A question of weight...
 

I have fitted some shelves into an alcove between two chimneys. The shelves
are approx 70 cm across and 30 cm deep. The shelving material is combiboard
(sandwiched plywood) about 18mm thick. These rest on battens 2 cm x 4.5 cm x
(depth/width) which are screwed to the wall on either side and at the back
with nine screws (approx 5cms long) in total (3 x 3).

Would these shelves support a sustained weight of about 60 kg? Reason I'm
asking is I want to put a 10 gallon fishtank on one of them and I don't want
it coming down for the obvious reasons. Any suggestions on reinforcing them
if needed? Or would it be best to just put them on the floor, or bottom
shelf (resting on a couple of bricks to reinforce) to raise it above the
skirting?

Marcus

"Marcus Fox" wrote in
message ...
I have fitted some shelves into an alcove between two chimneys. The shelves
are approx 70 cm across and 30 cm deep. The shelving material is
combiboard
(sandwiched plywood) about 18mm thick. These rest on battens 2 cm x 4.5 cm
x
(depth/width) which are screwed to the wall on either side and at the back
with nine screws (approx 5cms long) in total (3 x 3).

Would these shelves support a sustained weight of about 60 kg? Reason I'm
asking is I want to put a 10 gallon fishtank on one of them and I don't
want
it coming down for the obvious reasons. Any suggestions on reinforcing
them
if needed? Or would it be best to just put them on the floor, or bottom
shelf (resting on a couple of bricks to reinforce) to raise it above the
skirting?

Marcus



All I can suggest is to load the shelves with something of equivalent weigh
for a test run (something unbreakable!)

and leave it for a week.

"Dave Jones" wrote in message
...

"Marcus Fox" wrote in
message ...
I have fitted some shelves into an alcove between two chimneys. The
shelves
are approx 70 cm across and 30 cm deep. The shelving material is
combiboard
(sandwiched plywood) about 18mm thick. These rest on battens 2 cm x 4.5
cm
x
(depth/width) which are screwed to the wall on either side and at the
back
with nine screws (approx 5cms long) in total (3 x 3).

Would these shelves support a sustained weight of about 60 kg? Reason
I'm
asking is I want to put a 10 gallon fishtank on one of them and I don't
want
it coming down for the obvious reasons. Any suggestions on reinforcing
them
if needed? Or would it be best to just put them on the floor, or bottom
shelf (resting on a couple of bricks to reinforce) to raise it above the
skirting?

Marcus



All I can suggest is to load the shelves with something of equivalent
weigh
for a test run (something unbreakable!)

and leave it for a week.

I think that it would be OK if the shelf is supported at the front as well
as the back and ends. I have put up a similar arrangement (18mm ply in an
alcove, fish tank on it) but the front is of the shelf is glued into a
rebate routed in a 2x2 so that they are flush on the top edge. and the ply
edge is hidden. This front support is fixed onto the end battens.

I`ve stood on it while decorating and I`m a fair bit more than 60kg

Bear in mind that a glass tank will tolerate much less flex than a row of
books.

Cut a hole in the shelf too so you can run pump and light cables neatly
behind the tank.


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In an earlier contribution to this discussion,
Marcus Fox wrote:

I have fitted some shelves into an alcove between two chimneys. The
shelves are approx 70 cm across and 30 cm deep. The shelving material
is combiboard (sandwiched plywood) about 18mm thick. These rest on
battens 2 cm x 4.5 cm x (depth/width) which are screwed to the wall
on either side and at the back with nine screws (approx 5cms long) in
total (3 x 3).

Would these shelves support a sustained weight of about 60 kg? Reason
I'm asking is I want to put a 10 gallon fishtank on one of them and I
don't want it coming down for the obvious reasons. Any suggestions on
reinforcing them if needed? Or would it be best to just put them on
the floor, or bottom shelf (resting on a couple of bricks to
reinforce) to raise it above the skirting?

Marcus

I think that the shelf itself is ok, But it needs to be better supported -
particularly at the front.

First the back and sides: I would use a minimum of five screws for the rear
batten - either 2.5 x 10 or 3 x 10 (rather than your 2" screws) to make sure
that a goodly length goes into solid brickwork. I would use longer screws at
the sides too - but 3 each side is enough.

Without additional support at the front, the shelf is in danger of sagging
in the middle. I would support it with a length of 1.5" steel angle, going
right across the alcove with the ends supported by the side battens. If
desired, you could put a lip downwards from the front of the shelf to hide
the angle.

--
Cheers,
Set Square
______
Please reply to newsgroup. Reply address is invalid.

"Dave Jones" wrote in message ...
"Marcus Fox" wrote in
message ...

I have fitted some shelves into an alcove between two chimneys. The shelves

Would these shelves support a sustained weight of about 60 kg? Reason I'm


All I can suggest is to load the shelves with something of equivalent weigh
for a test run (something unbreakable!)

and leave it for a week.


I think that could be a recipe for disaster. Load it with double the
target weight, if it takes that for 5 minutes it'll be fine with 60kg.
Watch your toes though.

Regards, NT

"gribblechips" wrote in message
...

"Dave Jones" wrote in message
...

"Marcus Fox" wrote in
message ...
I have fitted some shelves into an alcove between two chimneys. The
shelves
are approx 70 cm across and 30 cm deep. The shelving material is
combiboard
(sandwiched plywood) about 18mm thick. These rest on battens 2 cm x
4.5
cm
x
(depth/width) which are screwed to the wall on either side and at the
back
with nine screws (approx 5cms long) in total (3 x 3).

Would these shelves support a sustained weight of about 60 kg? Reason
I'm
asking is I want to put a 10 gallon fishtank on one of them and I
don't
want
it coming down for the obvious reasons. Any suggestions on reinforcing
them
if needed? Or would it be best to just put them on the floor, or
bottom
shelf (resting on a couple of bricks to reinforce) to raise it above
the
skirting?

Marcus



All I can suggest is to load the shelves with something of equivalent
weigh
for a test run (something unbreakable!)

and leave it for a week.

I think that it would be OK if the shelf is supported at the front as well
as the back and ends. I have put up a similar arrangement (18mm ply in an
alcove, fish tank on it) but the front is of the shelf is glued into a
rebate routed in a 2x2 so that they are flush on the top edge. and the ply
edge is hidden. This front support is fixed onto the end battens.

There is nothing to screw the front support on to, as the side batten
supports run right to the depth of the chimney. The batten at the back wall
is screwed to the back wall. It is fairly tough to flex the combiboard,
although I haven't yet tried it with 60 kg. I am also at a loss with what to
test the shelf with, I have about 40 kg of barbell weights, but not much
else, no cinder blocks handy.

Marcus

N. Thornton wrote:
"Dave Jones" wrote in message ...
"Marcus Fox" wrote in
message ...

I have fitted some shelves into an alcove between two chimneys. The shelves

Would these shelves support a sustained weight of about 60 kg? Reason I'm


All I can suggest is to load the shelves with something of equivalent weigh
for a test run (something unbreakable!)

and leave it for a week.


I think that could be a recipe for disaster. Load it with double the
target weight, if it takes that for 5 minutes it'll be fine with 60kg.
Watch your toes though.

Until the water gets to it.
Expecting the surface to remain dry at all times may be optimistic.
Silly things like aerosols of water from bubbles breaking, or stuff down
the back from emptying the filter, or a slow leak in the tank from a crack.

In an earlier contribution to this discussion,
Marcus Fox wrote:


There is nothing to screw the front support on to, as the side batten
supports run right to the depth of the chimney.


Why can't you support the front re-inforcement off the side battens - with a
halving joint, or something?

Actually, if you screw a length of angle to the underside of the front edge,
it doesn't really need to be supported - but it will still stop the shelf
from bending in the middle. In other words, it won't be holding the shelf up
(the battens are doing that) - but it *will* increase the bending stiffness.
--
Cheers,
Set Square
______
Please reply to newsgroup. Reply address is invalid.

Without additional support at the front, the shelf is in danger of sagging
in the middle. I would support it with a length of 1.5" steel angle, going
right across the alcove with the ends supported by the side battens. If
desired, you could put a lip downwards from the front of the shelf to hide
the angle.

Where can I get this angle from? Do they cut to size or would I have to do
it myself?

Marcus

In an earlier contribution to this discussion,
Marcus Fox wrote:

Without additional support at the front, the shelf is in danger of
sagging in the middle. I would support it with a length of 1.5"
steel angle, going right across the alcove with the ends supported
by the side battens. If desired, you could put a lip downwards from
the front of the shelf to hide the angle.

Where can I get this angle from? Do they cut to size or would I have
to do it myself?

Marcus

You can get it from a steel stockist. Do you have a branch of Metal
Supermarket near you? They are apparently happy to sell small quantities.

Otherwise, find a bit a scrap. I've got quite a lot in my garage which came
from old metal bed frames. If I were doing it, it'd get a piece of this, cut
it to length with a hacksaw, drill and countersink some screw holes in it,
paint it and screw it to the shelf.
--
Cheers,
Set Square
______
Please reply to newsgroup. Reply address is invalid.

On Wed, 29 Sep 2004 04:19:41 GMT, "Marcus Fox"
wrote:

I have fitted some shelves into an alcove between two chimneys. The shelves
are approx 70 cm across and 30 cm deep. The shelving material is combiboard
(sandwiched plywood) about 18mm thick. These rest on battens 2 cm x 4.5 cm x
(depth/width) which are screwed to the wall on either side and at the back
with nine screws (approx 5cms long) in total (3 x 3).

Would these shelves support a sustained weight of about 60 kg? Reason I'm
asking is I want to put a 10 gallon fishtank on one of them and I don't want
it coming down for the obvious reasons. Any suggestions on reinforcing them
if needed? Or would it be best to just put them on the floor, or bottom
shelf (resting on a couple of bricks to reinforce) to raise it above the
skirting?

Marcus


I have a 100KG fish tank on a shelf I constructed in a similar way. My
wall batterns are 34x34mm, and I have one along the back to stop
bending. The screws are long enough to be in the brick, and not just
the plaster.

The big issue is bending of the shelf, as the tank has to be supported
accross its whole base.

Basicly the G/F & I + the kids all sat on the shelf, with a combined
weight of 200kg it was good, so on went the fish tank.

Rick