Shelves and Shelving

[Grahamm]

Due to an increasing amount of junk valuable possessions, I need to put up some more shelves in my bedroom as an alternative to everything being filed under "F" for "Floor", so I hope the Foc-U fount of all knowledge can help.

I'm looking at getting some of the "twin slot" shelving uprights with the brackets you can simply hook into place to allow me to change the depth of the shelves according to what I'm putting on them, however what I need to know is a) what should I use for the shelves and b) will I just need a bracket at each end or one in the middle as well?

The space I have available is approximately 54" wide, so if I put two brackets 18" apart to divide this into thirds, would that work, or should I put one closer to each end and a third one in the middle to stop the shelves sagging under the load?

At least a couple of them are liable to have books on them and, at a rough weighing, 12" of books is about 3.3kg or 7.5lbs (which works out at about 5kg or 11lbs over 18").

AFAICS the brackets and uprights should be strong enough to carry the weight, I just want to avoid the shelves bending (or even breaking).

Anyone got any useful advice?

[His Dudeness]

sounds like you need a skip

[Sunny Intervals]

how longs a piece of string ?
What material are you using for the shelves ?
Scaffold planks ?
 brackets can be further apart
MDF/chipboard shelve brackets need to be closer, closeness depends on board thickness
If putting heavy books on them.
I would be more worried about what you're fixing the bracket rails into and how you fix them

[moffmeister]

http://www.romark.co.uk/proddisplay.asp?indexstrtitle=Element%20Shelf%20System


Always buy mine from here

[markbubble]

the more brackets te better as bokks etc very heavy!as already mentioned make sure you get a real good fit for the uprights to wall(if into brick/block usually 3" 10 gauge screws and plugs) if into timber wall the uprights will have to be spaced where the timber is! dont use cavity fixings as they wont take weight!
mdf and contiboard will bend and wont take as much weight as say ply or solid timber but usually look better
your local ironmongers/builders suppliers will sell the 'spur' shelf uprights and brackets much cheaper than the likes of b and q etc

[Grahamm]

how longs a piece of string ?

Twice as long as half it's length

What material are you using for the shelves ?

I found

I would be more worried about what you're fixing the bracket rails into and how you fix them

It's an exterior brick wall. In another forum someone recommended using all the holes and a good long screw... 

[Grahamm]

http://www.romark.co.uk/proddisplay.asp?indexstrtitle=Element%20Shelf%20System

Always buy mine from here

I found these on eBay which seem to be a good price.

[goldfazer]

Be a bit wary of MDF - it will bend over time, maybe OK with a batton glued and screwed to it. Chipboard or real would would be better.

[Grahamm]

Be a bit wary of MDF - it will bend over time, maybe OK with a batton glued and screwed to it.

The link I tried to post above seems to have vanished, but I found this which is twice as long as what I need, so a couple of them cut in half should be fine.

[John Silva]

Mdf will be fine if its thick enough I would use 22mm and a minimum of 3 brackets for the length you specified (idealy 4 brackets two 6" from the ends, then two brackets spaced 14" apart between them)

[BBROWN1664]

John silva.

[locksmith]

How many foccers does it take to put up a shelf?