Making a garage cabinet for a friend, going to be used mainly for household
supplies, etc. The shelves are 30" wide by 23" deep.

I have only used the metal Knap & Vogt -type standards and clips for
adjustable shelving in the past. They work well and support a reasonable
amount of weight. I was going to use 6 standards (3 on each side) for
these shelves, which is probably overkill.

But lately I have gotten interested in the 5mm pin supports. I know that
the strength of these depends on several factors, one being the type of wood
used. So, for those who have used these things, how will they do in, say,
baltic birch plywood? Are the metal track/standards going to be
significantly stronger? Shelves will be 3/4" plywood.

Benefits of pin shelving include not having to dado for the metal standards
and a neater overall appearance.

Happy New Year!

Ralph

Ralph Compton wrote:
Making a garage cabinet for a friend, going to be used mainly for
household supplies, etc. The shelves are 30" wide by 23" deep.

I have only used the metal Knap & Vogt -type standards and clips for
adjustable shelving in the past. They work well and support a
reasonable amount of weight. I was going to use 6 standards (3 on
each side) for these shelves, which is probably overkill.

But lately I have gotten interested in the 5mm pin supports. I know
that the strength of these depends on several factors, one being the
type of wood used. So, for those who have used these things, how
will they do in, say, baltic birch plywood? Are the metal
track/standards going to be significantly stronger? Shelves will be
3/4" plywood.

Unless you are storing lead bricks, the pins will be fine. I'm assuming you
are talking about the "L" shaped ones with a pin, not the spoon shaped ones.
They come with 1/4" pins too.

Benefits of pin shelving include not having to dado for the metal
standards and a neater overall appearance.

OTOH, you have to drill holes for the pins

--

dadiOH
____________________________

dadiOH's dandies v3.06...
....a help file of info about MP3s, recording from
LP/cassette and tips & tricks on this and that.
Get it at http://mysite.verizon.net/xico

On 1/3/2012 12:35 AM, Ralph Compton wrote:
Making a garage cabinet for a friend, going to be used mainly for
household supplies, etc. The shelves are 30" wide by 23" deep.

I have only used the metal Knap & Vogt -type standards and clips for
adjustable shelving in the past. They work well and support a reasonable
amount of weight. I was going to use 6 standards (3 on each side) for
these shelves, which is probably overkill.

But lately I have gotten interested in the 5mm pin supports. I know that
the strength of these depends on several factors, one being the type of
wood used. So, for those who have used these things, how will they do
in, say, baltic birch plywood? Are the metal track/standards going to be
significantly stronger? Shelves will be 3/4" plywood.

Benefits of pin shelving include not having to dado for the metal
standards and a neater overall appearance.

Happy New Year!

Ralph

I have used the "L" shaped pins for many many years and have had not
problems with weight. I do however use the 1/4" vs the smaller 5mm
versions.

I did pick up a jig, 1/4 and 5mm self-centering bits, and some spoon pins to
play with but haven't tried anything yet. The "L" pins look stronger. It
looks to me that shelf width is a little more critical with pins than clips.

Thanks for the help, Ralph

On 1/3/12 11:00 AM, Ralph Compton wrote:
I did pick up a jig, 1/4 and 5mm self-centering bits, and some spoon
pins to play with but haven't tried anything yet. The "L" pins look
stronger. It looks to me that shelf width is a little more critical with
pins than clips.

Thanks for the help, Ralph


The L-pins are less likely to deform the hole, but both are way stronger
than you need for any household shelf, assuming the cabinets aren't made
from 1/4" press-board.


--

-MIKE-

"Playing is not something I do at night, it's my function in life"
--Elvin Jones (1927-2004)
--
http://mikedrums.com

---remove "DOT" ^^^^ to reply

On Jan 3, 12:35*am, "Ralph Compton"
wrote:
Making a garage cabinet for a friend, going to be used mainly for household
supplies, etc. *The shelves are 30" wide by 23" deep.

I have only used the metal Knap & Vogt -type standards and clips for
adjustable shelving in the past. *They work well and support a reasonable
amount of weight. *I was going to use 6 standards (3 on each side) for
these shelves, which is probably overkill.

But lately I have gotten interested in the 5mm pin supports. *I know that
the strength of these depends on several factors, one being the type of wood
used. *So, for those who have used these things, how will they do in, say,
baltic birch plywood? *Are the metal track/standards going to be
significantly stronger? *Shelves will be 3/4" plywood.

Benefits of pin shelving include not having to dado for the metal standards
and a neater overall appearance.

Happy New Year!

Ralph

I have used the standard L-shaped pins on lots of projects, including
some bookshelves, and they work fine. You are dealing with a shear
situation and the pins will hold a lot of weight.

But -- a couple of thoughts:

1. Cut your shelves so they are pretty snug to the vertical face of
the pin "L". You don't want the pins loose in the holes.

2. With heavy loads such as books, your shelf can be the weaker link.
A three foot bookshelf can hold a lot of books, and paper is heavy in
quantity. Consider some kind of structural strength integrated into
the shelf (i.e. A wider, thicker front decorative trim that is glued
to the shelf rather than decorative banding.

RonB

In article , "dadiOH"
wrote:

Ralph Compton wrote:
Making a garage cabinet for a friend, going to be used mainly for
household supplies, etc. The shelves are 30" wide by 23" deep.

I have only used the metal Knap & Vogt -type standards and clips for
adjustable shelving in the past. They work well and support a
reasonable amount of weight. I was going to use 6 standards (3 on
each side) for these shelves, which is probably overkill.

But lately I have gotten interested in the 5mm pin supports. I know
that the strength of these depends on several factors, one being the
type of wood used. So, for those who have used these things, how
will they do in, say, baltic birch plywood? Are the metal
track/standards going to be significantly stronger? Shelves will be
3/4" plywood.

Unless you are storing lead bricks, the pins will be fine. I'm assuming you
are talking about the "L" shaped ones with a pin, not the spoon shaped ones.
They come with 1/4" pins too.

Benefits of pin shelving include not having to dado for the metal
standards and a neater overall appearance.

OTOH, you have to drill holes for the pins

I use grommets that go into the holes and then slide the pins in. It may
be overkill, but I have over 200 feet of bookshelves done this way all
full of hardback textbooks and hardback fiction. I have another 300 feet
of shelf that is dedicated to paperbacks (yes we read a bit) with two
rows of paperbacks to a shelf. Some are pushing 20 years old with no
issues. I use the grommets because the line the hole and make the pins
fit very tight, as well as the shelf tight to the cabinet.

Everything everyone said is true, but for a garage shelf, why do the
drilling. Routing the channels for the old standards is way easier. And
they are easier to setup. Who cares about looks for a garage shelf.

On 1/3/2012 1:35 AM, Ralph Compton wrote:
Making a garage cabinet for a friend, going to be used mainly for
household supplies, etc. The shelves are 30" wide by 23" deep.

I have only used the metal Knap & Vogt -type standards and clips for
adjustable shelving in the past. They work well and support a reasonable
amount of weight. I was going to use 6 standards (3 on each side) for
these shelves, which is probably overkill.

But lately I have gotten interested in the 5mm pin supports. I know that
the strength of these depends on several factors, one being the type of
wood used. So, for those who have used these things, how will they do
in, say, baltic birch plywood? Are the metal track/standards going to be
significantly stronger? Shelves will be 3/4" plywood.

Benefits of pin shelving include not having to dado for the metal
standards and a neater overall appearance.

Happy New Year!

Ralph

tiredofspam wrote:

Everything everyone said is true, but for a garage shelf, why do the
drilling. Routing the channels for the old standards is way easier.
And they are easier to setup. Who cares about looks for a garage
shelf.

Indeed. In fact, since beauty is in the eye of the beholder, I think that
shelf standards are far better looking than a bunch of holes. I vote for
the shelf standards.

--

-Mike-