10mm plywood and was surprised at a £60 price tag for enough to do
9 shelves. (scotland B&Q)

What would be a cheaper (but suitable) alternative and minimun thickness for
those shelves.
Basically for linen so not any major loads.

Wood would be better... I don't know what 'would' is :-)

If the shelves are for linen only then use planed battening in strips to
make the shelves. Like in an airing cupboard. This is very cheap, very easy
to install and has the added advantage of allowing air to permeate the
linen.

Otherwise use Mdf and get it from a timber merchants who can cut it from
the sheet size to your actual shelf sizes. You get a much better edge with
it than ply. Don't use B&Wickesbase for sheet materials, they charge the
earth for small sheet sizes aimed at the DIYer and his Ford Focus. From
Magnet, I can buy a 2400x1200 sheet of 18mm WBP for the same price as half
that in 12mm from the sheds!

I'd still go with the batten shelves though.

HTH
Deano.

--
What else are opposable thumbs for? Get to me at
masterfix{at}btinternet{dot}com

"Gazz" wrote:
I have 9 shelves to put in a cupboard.
each shelf will be 18 x 24 inches
I priced 10mm plywood and was surprised at a £60 price tag for enough to
do 9 shelves. (scotland B&Q)

go to a real timber merchants to get plywood at a realistic price,
usually a good half the price Q&Q charges,

What would be a cheaper (but suitable) alternative and minimun thickness
for those shelves.
Basically for linen so not any major loads.

conti board? which is that melamine faced chipboard sold for making shelves out of,
is the cupboard an airing cupboard by chance? they usually use slatted
shelves to allow the heat to circulate and air the linen placed on the shelves,
even if it's not an airing cupboard with an immersion heater in it, i'd
personally make slatted shelves for storing linen on, reduces the chance
of it going mouldy where it's sat on a solid shelf and a bit of moisture gets trapped,

We must have been typing in sync

--
What else are opposable thumbs for? Get to me at
masterfix{at}btinternet{dot}com

On 03/09/2011 14:36, Gazz wrote:

conti board? which is that melamine faced chipboard sold for making
shelves out of,

I've seen too many sagging shelves made of that stuff. I reckon you're
right re slats though.

On Sep 3, 2:39*pm, Dean Heighington wrote:
"SS" wrote:
I have 9 shelves to put in a cupboard.
each shelf will be 18 x 24 inches
I priced 10mm plywood and was surprised at a £60 price tag for enough to do
9 shelves. (scotland B&Q)

What would be a cheaper (but suitable) alternative and minimun thickness for
those shelves.
Basically for linen so not any major loads.

Wood would be better... I don't know what 'would' is :-)

If the shelves are for linen only then use planed battening in strips to
make the shelves. Like in an airing cupboard. This is very cheap, very easy
to install and has the added advantage of allowing air to permeate the
linen.

Otherwise use Mdf and get it from a timber merchants who can cut it from
the sheet size to your actual shelf sizes. You get a much better edge with
it than ply. Don't use B&Wickesbase for sheet materials, they charge the
earth for small sheet sizes aimed at the DIYer and his Ford Focus. From
Magnet, I can buy a 2400x1200 sheet of 18mm WBP for the same price as half
that in 12mm from the sheds!

I'd still go with the batten shelves though.

MDF is absolue crap for shelving.
Buy lengths of par batten that will cut up into the right size for the
shelves.

You need brackets with a batten running along each to take the cross
pieces r two slats fixed to the walls instead, per shelf.

Space them out at one batten thickness. Put a bevel/bead on them with
a plane or coarse sand paper.

18 x 24 inches is a small enough sized shelf to allow thin battens if
they are any cheaper but I doubt that you need so many it makes a
difference. As a rule of thumb you need a bracket every 3 feet for a
shelf 1" thick. (Double that won't be enough with MDF and it no
cheaper than other board.)

If you buy a sheet of board to make them, use chip-board it is a lot
cheaper than conti-board. B & Q will cut it twice for you for nothing
(or used to, IIRC) then charge for each cut afterwards. You can cut
more than one thickness though. So the second cut will give you 4
pieces; 4 easily car portable 2 x 4 feet lengths.

"SS" wrote in message
...
I have 9 shelves to put in a cupboard.
each shelf will be 18 x 24 inches
I priced 10mm plywood and was surprised at a £60 price tag for enough to
do 9 shelves. (scotland B&Q)

What would be a cheaper (but suitable) alternative and minimun thickness
for those shelves.
Basically for linen so not any major loads.


Why not just use 50x25 pse, fitted with a 25mm gap between each piece ...
way I would do it.

"Rick Hughes" wrote in message
...

"SS" wrote in message
...
I have 9 shelves to put in a cupboard.
each shelf will be 18 x 24 inches
I priced 10mm plywood and was surprised at a £60 price tag for enough to
do 9 shelves. (scotland B&Q)

What would be a cheaper (but suitable) alternative and minimun thickness
for those shelves.
Basically for linen so not any major loads.


Why not just use 50x25 pse, fitted with a 25mm gap between each piece ...
way I would do it.

50x25 pse....pse?

On Sep 3, 4:49 pm, "SS" wrote:
"Rick Hughes" wrote in message

...



"SS" wrote in message
...
I have 9 shelves to put in a cupboard.
each shelf will be 18 x 24 inches
I priced 10mm plywood and was surprised at a £60 price tag for enough to
do 9 shelves. (scotland B&Q)

What would be a cheaper (but suitable) alternative and minimun thickness
for those shelves.
Basically for linen so not any major loads.

Why not just use 50x25 pse, fitted with a 25mm gap between each piece ....
way I would do it.

50x25 pse....pse?

planed square edged?

On Sep 3, 2:41 pm, Dean Heighington wrote:
"Gazz" wrote:
I have 9 shelves to put in a cupboard.
each shelf will be 18 x 24 inches
I priced 10mm plywood and was surprised at a £60 price tag for enough to
do 9 shelves. (scotland B&Q)

go to a real timber merchants to get plywood at a realistic price,
usually a good half the price Q&Q charges,

What would be a cheaper (but suitable) alternative and minimun thickness
for those shelves.
Basically for linen so not any major loads.

conti board? which is that melamine faced chipboard sold for making shelves out of,
is the cupboard an airing cupboard by chance? they usually use slatted
shelves to allow the heat to circulate and air the linen placed on the shelves,
even if it's not an airing cupboard with an immersion heater in it, i'd
personally make slatted shelves for storing linen on, reduces the chance
of it going mouldy where it's sat on a solid shelf and a bit of moisture gets trapped,

We must have been typing in sync

ITYM in sink ;)

Jim K

On Sep 3, 2:23*pm, "SS" wrote:
I have 9 shelves to put in a cupboard.
each shelf will be 18 x 24 inches
I priced 10mm plywood and was surprised at a £60 price tag for enough to do
9 shelves. (scotland B&Q)

What would be a cheaper (but suitable) alternative and minimun thickness for
those shelves.
Basically for linen so not any major loads.

any rigid sheet material is good for this. Chipboard is cheapest.

In article
,
NT wrote:
On Sep 3, 2:23 pm, "SS" wrote:
I have 9 shelves to put in a cupboard. each shelf will be 18 x 24
inches I priced 10mm plywood and was surprised at a £60 price tag for
enough to do 9 shelves. (scotland B&Q)

What would be a cheaper (but suitable) alternative and minimun
thickness for those shelves. Basically for linen so not any major loads.

any rigid sheet material is good for this. Chipboard is cheapest.

but will sag.

--
From KT24

Using a RISC OS computer running v5.16

Jim K wrote:
On Sep 3, 4:49 pm, "SS" wrote:
"Rick Hughes" wrote in message

...



"SS" wrote in message
...
I have 9 shelves to put in a cupboard.
each shelf will be 18 x 24 inches
I priced 10mm plywood and was surprised at a £60 price tag for
enough to do 9 shelves. (scotland B&Q)

What would be a cheaper (but suitable) alternative and minimun
thickness for those shelves.
Basically for linen so not any major loads.

Why not just use 50x25 pse, fitted with a 25mm gap between each
piece ... way I would do it.

50x25 pse....pse?

planed square edged?

With all the arrises (sharp corners) 'knocked' off as well with a sharp
plane or glasspaper before assembly.


And agreed that this type of shelving is the best method for a linen
cupboard - and (if possible) preferably left 'loose' on the wall cleats
(bearers) to enable easy removal and access as and when necessary.

Cash

"charles" wrote in message
...
In article
,
NT wrote:
On Sep 3, 2:23 pm, "SS" wrote:
I have 9 shelves to put in a cupboard. each shelf will be 18 x 24
inches I priced 10mm plywood and was surprised at a £60 price tag for
enough to do 9 shelves. (scotland B&Q)

What would be a cheaper (but suitable) alternative and minimun
thickness for those shelves. Basically for linen so not any major
loads.

any rigid sheet material is good for this. Chipboard is cheapest.

but will sag.

--
From KT24

Using a RISC OS computer running v5.16


Thanks for all the advice. It is for 2 cupboards and on further questioning
she now reckons one wont have linen but just storage, the other will be
mostly linen.
So proably do one with sheeting shelves and the other slats.

On the subject of slats I seen an idea on a bed where the slats are
connected with a thin piece of material and only the first and last slat
were screwed, the material held it all in place and lined up.

Anyhow thanks again for your help.

We must have been typing in sync

ITYM in sink ;)

Perhaps he would, perhaps he wood knot.

SS wrote:
I have 9 shelves to put in a cupboard.
each shelf will be 18 x 24 inches
I priced 10mm plywood and was surprised at a �60 price tag for enough to do
9 shelves. (scotland B&Q)

What would be a cheaper (but suitable) alternative and minimun thickness for
those shelves.
Basically for linen so not any major loads.


For linen/towels I bought some chrome or stainless wire racking from
Rapid Racking.

MUCH better than wood. Or make slatted shelves. That way any resdidual
dampness gets out.

Think I used 2x1 PAR to make them. Fine across a 600mm span.

Weatherlawyer wrote:
On Sep 3, 2:39 pm, Dean Heighington wrote:
"SS" wrote:
I have 9 shelves to put in a cupboard.
each shelf will be 18 x 24 inches
I priced 10mm plywood and was surprised at a £60 price tag for enough to do
9 shelves. (scotland B&Q)
What would be a cheaper (but suitable) alternative and minimun thickness for
those shelves.
Basically for linen so not any major loads.
Wood would be better... I don't know what 'would' is :-)

If the shelves are for linen only then use planed battening in strips to
make the shelves. Like in an airing cupboard. This is very cheap, very easy
to install and has the added advantage of allowing air to permeate the
linen.

Otherwise use Mdf and get it from a timber merchants who can cut it from
the sheet size to your actual shelf sizes. You get a much better edge with
it than ply. Don't use B&Wickesbase for sheet materials, they charge the
earth for small sheet sizes aimed at the DIYer and his Ford Focus. From
Magnet, I can buy a 2400x1200 sheet of 18mm WBP for the same price as half
that in 12mm from the sheds!

I'd still go with the batten shelves though.

MDF is absolue crap for shelving.

Its OK if braced, but its not structurally stiff in bending. And it may
stay bent.


Buy lengths of par batten that will cut up into the right size for the
shelves.

You need brackets with a batten running along each to take the cross
pieces r two slats fixed to the walls instead, per shelf.

Space them out at one batten thickness. Put a bevel/bead on them with
a plane or coarse sand paper.

18 x 24 inches is a small enough sized shelf to allow thin battens if
they are any cheaper but I doubt that you need so many it makes a
difference. As a rule of thumb you need a bracket every 3 feet for a
shelf 1" thick. (Double that won't be enough with MDF and it no
cheaper than other board.)

+1

On 03/09/2011 14:43, Clive George wrote:
On 03/09/2011 14:36, Gazz wrote:

conti board? which is that melamine faced chipboard sold for making
shelves out of,

I've seen too many sagging shelves made of that stuff. I reckon you're
right re slats though.


+ 1

If you want one or two shelves for "bits" that might fall through slats,
go for 6 mm ply with a wood stiffener front and back.

The Natural Philosopher wrote:

Its OK if braced, but its not structurally stiff in bending. And it may stay bent.

I have built several wardrobes, with shelves out of MDF and properly braced
and supported it's fine and it takes paint nicely, including the end grain
- if painting is required as mine usually are, although I have used
veneered MDF on a few occasions, walnut being the nicest. But
like-I-said... Slats are the easiest Route and just pin them to the wall
battens or use mitre fix which will detach with a short sharp tap if you
need to remove them in future for access and then refix.

--
What else are opposable thumbs for? Get to me at
masterfix{at}btinternet{dot}com

On Sep 3, 6:06*pm, charles wrote:
In article
,
* *NT wrote:

On Sep 3, 2:23 pm, "SS" wrote:
I have 9 shelves to put in a cupboard. each shelf will be 18 x 24
inches I priced 10mm plywood and was surprised at a £60 price tag for
enough to do 9 shelves. (scotland B&Q)

What would be a cheaper (but suitable) alternative and minimun
thickness for those shelves. Basically for linen so not any major loads.
any rigid sheet material is good for this. Chipboard is cheapest.

but will sag.

18x24" 12mm chip supported on 4 sides will take a lot more than linen
without sagging.


NT