building wood shelf help needed

[Perro Del Diablo]

I have a bunch of green metal cans that seem to be quite heavy, I an planning to build a shelf system with 2x12 sides 40 in wide. For the shelves themselves I have 2 options I'm  considering.  1st Is 3/4 in plywood about 12 in deep with a span of 37 inches Dato into both sides with each one having enough height to accept 1 can deep. 2nd option for shelfs would be using 2x12 instead plywood all joints plan to screw and glue. Would the 3/4 plywood be sufficient or must i use 2x12 based on weight of very heavy cans 6 per shelf?

[Pat Riot]

I would use 2x12’s for shelves unless you can do it cheaper with plywood and use 2 pieces of plywood for each shelf, preferably glued together. 
 

Edit: Are you attaching a back plate to the shelves? It would help a bit with support, but I still would not trust 1 thickness of 3/4” plywood per shelf with that much weight. 

Edited March 19 by Pat Riot

[Marshal Mo Hare, SASS #45984]

are the green metal cans ammo cans? I’d do the 2x12.

 

and make sure the ends of the shelves have adequate support.

Edited March 19 by Marshal Mo Hare, SASS #45984

[Perro Del Diablo]

41 minutes ago, Pat Riot said:

I would use 2x12’s for shelves unless you can do it cheaper with plywood and use 2 pieces of plywood for each shelf, preferably glued together. 
 

Edit: Are you attaching a back plate to the shelves? It would help a bit with support, but I still would not trust 1 thickness of 3/4” plywood per shelf with that much weight. 

I am thinking have fairing stripes alog each shelf but also consider 1/4 plywood or hard board on back

[Pat Riot]

1 minute ago, Perro Del Diablo said:

I am thinking have fairing stripes alog each shelf but also consider 1/4 plywood or hard board on back

Backing or not I think I would go double thick on the plywood or go with 2x12’s for the shelves. 
It’s a PITA to go back and beef up existing shelves without losing valuable space within the shelving. 

[Perro Del Diablo]

42 minutes ago, Marshal Mo Hare, SASS #45984 said:

are the green metal cans ammo cans? I’d do the 2x12.

 

and make sure the ends of the shelves have adequate support.

3/4 inch dado each side each shelf I think will have support needed. As your question  maybe. 

[Perro Del Diablo]

3 minutes ago, Pat Riot said:

Backing or not I think I would go double thick on the plywood or go with 2x12’s for the shelves. 
It’s a PITA to go back and beef up existing shelves without losing valuable space within the shelving. 

 

3 minutes ago, Pat Riot said:

Backing or not I think I would go double thick on the plywood or go with 2x12’s for the shelves. 
It’s a PITA to go back and beef up existing shelves without losing valuable space within the shelving. 

I'm thinking simaler but on lines of deflection of each shelf is my biggest concern

[Pat Riot]

10 minutes ago, Perro Del Diablo said:

 

I'm thinking simaler but on lines of deflection of each shelf is my biggest concern

I have built lots of garage shelving and I tend to go overboard with shelving support or materials. It ain’t sexy but it’ll never bow or break. 

[Texas Joker]

Place 2 ammo cans on the ground 40 inches apart. Lay 2x12 on top of ammo cans with one long edge against the wall repeat until you run out of matched ammo cans.

 

Like this but with ammo cans

 

[Perro Del Diablo]

36 minutes ago, Pat Riot said:

I have built lots of garage shelving and I tend to go overboard with shelving support or materials. It ain’t sexy but it’ll never bow or break. 

Me too my bench is 2x6 frame with 2x4 cross grasses and 3/4 plywood top. My machines have a doubler under neath for additional support 

[Chas B. Wolfson, SASS #11104]

 Dado sides and back.  Add a piece of aluminum channel on front edge of shelves.  This will not get in the way, will add considerable strength and provide protection to edge of plywood.

Regards,

Chas B 

[Perro Del Diablo]

38 minutes ago, Texas Joker said:

Place 2 ammo cans on the ground 40 inches apart. Lay 2x12 on top of ammo cans with one long edge against the wall repeat until you run out of matched ammo cans.

 

Like this but with ammo cans

 

I did that for years with an end table just not that many shelves and I used 30 cal cans full of live ammo.

[Perro Del Diablo]

3 minutes ago, Chas B. Wolfson, SASS #11104 said:

 Dado sides and back.  Add a piece of aluminum channel on front edge of shelves.  This will not get in the way, will add considerable strength and provide protection to edge of plywood.

Regards,

Chas B 

I like your thought. Another thing I was considering is 1x2 both front and rear tacked in about 6-8 inches apart glue on mated surface 

[Eyesa Horg]

Also consider, if these boxes are full of ammo etc. they are going to be very heavy! So keep the lower shelves especially strong and the uppers can likely be a bit lighter as you won't be able to lift a heavy box that high let alone the sudden weight when removing one. I like the 2x12 idea datoed into the sides. The channel on the front as above will add a lot of strength and keep the edge from chipping sliding the boxes off.

[Alpo]

I used two 2x6s. Much cheaper than one 2x12.

 

 

 

[Sedalia Dave]

Given the span and weight go with the 2X12s or a pair of 2X6s. They'll be a lot stronger and resist bending forces significantly better than even doubled up plywood. The problem with plywood is only 1/2 of the layers have the same grain orientation. The other half is offset 90 degrees. This means that only 1/2 of the layers are oriented the correct way for maximum strength. The inner layers of plywood also contain voids. These voids can have a significant impact on the overall strength of a given piece of plywood.

 

All the above said, when you buy the 2X12s you are going to want to minimize the number of large defects.

 

You will definitely want some type of backer on the shelving. The primary purpose is to provide lateral strength to prevent everything from collapsing sideways if for some reason the shelving is pushed in this direction. The backer is not there to prevent the shelves from sagging. A piece of paneling is more than thick enough to accomplish this. You can attach the backing with small nails or staples.

 

For maximum strength dado the shelving into the side supports and secure with glue.

 

 

Edited March 19 by Sedalia Dave

[Warden Callaway]

Sawmill Mary loves to work with wood. Builds all sorts of primitive furniture items. Not to be confused with fine furniture.  She was redoing the laundry/pantry room. Was fussing with trying to find wood to use to build shelves.  I commented,  "I know it's not your style,  but they make metal storage racks you bolt together?". She paused in thought.  "I didn't think you'd want to spend the money.".  Off the the first home supply store. Two units 4' wide by maybe 20" deep, head high. I think $60 total. She had it screwed up and putting caned goods on the shelves by supper time. 

[Sedalia Dave]

9 minutes ago, Warden Callaway said:

Sawmill Mary loves to work with wood. Builds all sorts of primitive furniture items. Not to be confused with fine furniture.  She was redoing the laundry/pantry room. Was fussing with trying to find wood to use to build shelves.  I commented,  "I know it's not your style,  but they make metal storage racks you bolt together?". She paused in thought.  "I didn't think you'd want to spend the money.".  Off the the first home supply store. Two units 4' wide by maybe 20" deep, head high. I think $60 total. She had it screwed up and putting caned goods on the shelves by supper time. 

 

I use the industrial stainless steel wire shelving in my reloading room for storing loaded ammo as well as other things. a 48"X18" shelf is rated to hold 400+ lbs. For a 6 shelf set you have storage for over a ton of stuff as long as the floor it is setting on is capable of supporting it and you don't use castors. If you use castors the weight capacity is cut in half.

 

I buy the 6 shelf sets and occasionally add additional shelves.  I have a coule of the shelves with close to 1000 lbs of stuff on them. To provide lateral strength I added a pair of twisted wire braces to the back of shelf unit. Wire is run from between the caster and leg on one side to above the top shelf on the other. Twist until it is tensioned. Then put the other one the opposite way. Keeps the shelves from folding sideways when pushed to move them.

[Perro Del Diablo]

2 hours ago, Alpo said:

I used two 2x6s. Much cheaper than one 2x12.

 

 

 

with lumber costs today doesnt seem to matter

1 hour ago, Warden Callaway said:

Sawmill Mary loves to work with wood. Builds all sorts of primitive furniture items. Not to be confused with fine furniture.  She was redoing the laundry/pantry room. Was fussing with trying to find wood to use to build shelves.  I commented,  "I know it's not your style,  but they make metal storage racks you bolt together?". She paused in thought.  "I didn't think you'd want to spend the money.".  Off the the first home supply store. Two units 4' wide by maybe 20" deep, head high. I think $60 total. She had it screwed up and putting caned goods on the shelves by supper time. 

My concern is a 50 cal can full of 45's or similar

[Marshal Mo Hare, SASS #45984]

Consider adding an angle iron.

[Perro Del Diablo]

1 hour ago, Marshal Mo Hare, SASS #45984 said:

Consider adding an angle iron.

That is a definite option I've considered. I have used aluminum ones in past for shelf that holds small weight 

[Warden Callaway]

We had a small chest of drawers that was on its way out. Mary would say, "It's old.". I think some of the drawers were coming apart. I pulled the drawers and replaced them with boards making a shelf unit out of it. Stored our Cowboy Action ammo on it. Plenty deep enough to hold flats of shotgun shells. And tons of ammo.

[Perro Del Diablo]

As I've been pricing materials the 2x12 option is most frugal. Plywood has not come down enough, and by board foot even though 2x6 is cheaper by time double quantity of boards they actually will cost more. so 2x12s all around and tempered hard board on back. I believe should be quite strong. each shelf will only be tall enough for 1 can high and if my 3rd grade math is right about 6 50 cal wide

[Perro Del Diablo]

I found a calculator for wood sag called sagulator. According to my numbers I estimate 2x12s will be more than adequate support. So latter this week I will pick up materials (hand selected my yours truly) to begin my build. Of course this weekly thunderstorms is not helping.

[Perro Del Diablo]

May not be pretty but should be solid. It is d@#$ heavy. 

[Perro Del Diablo]

And back is on

[Sedalia Dave]

Very Nice work.  Wanna build some for me. 

 

Be sure to attach it to the wall with a small L bracket.  A small 2" L bracket is all it takes to keep it from falling over. 

 

If setting it on concrete be sure to add some feet to keep the wood out of direct contact with a concrete floor.

 

These work great and will not rust or rot.

 

[Perro Del Diablo]

39 minutes ago, Sedalia Dave said:

Very Nice work.  Wanna build some for me. 

 

Be sure to attach it to the wall with a small L bracket.  A small 2" L bracket is all it takes to keep it from falling over. 

 

If setting it on concrete be sure to add some feet to keep the wood out of direct contact with a concrete floor.

 

These work great and will not rust or rot.

 

After I pick it up I knew with bunch ammo cans I might really hurt myself 

[watab kid]

i also vote 2x12 as opposed to 3/4 ply but your not telling us how much weight we need to support - we are guessing based on the "green can" understanding we all have , 

 

let me tell you if you fill one with 9mm it is ganna be heavy , 

 

so 0 when i built our libarny shelves in the family room , my wife wanted spans that exceeded the weight i calculated for a "full" bookshelf , i had 3.4" ply and i simply doubled them and glued them together - much stronger than a 2x12 , but more time consuming and yet the A/C ply could be glued such that only "A" sides could be seen in the end from anywhere , i liked the end result and only the one 6" span has ever displayed deflection of any kind and that was almost negligible , 

[Marshal Mo Hare, SASS #45984]

9 hours ago, watab kid said:

, i liked the end result and only the one 6" span has ever displayed deflection of any kind and that was almost negligible , 

6’?

[Perro Del Diablo]

16 hours ago, watab kid said:

i also vote 2x12 as opposed to 3/4 ply but your not telling us how much weight we need to support - we are guessing based on the "green can" understanding we all have , 

 

let me tell you if you fill one with 9mm it is ganna be heavy , 

 

so 0 when i built our libarny shelves in the family room , my wife wanted spans that exceeded the weight i calculated for a "full" bookshelf , i had 3.4" ply and i simply doubled them and glued them together - much stronger than a 2x12 , but more time consuming and yet the A/C ply could be glued such that only "A" sides could be seen in the end from anywhere , i liked the end result and only the one 6" span has ever displayed deflection of any kind and that was almost negligible , 

One 50 cal can full 45 acp 230 grn weighs about 77 lbs

[Texas Jack Black]

 Just shoot it all And forget the shelves

[Matthew Duncan]

I used four 2” x 4” on edge, evenly spaced covered with 3/4” plywood.  12” deep x 72” wide. Shelf is full and it didn’t bow.

 

Installed under my reloading bench.

Edited March 31 by Matthew Duncan

[watab kid]

13 hours ago, Marshal Mo Hare, SASS #45984 said:

6’?

yes , 6 foot , over a pair of doors so actually 8 foot 4 inches really