First time I saw these shelves was in Budapest, at a friends apartment. I was told they had been designed by a physicist. That's why I think they are safe. The ones in the photos have been up for more than a year now.
Step 1: The model 240 cm by 240 cm
This is just one model. You can personalize the design to fit your needs.
Step 2: The materials
For the model showed in Step1 the materials are:
4 sticks of pine of 240 cm by 5 cm by 6 cm (5 is front; 6 is deep) (photo1)
6 selves of DM of 240 cm by 22 cm by 3 cm (photo2)
4 wall metal peg screws to hold large weigths (one for each stick) (photo3)
12 regular wall plastic peg screws to hold medium weigths (three for each stick) (photo4)
4 sticks of pine of 240 cm by 5 cm by 6 cm (5 is front; 6 is deep) (photo1)
6 selves of DM of 240 cm by 22 cm by 3 cm (photo2)
4 wall metal peg screws to hold large weigths (one for each stick) (photo3)
12 regular wall plastic peg screws to hold medium weigths (three for each stick) (photo4)
Step 3: Cut off mortices on sticks and shelves
The whole set is assembled like pieces in a puzzle without glue or screws.
In the sticks make a mortice for every shelf.
In the shelves make a mortice for every stick.
In our case this means 6 mortices in each stick and 4 mortices in each shelf.
As a rule, in sticks make a mortice 2/3 deep of the side of the stick and in shelves make a mortice 1/3 deep of the side of the stick. (In the example this means 4 cm in sticks and 2 cm in shelves because the side of the stick is 6 cm).
In the sticks make a mortice for every shelf.
In the shelves make a mortice for every stick.
In our case this means 6 mortices in each stick and 4 mortices in each shelf.
As a rule, in sticks make a mortice 2/3 deep of the side of the stick and in shelves make a mortice 1/3 deep of the side of the stick. (In the example this means 4 cm in sticks and 2 cm in shelves because the side of the stick is 6 cm).
Step 4: Hold vertical sticks on the wall
Use the strong screw in the middle of the stick.
Check verticality with a bubble level.
Fix the other 3 screws in every stick.
Check verticality with a bubble level.
Fix the other 3 screws in every stick.
Step 5: Finishing
Once all the sticks are on the wall, assemble the shelves and VOILA! you have it done.
BUT THERE IS STILL ONE MORE THING...
PLEASE DO NOT MISS THIS DETAIL WHETHER YOU THINK IS IMPORTANT OR NOT!
The last thing to do is to insert wedges of wood under all the shelves and in every stick untill all the shelves are ortogonal (=perpendicular) (=90 degres) to the sticks.
BUT THERE IS STILL ONE MORE THING...
PLEASE DO NOT MISS THIS DETAIL WHETHER YOU THINK IS IMPORTANT OR NOT!
The last thing to do is to insert wedges of wood under all the shelves and in every stick untill all the shelves are ortogonal (=perpendicular) (=90 degres) to the sticks.
Step 6: Another example
This is another one we made for a "used things" shop in our city.
It is 15 meters wide and 2,5 meters high with vertical sticks every 0,5 meters.
It was made with all kind of particles boards we had around.
As it can be seen in the photo it has no mortices in the selves --just in the vertical sticks-- and it works too.
It is 15 meters wide and 2,5 meters high with vertical sticks every 0,5 meters.
It was made with all kind of particles boards we had around.
As it can be seen in the photo it has no mortices in the selves --just in the vertical sticks-- and it works too.
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Thank you so much for posting the pictures!!!
Spread the word.
Very nice work.
Very nice picture.
Very nice comment.
Thanks a lot
Would this hold up on drywall?
Yes and Yes.
There are solutions at the comments for drywalls.
Basically it consists in making to fit any (at least one) stick of the shelves with a stud of the wall.
Good luck (and post photos of your result).
work perfectly in.
Thanks for posting the photos.
It took a while to get the vertical wood pieces attached to the wall then some more time to get the horizontals to fit in again. I can't believe how sturdy it is!
I can't even fit a piece of paper into my joints. I had to use a hammer and a lot of brute force to get the horizontals fitting the verticals, so I had to skip that step. The thing is going nowhere!
Wonderful work.
I like much your low table solution for the shelve at the bottom. Is it on wheels?
Thanks for posting the photos.
I am sorry but it is not a good idea. The whole desing is based on structural simplicity. And puting screws to hold the selves to the sticks would destroy this simplicity. Furthermore, mortices + wedges is much much stronger than screws.
But yes, eliminating the need to wedge would be desirable. Wedging is rocket science for a clumsy dude like me.
Unfortunately the desing does not allow to eliminate the need of mortices (which is the most dificult part of this construction). And the wedges are there because of the mortices. In a platonic world wedges wouldn't be needed at all because mortices and surfaces would be perfect (a.k.a platonic). Wedges are introduced because we all are human and then imperfect (as our constructions are), and wedges is a very efficient way (after Archimedes) of filling up gaps; (as when we put a folded paper under a table leg).
On the other hand I do not give credit to your statement of not being able to deal with wedges because "wedges are the solution to us, the clumsy ones".
Try again and post photos, please.
Thanks for a great inspiration, this is a great design... You can see the %$#y IKEA shelf that I was replacing on the left - what an improvement!
So many dado cuts on my table saw and the balde got dull... on 2nd to last cut, it snagged and banged me hard in the chest. Watch out because dado cuts are like cutting 100s of boards, so replace the blade if it seems dull!
Thanks so much for the pictures and info.