Latest news:. AMA with Travis Larson is over.now has a Discord channel!.Did you miss the AMA with Patrick DiJusto??.The subreddit got a facelift!Tips:.These are not the subreddit rules. Please see the guidelines link above.If you are posting a help request, please include as many details as possible. Please consider adding photos and doing some basic research into your question. Should not be your first stop for your question.All help request must go in 'self posts' or the stickied thread at the top of the subreddit.If you are sharing your finished DIY project, please explain how it was done. Consider putting the finished photo first, however this is not a requirement.
![]()
Comments regarding finished photo location will be removed. Projects without adequate detail will be removed.Please keep all comments on topic. Moderators will remove off-topic comments at their discretion.All images must be hosted on imgur. Non-imgur links will be considered on a case by case basis. Please message the moderators with a link to your post for approval.All video submissions are considered on a case by case basis. Please message the moderators with a link to your post for approval.Civility is a requirement for participating on. We try to stick to a '3-strike' policy for rule infractions - however moderators reserve the right to bypass this policy any time.
A temporary ban constitutes a 'strike'.Important note:Finished DIY project submissions without adequate details / photos will be removed. Consider submitting these photos to instead. Is about the process rather than the result.A good rule of thumb is somebody who sees your post should be able to relatively get close to being able to replicate the project with the information you've provided Filter by FlairblaAMAs AMADateJul 11, 2018Mar 27, 2017Feb 23, 2017Jan 5, 2017Sep 8, 2014May 29, 2014Aug 10, 2014Other reddits you may like:.Please read the before posting. I have a few cheap, although effective bookshelves, that are sagging a bit under the weight of the books.
You know the kind I am talking about; about 72 inches, fixed middle shelf, four or five adjustable shelves. Do you mean something along the lines of boards or posts up the middle from the button up? I considered that, but I don't think I can get the precision to cut supports that snugly fit between shelves with a handsaw (since that is all I own as far my ability to cut wood is concerned). The bracket method seems like there is much more room for error (in some respects), which I like. I also think it may be difficult to line each of the supports, so that the lower is efficiently supporting the higher. Attaching the board to the back means I can make it the length of the shelf, so it can rest on the floor as well.Secondly, attaching the wood from behind means it is out of sight, which means I don't have to worry about colors matching (or, more accurately, I don't have to worry about my fiancee worrying about colors matching).Are there prefab shelf supports like what you suggest (assuming I am interpreting you correctly)?.
Rough and finish cutsCutting DirectionWhen cutting this material, regardless of the tool being used, start from the taped or finished edge if possible. This will help to avoid having the sawing action pull the edging away from the base material.Feeds and SpeedsUsually the best edge finish can be obtained when making any cut by using high tool speeds together with low feed rates and very light tool pressure.This technique can result in a scorched appearance in the particleboard base material (not the Melamine). However, this scorching shouldn’t matter because all raw particleboard edges will presumably be either hidden or finished with Melamine tape.Rough CutsParticleboard is heavy and can be difficult to handle if working alone. If practical, make rough cuts first to reduce the size of the workpieces, and then finish them on table saw.Consider using a jig saw for the rough cuts. The saw is small, light and the only setup required is a pencil mark. The cut edge is not very clean, but neither is the edge when cutting with a circular saw.
The jig saw does not make as much sawdust as a circular saw and does not spread it all around the shop.Finish Cuts with a Table SawThere are fine-toothed saw blades made for this purpose (generally with 80 teeth on a 10″ blade). They will often be labeled specifically for cutting Melamine and plywood. Freud LU80R010, Forrest DH10807125 and Delta 35-7662 are examples. They tend to be expensive, but since they work equally well for plywood cuts, perhaps the expense can be justified.These blades usually give a very satisfactory finished result with just a single pass and are recommended. Cutting Shelf Ends with a Crosscut SledThe table saw must be well tuned to make these delicate cuts without edge damage. We use a crosscut sled when possible to hold the work firmly and move it smoothly through the cut. After cutting through the workpiece on the table saw, don’t draw it back past the spinning blade as this can cause edge damage.
Push the workpiece through the blade and then turn off the saw before moving the workpiece.Others have suggested making 2 passes when making finish cuts in order to prevent chipping. This technique has not worked as well for us as just sawing through with a good blade as described here.Finish Cuts with a RouterHigh quality finish cuts can also be made with a router.Often a router cut would be considered if the required cut was not straight. This can most easily be done with template and a flush trim bit in the router.Another application would be to make a finish cut on a part that was too big to handle on the table saw. In this case a straight edge should be clamped to the work to follow with the router.Again, high tool speeds and slow feed rates give the best results.Heavy cuts should be avoided, so a prior rough cut with a jigsaw or circular saw is again a good way to proceed.Caution: Cutting with a router may be the worst of all situations for eye-hazard Melamine chips.How to Edge Tape Melamine Shelving TapingAfter cutting, exposed particleboard edges can be finished using Melamine tape, sometimes called edge banding. Freud EB035, Grizzly H9842 and Rockler 91611 are examples.Such tape is available in iron-on format for attaching with a hot iron, or peel-and-stick format. The adhesive used with the peel-and-stick tape never hardens.
In our experience it tends to cling to the tools that are used to trim it, including expensive router bits, and is hard to remove. Also it can continue to seep slowly out of the joint after installation. For these reasons the iron-on format tape is recommended.Use tape that is at least 1/16″ wider than the board thickness. Tape that is ¾” wide is available, but keeping the edge aligned with the shelving surface when heating is more difficult than trimming the tape sides after attaching.An old clothing iron works well for applying the tape (no steam, of course). We use the highest heat available.We tack-melt the tape at the starting end, with about ½” excess extending past the end, and then align the loose end with the panel edge using the other hand. We then slide the iron slowly from one end of the panel end to the other keeping the tape properly aligned in front of the iron. Experimentation, to determine how quickly the adhesive melts, can help determine the sliding speed to use.If glue clings to the iron, vigorously rub it off with a cloth while the iron is hot.Minor misalignments can be corrected by re-heating and pushing the tape edge in the desired direction with your thumb.
After moving the tape, re-heat it again to make sure that the glue joint was not damaged.Let the tape cool before trimming.If using wood-grained Melamine panel, this type of edge banding is also available as wood veneer in various species. Application is the same, but after installation and trimming the taped edge needs to be stained and finished to match the panel.TrimmingRough trim the ends of the tape with scissors, not with a Stanley knife, taking care not to pull up the tape end.Make the final trim at the ends with a Microplane rasp if available.
Use a fine tooth model, and apply very light pressure. An alternative is to use a sanding block and sand the end by hand.Cut or sand toward the glue joint to avoid prying up the edge.For trimming the sides of the tape, use a router with a flush trim bit. Tools are available for making these trim cuts manually but they tend to gouge the edge in our experience. Finished edge tapingFor short taped edges, a Microplane rasp can also be used for the sides.
Use multiple passes with very light pressure and move along tape edge while holding the tool parallel with the board surface.Finally, dress the sharp edges of the tape with a fine metal file.Touch UpIf minor damage should occur to an edge, so that the particleboard base material is visible, touch-up can be done with typists’ correction fluid.How to Drill and Fasten Melamine Shelving DrillingDrilling can result in the same problem as cutting – damage to the surface around the holes. This is particularly on the far side of the hole if drilling through (non-through holes are common when locating shelf pins).If it is necessary to drill through, the use of a sacrificial backing board, clamped firmly to the back of the Melamine panel during drilling, is essential to prevent breakout around the hole.Use a centerpunch to center the drill and break through the Melamine surface before drilling. A twist drill bit gives a cleaner hole than a brad-point bit. Light pressure on the drill (but not so light as to let the drill tip walk when punching through the hard and slick Melamine surface) and high drill speeds result in clean holes.Use of a drill jig or drill guide is useful to keep the drill bit from walking during the drilling, and also to keep the bit normal to the surface. If a drill jig is not available, a Rockler 61503 is a fairly inexpensive option.
As usual, a stop collar clamped to the drill bit should be used to control hole depth when not drilling through.Dowel PinsDowel pins work well with Melamine-coated particleboard.For glued dowel joints, the dowel holes should be drilled with a dowelling jig as with normal doweled joinery, using the drilling techniques described above, and the dowels embedded with wood glue into the particleboard base material. This can provide a very strong joint.Dowel pins can also be used dry (without glue) to locate and align mating parts.ScrewsCenterpunch the screw location to locate the drill or screw and to keep from walking off line.For best retention, use course-threaded wood screws with a very slim body (drywall screws or similar).Without a pilot hole, insertion of the screw will result in bulging and blistering of the Melamine finish around the hole. The blistered material can get jammed into the joint, keeping the mating pieces from joining tightly. This blistering will happen even you break through the Melamine surface before inserting the screw.Drilling a pilot hole (of the same diameter as the root diameter as the screw) will largely prevent this from happening.Sometimes drilling a pilot hole is not practical. In this case the screw can be removed after driving and the upset material removed from the joint before re-driving the screw.However, the particleboard base material tends to get mushy after a screw is driven a few times so re-driving should be minimized.
Repairs to stripped threads in the particle board can be made by drilling the hole oversized and inserting a plastic anchor before driving the screw or by jamming the mushy hole with broken off pieces of toothpick before re-driving the screw.Plastic anchors work well in particleboard, but might be difficult to find them are less than ¾” long. It might be necessary to just cut them short before insertion.Threaded Metal InsertsSteel or brass threaded inserts can be used. They will embed securely into the particleboard but extensive damage to the surface around the hole area will result. Therefore, use of these inserts should only be considered in hidden locations.The damage can be reduced a little bit by countersinking 1/8″ larger radius than the pilot hole using a manual countersink.A better solution is usually to install the threaded insert into the mating material (assuming the mating material is wood and not particle board).GluingGlued butt joints on Melamine panel are often unsatisfactory, for instance when making cabinets from this material.
Need to update some boring particle board shelves? If so, then you will love this DIY! You can quickly go from drab to fab by following the simple steps listed below.I’m always looking for ways to add storage to my home office. So whenever I come across inexpensive shelves, I don’t hesitate to snatch them up! This one was only $5.99.
Um, yes, please, since these sell for over $30 new!As long as the shelves are sturdy and there is no water damage, I usually buy them. They can always be used somewhere in my home!I have some taller shelves that I’ve been using for about a year as is. I repainted them white and will be adding some wrapping paper that looks like birch bark to the back. These will be used in my to store some of my craft supplies. More on this later.I will be the first to admit the lack of storage in my home office has made me slack in keeping the area tidy. Now that I’ve redone this piece, I hope it will help to keep my office a little more organized.Does the lack of storage keep you from staying organized as it does me?
Maybe if I quit buying craft supplies, it wouldn’t be so messy! Since I prefer to keep the paint fresh looking, I did not do the chippy technique on these. Also, I don’t think that particle board would work with this technique. But, if you are perhaps using real wood shelves for this project and prefer the chippy look, you can find instructional videos at Plaid Online!I will be updating my home office this fall and will show you how I ended up incorporating this lovely “new” piece into the room! I have some great containers that I will be using to help organize my craft supplies.
If you don’t want to miss any of my new posts, then please sign up to receive my newsletter via email.Thank you for joining me on this fun project! If you have any questions, comment below and I will answer them for you. I hope you will give this a try.
If you do, let me know!Be sure to pin this image to one of your boards on Pinterest to save it for later!So what’s next on the blog?With fall just right around the corner, my next post will cover how to create a. Plus I will share other easy to do fall crafts! I hope you will join me then. As always, thanks for following along!.Disclaimer:If you are fortunate enough to find real wood shelves, you’re lucky! This is the first time I’ve tried chalk paint on particle board with the fake woodgrain paper on top.
Here’s hoping for little or no problems! I will update the post if any issues should arise. Since these aren’t going to get a lot of wear and tear, I think they should do just fine.fingers crossed. 11/5/17 UPDATE!I moved one of these shelves recently to attach the backing to it with the tacks and a hammer. During this process, some of the paint chipped off where the shelves meet the frame. It took me about a minute to touch it up.
All in all, these still look fabulous, and I would chalk paint them again. Hello friends, I'm Michele.A happily married Mom with 3 amazing adult daughters! I am also 'mom' to 1 precious dog, Emmylou!
Plus I have two adorable 'grand' dogs.I love working with chalk paint, decoupage, crafts of all kinds, and anything DIY. I don't mind getting my hands dirty on projects, that's part of the fun of creating!My home is filled with my favorite things! I collect birch wood pieces, nature inspired art, vintage linens, and I adore farmhouse decor. All of these treasures help to make my house a home.I was diagnosed with breast cancer in March, 2017. Since I completed my radiation treatments, I consider myself cancer free!There will be posts about my journey with this disease as I hope to give many others encouragement as we go down this road together.I hope you will follow along with each new post as there is never a dull moment in my house! Sign up for my newsletter and you'll see what I mean!LET'S CREATE TOGETHER!
Books are heavy and most shelving materials, especially low-cost engineered wood materials like particle board, will slowly sag under their weight. Here's a simple method for making cheap particle board shelves that look good and keep a straight horizontal span despite long-term heavy loading. I've also discussed a simple design for an open-frame free-standing bookcase using these shelves. Over the past 20 years, I've built many bookcases and workbenches this way, and none has any visible sag. Of course, your mileage may vary. The short wood fibers (sawdust, wood chips, sawmill shavings) used in making particle board (AKA chipboard, fiberboard, pressed board) make it notoriously fond of sagging. Our trick is use of a long and relatively large dado - a rectangular slot that allows a rear 2X4 support to prevent the particle board shelf from deforming.
Although you can make the shelves any of a wide variety of sizes, for this Instructable, we'll focus on making a roughly 4' long shelf suitable for use in a bookcase. Lumber generally comes in lengths near 8' or longer, but there is no need to drag such long lumber home to cut it. Wherever you buy the lumber, have them cut the lumber to length; an 8' piece becomes two nearly 4' pieces. The parts you'll need per shelf are:. A roughly 4' long slab of 3/4' thick raw particle board (shelving blank) 10'-12' deep. The same length of 2X4 lumber (which is typically really 1 1/2' by 3 1/2'); hand pick a nice piece of construction-grade material. Wood glue.
Flat black latex wall paint (easiest to find around Halloween). Wood stain and/or polyurethane in the color of your choiceThe tools you will need (and should use with appropriate care) are:.
Router table/fence with 3/4' straight bit or a table saw. Sandpaper or power sander. Brushes for painting and staining. Using either the router with a quarter round bit or a sander, round over what will be the top and bottom edges of the front of each shelf. The curve isn't important, the point is simply to smooth the sharp and somewhat rough looking front edge of the pressed board.
Now you're ready to paint the front, sides, top, and bottom of the pressed board pieces black and set them aside to dry. I generally give them 2 coats, sanding lightly before the second coat.
The black paint is not just to seal the particle board and provide a nice contrast with the stained wood that will be around it; flat black paint converts the rough and rather ugly texture of the pressed board into something that looks more like a high-end solid surfacing material. The photo shows how nice the black surface looks compared to the unpainted, unrounded, raw back edge. Further, the latex wall paint will seep into the wood significantly, so that minor scratches that happen later will still look black. In short, flat black paint can hide a multitude of sins.
Using the 3/4' bit on the router, set the guide to cut at least 3/4' from the edge (see the figure in step 5). Now take the 2X4 and cut a 3/4' wide by 3/4' deep slot lengthwise as shown in the figure.
Sealing Particle Board Shelves
You'll probably want to do that in 3 or more passes, going a little deeper each time. If you don't have a router with a fence or a router table, you can use a table saw to nibble out this slot. The precision of the width of this slot is critical, so take your time and keep things well aligned from pass to pass. The width of this slot should precisely match the thickness of the raw pressed board. A tight fit is good, a loose fit is very bad. Sand the slotted 2X4 and stain it if you wish. It is much easier to do this before everything is together.
You can seal it with a nice polyurethane now too, or you can add a clear polyurethane top coat to the whole thing after it is assembled. The back edge of the black particle board now gets glued into the slot in the 2X4. This should be a very tight fit, because the black paint raised the 'grain' on the particle board a little, but that's ok. Lay the slotted 2X4 on the floor with the slot facing up and run a small amount of wood glue down the slot. Then start to insert one corner of the particle board and use your weight to slowly force the board all the way in and then flat. A slight rocking motion sometimes helps.
Normally, you'd expect to clamp this so the glue can dry without slipping. However, once the raw back edge of the board has contacted the glue, it will swell slightly, so it is in effect naturally self clamping. Clean-up any excess glue using a moistened paper towel and let the assembly dry.
The result is a handsome black shelf with a stained wood 'stop' at the back. One might think that we have just made the particle board as rigid as the 2X4 - but this is far more effective than, for example, screwing the same 2X4 under the board as a support. The slot prevents the board from bending over its entire back edge, rather than just at a few screw points (and particle board doesn't work well with screws). It also is very effective in spreading the load on the shelf.
Further, the fact that the 2X4 is in the 4' tall orientation, rather than 2' tall, makes it more rigid. If you're truly paranoid or just like how it looks, you also can glue and screw a 2X2 (or even another 2X4!) under the front edge, but it's really the rear support keeping the pressed board from bending that makes this shelf sag free. The figure shows a side view. Now you could use these shelves with nearly any supporting structure, but they are stiff enough that they don't need a lot of support area. So, here's the style of bookcase I've been making and using for about 20 years.
There's really not much to it beyond what we've already covered. A couple of upright 2X4 posts go on each end, and the shelves tie into them with some very simple slotted joinery. Basically, the rear slotted 2X4 is 1 1/2' shorter than the shelf, and the shelf is supported by 3/4' deep slots on each of the four 2X4 posts. Note that you don't really need any fasteners for any of this, although I've sometimes used a few screws primarily to help hold things tight while glue is drying.
Screws are really only effective when the thread is holding in a piece of 2X, not particle board. I glue the shelves into the post slots, but bolts could be used instead to allow disassembly. If you're paranoid, or you're making a workbench which is significantly deeper than a shelf, or you just feel like it, simply add a 2X2 front support which is 1 1/2' longer than the particle board, and set it into the 2X4 side posts as shown in the first figure. The second figure shows a close-up of the bookcase shown at the start of this Instructable - which uses a 2X4 in the front, but doesn't have it set into the posts. This general approach also can work replacing the particle board with other sheet construction materials such as plywood or OSB. The texture of the finish is not as nice using OSB.
This site is for individuals to ask for advice on home improvement projects. Also feel free to post projects that you've completed - these must include details such as process/ materials/ budget. If you are asking a question, be as detailed as possible and include your location and multi-angled pictures if you can. We want to keep the conversations here in the sub, not just drive it away.
These guidelines, and more, can be before posting.Comments must be on-topic, helpful, and kind. Name-calling, abusive, or hateful language is not tolerated, nor are disrespectful, personal comments. No question is too stupid, too simple, or too basic. We're all here to learn and help each other out - enjoy!This is not a place to advertise products and or services. Any posts like this that link to a website or blog will be removed. Offenders will be banned.Posts asking users to participate in a survey are no longer allowed and will be treated as SPAM posts.Best of 2018 WinnersAdvisor of the Year.Al Borland Award (Best Home Improvement Project).:Tim Taylor (Biggest Fuck-Up).:The Fluffer Award. kept us up reading about theirOther subreddits you may like.
Comments are closed.
|
Details
AuthorWrite something about yourself. No need to be fancy, just an overview. ArchivesCategories |