Installing Shelving Question

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Joined
Mar 10, 2014
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6
Location
Virginia
Hi Everyone,

We just brought home our little hybrid TT and of course my wife wants shelves installed in the cabinets all over the place.  I'm fairly handy and was thinking of predrilling and using the push-pin style brackets as opposed to metal l-brackets but wasn't sure if there was another way to go that people have used.  All suggestions are very much welcome and very much appreciated.  Probably going to use 1/4" plywood to keep the weight down because lord knows what she will decide to stack up in there :).  Open to suggestions on wood thickness as well. 

Thanks!
 
Depending on how long your shelf will be and the weight you're going to put on it, 1/4" plywood probably will not hold up. If you could double up the thickness on the front edge and have a small support block under the back edge in the middle of the shelf will probably help.
 
I wanted the same thing so our solution was to install adjustable shelf brackets on the back wall with plastic toggles that are made for the thin wood walls.  Got them from Home Depot or Lowes, they are for mounting stuff on hollow core doors.  We just used regular wood shelving and put a piece of molding on the front edge to keep things on the shelf.  I am pleased with them and having them adjustable is handy for packing for a short trip or a long vacation.  It also helps because some things I thought I needed fit the original way we had it configured, but as time and experience showed me I needed things a little different and I could move the shelves to accommodate changes.
 
Hi.

For the novice shelf builders amongst us .... do you mean these guys:

Toggles: http://www.amazon.com/TOGGLER-Toggle-Hollow-Door-Polypropylene-Fastener/dp/B0051IB8R0#customerReviews

Shelf Tracks: http://www.homedepot.com/p/ClosetMaid-ShelfTrack-84-in-x-1-in-White-Standard-Bracket-2812/100194576

Brackets:  http://www.homedepot.com/p/ClosetMaid-ShelfTrack-16-in-x-5-in-White-Bracket-52854/100047306

I have a small pantry cupboard - 14" wide by 24" deep. The back is an 'outside' wall.

The shelves would be 14" wide but how deep could I go. As deep as the brackets (16" as in the link) or further?

How many toggles would be required to hold up each track?

As it is an outside wall am I ok to go through the rear of the pantry to make a hole for these toggles? How much space is there between the inside skin and the actual outside. My gut feeling is that I don't want to be able to see daylight.

I would add food items to the shelves, would the shelves just stay put during travel or should i attached the actual shelves to each bracket in some way? I assume I will also need a lip on each shelf.

Thanks in advance for your help.
 
I have added them in all our cabinets,  and wardrobes and the way I do it is to use  a cleat of 3/4" by 3/4" pine the length of the cabinet on each side.
I use pine because it is light weight.
I use small counter sunk screws and a good grade wood glue to attach them to the sides. All the screws are for is to act as a clamp until the glue dries. this also prevents the screw point from coming through any thin paneling that I am attaching the cleat to.
Then I just lay the shelf on top of it. If you are afraid that the shelf will bounce, just either screw it or glue it to the side cleats.
If your shelves are wide, I wouldn't use 1/4" plywood. I would be afraid that they would sag after some weight gets on them.
I use 3/4' inch pine for mine.

I have also added home built cabinets, and I have dadoed, (hope that is spelled right) the sides for the shelves, as I was building them

jack L
 
Instead of supporting brackets fastened to the back wall, I would use side supports the extend to the bottom of the cabinet.  Also if you buy 1/2 inch 7 ply plywood you will get a self this is much stronger and not prone to sag even with a lot of weight and is lighter than 3/4 pine.  It usually has a birch outer ply.  If you are not loading a lot of weigh on the self, you can also get 5 ply plywood also.  These are quite a bit stronger than regular  3 or 1/2" 5 ply and look much better. Some what more money but,  much stronger.

Side guides will only work if you are adding selves in cabinets otherwise you will have to use brackets on the back.  Even with the toggles the sheeting on the walls is quite thin and will not take a lot of weight.
 
Food storage can get heavy especially canned goods.  Also, looking to the back of several rows of cans and taking one out can be a problem.

You might check Amazon for "canned goods storage" for ideas.
 
I'd go with glue as well, get a hot glue gun and your done, no screws needed.
I was a skeptic about hot glue until I glued two foot long pieces together, then tried to twist them apart.Only that would separate them was a hammer and chisel.

Bush
 
JPY, sorry for the late reply.  Yes, those are the toggles and brackets.  I used 12" shelf brackets.  I just used the screw holes that are on the upright brackets, no extra toggles.  I installed them on the back wall.  I have had this setup for 4 years now and (knock on wood) nothing has broken or fallen apart.  And we have some pretty rotten roads around here.
 
It took a little effort to get the table saw adjusted, but making these worked very well  (scroll down to wooden standards)

https://www.google.com/url?sa=i&rct=j&q=&esrc=s&source=images&cd=&cad=rja&uact=8&ved=0ahUKEwiypc-c59rLAhUJ5yYKHc6UAYgQjRwIBw&url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.wood-w.com%2Flessonsguides%2Fhow-to-build-shelves-that-wont-wilt-under-load.html&psig=AFQjCNEGkiOuxzAXxr_FV-qsj9L2Cmgujw&ust=1458959871651710

The rounded ones are easier with a drill press and a forstner bit
 

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