After googling around a bit, all the custom length shelving I can find is about 30cm depth maximum. That's not a great help if I want to put things like a printer on them, is there anywhere that'll just sell me some nice planks cut to order, or cheaper mahogany-finish deeper than 30cm?
>>2366 Probably quite well, support anchor angles willing. Looking at the prices for shelves they seem absurd for what I'm trying to do, I'm wondering if somewhere will just sell me planks I can polish and stain instead. Sorry, made this thread in the process of working this all out.
Most DIY shops, have a range of the "twinslot" style shelving, where you have a set of uprights attached to the wall and you slot brackets into them.
They go up to 40cm depth, and I think the Ikea version goes up to 50cm.
You can only usually get them in white though. If you really want a certain colour, you're going to have to buy a sheet of plywood.
If you want natural wood, it'll need to be edge jointed - you're not going to find hardwood planks wider than 10" at anything like a sensible price. Any decent timber merchant will sell you a suitable length of sapele or meranti, but you'll need a router to joint them.
The cheaper and easier option would be to use decorative veneered plywood with an edging strip. It won't be as durable as solid wood, but it'll be a lot less faff.
>>2368 Those are a bit horrible looking. I might wander down to the nearest B&Q to ask because all the numbers and words I'm not familiar with on their website confuse me.
>>2369 I know we have a jig, I'll poke around and see what other tools there are.
If it's actual wood you want, I got mine for £20 from Worktop Express and stained them at home. A bit tricky as they're oiled as standard but still turned out alright. Also I got free delivery 'cause I'm local to one of their depots so YMMV literally.
>>2371 I figured out that I'll eventually be needing about 23 metres of 20cm wide planks and 6 of 35 for what I'd like to do, so buying anything premade is not realistic. I'll start small and see how it goes.
>>2365 B&Q will chop up large sheets of wood for you using their cutting machine - they charge something like 50p a cut - you can take a 2.4m x 1.2m board and have it chopped up into shelves however you like. Takes a couple of minutes and you end up with shelves of whatever size you need. A sheet of wood will cost between 10 and 30 quid, depending on what it is and how thick - go for as thick as you can. Personally I use MDF and then paint it.
The also sell a wide variety of brackets to go on walls for a couple of pounds each. You need a long spirit level, a pencil and lots of lines drawn on the walls before you start drilling or doing anything. Rawlplugs + screws for the brackets, and you're done.
I am the shelving master and have done this many times. The key is that you spend more time drawing pencil lines on the walls with the spirit level before you do any drilling. After that it is dead easy.
>>2373 It does seem the sort of thing that'll take more time to plan than physically put up. I had fun mocking it all up in Sweet Home 3D but I don't trust my measurements totally.
It was suggested that I use something like http://www.wickes.co.uk/Products/Building-Materials/Timber/Timber-Floorboards/c/1000206 because they're sort of horizontal lego and I can clip together whatever shelf depth of them I want provided the brackets reach. I'll bear B&Q in mind though. Going to take a trip to the building supplies place first.
I'd rather have cheapish, stained wood than painted MDF. I hate MDF.
>>2374 A long spirit level, pencil and one of the brackets. Plan every line where the boards and every hole where the brackets go. Don't space the brackets too far apart. I am happy to share my shelving secrets with another.
I would go a bit thicker than 18mm. Particularly if you're making them wide, you'll end up putting heavier things on them.
>>2376 I have at least two long spirit levels and quite a lot of pencils, but I am taking your advice to heart.
It'll be a couple of months before I have the cash to begin this but I'll check back in when I do.
If you get your wood cut to size at a DIY shop, make sure to check that it's correctly dimensioned and reasonably square before you pay. The lad operating the vertical panel saw isn't always the sharpest tool in the box.
>>2378 I think I'll rely on slightly overestimating the lengths I need then cutting it down on location, I have the tools and it's safer than presuming all my preliminary measurements were accurate.
>>2377 >I have at least two long spirit levels and quite a lot of pencils
I think you're on the right path. Spirit levels are gods own implement. Promise me you won't start drilling or doing anything until the wall is covered in pencil gridlines; then you'll be fine mate.